FOX Made Michael Strahan Official
Michael Strahan was introduced as the newest member of Fox’s NFL pregame show during today’s news conference. The AP covered the press conference, and Strahan said that he isn’t afraid to criticize his former teammates or friends in the NFL. Here’s some of what he had to say, “I look at it as I’m on this team now. I have to speak objectively and tell the truth of what I see, regardless of if I was in the locker room last season or not, if those guys are my friends or not. I think my situation, my personality, I’m different than Tiki. If I were to say something, I’m just going to tell the truth. For me, I think a lot of people expected that. I think for Tiki, it was a little bit out of his comfort level, what people expected of him.”
It is a somewhat difficult situation for players to become an Analyst immediately after they retire. Strahan is correct when he said that his situation is different than Tiki Barber’s was a year ago. Strahan has always been a clown so nobody expects him to be anything but. Barber was beloved by Giants fans and by Wellington Mara. Tiki was the one of the classiest and best running backs in the NFL until he said that the team got out-played and out-coached up in Seattle. Since then, he kept on bashing the team publically. He retired in the peak of his career, and he said that he was retiring because he couldn’t play for Coach Coughlin. He wrote his little book all about Tiki. In his book, he said he would still be on the Giants if Coach Coughlin wasn’t there anymore. Then he got on NBC and called out Eli. Then his twin called out Eli during the Playoffs. How could one of the classiest guys in the NFL turn into an egocentric maniac? Wasn’t it Coach Coughlin who taught him how to hold onto the football? At least he got a new ice cream flavor today. That will boost his ego a little more. Tiki is not supposed to say the wrong thing because he’s Tiki. It is one thing to criticize his former team, but he went to the extreme in doing so. Strahan also just won a Super Bowl with Eli Manning as the Quarterback and Tom Coughlin as the Coach which proved Barber wrong so I’m sure that Giants fans will give Michael more leeway than Tiki ever got.
I was wondering how the New York Giants would handle Tiki Barber’s retirement. You know how this stuff works. Typically, an organization has a day in which they recognize the achievements of their greatest players. This day is usually a pregame ceremony during the season where the player makes a speech about their career. Tiki did everything he could to burn bridges with the Giants. We all know what he did. He called out the coaching staff and his teamates when the team lost in post game press conferences on multiple occasions. He wrote a book where he bashed the Giants and stated that he might not of retired if Tom Coughlin was not the coach. He was upset that Tom Coughlin didn’t treat him differently. Then Tiki called out Eli Manning at the beginning of the 2007 season. Tiki said it was almost comical watching Eli try to be a leader. When the Giants reached the Super Bowl, they stated that they did not want Tiki there as a Giant. They understood that Tiki would be there for his NBC gig, and that was enough for them. So Tiki ticked off the Giants organization and the fans all on his own. After all of this, how could the Giants host a day for Tiki Barber? I would assume they have to because Tiki is the Giants All-Time leading rusher. The Giants always take the high road because that’s the way Wellington Mara would want it. I’m not going to lie, Tiki was my favorite player until they called out the coaching staff and his teamates after losing in Seattle. Since then, Tiki has only gotten on my nerves more and more until the point where I’m through with the guy. My point is that I want to know if the Giants will have a Tiki Barber day, and how would we, the NY Giants fans, treat Tiki Barber when that time comes?
