Blue Blood

MICHAEL STRAHAN likes to talk. "He talks so much," says fellow defensive end Justin Tuck, "that some stuff just goes in one ear and out the other." Tuck is kidding, of course, and will be the first to admit that his gregarious teammate of three years is worth listening to more often than not. "Off the field he is a guy that you can definitely talk to. It doesn't even have to be about football—just about life. He has steered us in the right direction."

Last July it looked as if the Giants might have lost their defensive rudder when Strahan didn't report to training camp. Rumors started flying. The reasons for his absence were debated for weeks, but Strahan later explained that he just didn't have "that feeling" that drove him to stalk opposing quarterbacks week after week.

As it turned out, the feeling hadn't completely gone, and Strahan—who signed with the Giants' organization as an underestimated second-round draft pick out of Texas Southern in 1993—rejoined the team five days before the 2007 season opener and was soon voted one of five team captains. "That was amazing," admits Strahan. "I truly didn't expect it because I hadn't been there."

Rookie defensive back Aaron Ross wasn't surprised by the team's decision—and he had barely even met Strahan. "He stands up and lets us know what's in his heart," says the 25-year-old Ross, who grew up playing Strahan in NFL video games. "It's very valuable to see a veteran playing around with the younger guys."

Strahan, 36, hasn't always found it easy to smile during his career. In '99 he was criticized for not playing as if he was worth his new $8 million-a-year contract, the richest deal an NFL defensive lineman had ever received. In '04 he sat out eight games after tearing a muscle in his chest, and sordid details of the pending divorce from his wife, Jean, made New York tabloid headlines in '05. The season after that, he missed six games with a foot injury.

But in '07 Strahan played all 20 games. He didn't come close to matching the record-breaking 22�-sack season he'd had in '01, but his strong supporting cast made double-teaming him costly. Strahan (nine sacks), Osi Umenyiora (13) and Tuck (10) combined for 60.4% of the Giants' league-leading 53 sacks.

An injury-free and noticeably more carefree Strahan was one of the reasons the Giants were loose in '07. "I am not under any pressure to please anybody except myself," says Strahan, who lightened the mood in one particularly tense huddle this season by calling the defensive backs "the ugliest group" he'd ever played with in his career.

"They were mad," Strahan said with his trademark, gap-toothed grin, "because they thought I was going to say something philosophical about the game."

He does that, too, when the situation calls for it. As the only player besides Amani Toomer who remained from the Giants' Super Bowl XXXV team, Strahan was asked by coach Tom Coughlin to help prepare the younger guys and let them know what to expect in Arizona. Strahan told his teammates to enjoy the moment, relax and remember that it's just a game of football, advice he hasn't always heeded himself.

"When you're young, you go, Oh, man, my shoe didn't tie the right way, so maybe I'm going to be a little off today," Strahan says with feigned distress. "I just go out and make sure that the way I play and what I say on the sideline always inspires everybody else."