Michael Strahan American American Football Player

Early life

Michael Strahan was born on 21 November 1971 in Houston, Texas. When he was nine his family moved to a United States Army post in Mannheim, West Germany, and he went to Mannheim American High School, where he played linebacker. Before his final year of school his father sent him back to Houston to live with his uncle Art Strahan, a former NFL defensive lineman, so that he could attend Westbury High School. After a single season there he was offered a scholarship to Texas Southern University, where his uncle had also played defensive end.

At Texas Southern he drew so much attention from opponents that the coaches talked about "Strahan rules" for double-teaming him. As a senior he was named to several All-America first teams, and he set a school record with 19 quarterback sacks in the year. His 41.5 career sacks remain a Texas Southern record. He was Southwestern Athletic Conference player of the year in 1991 and 1992 and was inducted into the Black College Football Hall of Fame in 2014 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 2025.

Career

The New York Giants chose Strahan in the second round of the 1993 draft. He spent all fifteen of his NFL seasons with the team, a stretch of 200 games, and played as a defensive end. After a slow start, he had a breakout in 1997 with 14 sacks, which earned a first Pro Bowl selection and first-team All-Pro honours. In 2001 he set the league's single-season record with 22.5 sacks and was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year. He also led the NFC as defensive player of the year in 2003. Over his career he reached seven Pro Bowls and finished with 141.5 sacks, a total that was fifth all-time when he stopped playing. In 2007 he passed Lawrence Taylor to become the Giants' career leader with 133.5 sacks in the team's counting.

The Giants reached Super Bowl XXXV in the 2000 season but lost to the Baltimore Ravens. His fifteenth and final season ended differently: on 3 February 2008 he made two tackles and a sack as the Giants beat the previously unbeaten New England Patriots 17–14 in Super Bowl XLII. He retired on 9 June 2008. The Giants retired his number 92 on 28 November 2021.

Strahan moved quickly into television. In June 2008 he joined the Fox NFL Sunday pregame show, and in 2018 he began hosting the Thursday edition. He first guest-hosted Live! alongside Kelly Ripa in 2010 and became her permanent co-host in September 2012 on Live! with Kelly and Michael. In 2016 he left that show to join Good Morning America full-time. In 2018 he started co-hosting a daytime spin-off with Sara Haines, which was later renamed Strahan, Sara and Keke and ended in 2020. He also hosts the revived game show The $100,000 Pyramid, which began in 2016.

His acting credits include the Fox sitcom Brothers in 2009, the film Magic Mike XXL in 2015, and a cameo as Bosley in Charlie's Angels in 2019. In 2015 he published the motivational book Wake Up Happy and launched a menswear line sold through JCPenney. On 11 December 2021 he flew aboard Blue Origin's NS-19 suborbital mission and, at 6 feet 5 inches, was reported as the tallest person to travel to space.

Recognition

Strahan was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2014, and Super Bowl XLVIII was dedicated to him in honour of the induction. He was a four-time first-team All-Pro and is a member of the NFL 2000s All-Decade Team and the Giants' Ring of Honor. For his television work he and Kelly Ripa won two Daytime Emmy Awards for outstanding talk show host, in 2015 and 2016. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2023.

Personal life

Strahan is the nephew of Art Strahan, who played for the Houston Oilers and Atlanta Falcons in the 1960s. He has a home base in New York, where he works on his morning television programmes.