Going out a champion: Strahan leaves game he loved at the top

For a man born into a military family and schooled in Germany and Texas, it's hard to imagine an athlete more suited to the bright lights of New York -- in all ways on and off the field -- as Michael Strahan was.

Strahan, a 15-year Giants veteran, retired at 36 on Monday, and the Giants called a news conference for Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. to make it official. He retires with a Giant-record 141.5 sacks and sack titles in 2001 and 2003. Lawrence Taylor had 132.5 official sacks, though if you count the 9.5 he had as a rookie, the year before sacks became an official stat, Taylor edges Strahan by half a sack, 142-141.5.

Not that the sacks numbers were a consideration for Strahan as he pondered his future this offseason. He could retire in peace after winning the first Super Bowl title in his career and one of the most unlikely championship wins in history, the February shocker of the Giants beating New England -- a game, privately, that Strahan sometimes still can't believe his team won. He hung on for one last chance after good friend Tiki Barber retired the previous year, and his patience paid off.

"It's just time,'' he told a friend with the Giants this morning. "I'm really happy. I've given this so much thought, and it was just the right time.''

I've known Strahan over the years, in three ways. We were neighbors in our New Jersey town for about 10 years, until he moved recently after a nasty divorce. He was a star for the Giants, and I wrote a couple of fairly long stories about him. And he was the best after-dinner speaker I've ever worked with; he's done maybe 30 or 35 Sports Illustrated events over the years, a few with me as the MC.

Last things first. I'll never forget the time we were together in a ballroom the morning of the Super Bowl a few years ago. He and Donovan McNabb were the guest speakers in front of a group of SI advertisers, with me there to prod them with questions. Understand that Strahan was as quick on his feet as Bob Costas -- and that is not even a small exaggeration -- and you'll know that working with him meant you had to be on your toes.

Well, as I launched into my spiel about the game, Strahan slowly began to take things over. After five or 10 minutes, he and McNabb didn't even need me to run the show, and I said, "I think I'm just going to sit down and let you handle things, Michael. I'm not needed here.'' I sat down. He ran with it most of the rest of the way.

"The reason he was always so good at events,'' said Christine Rosa, the SI executive director of Event Marketing and Athlete Relations, "is that it didn't matter if it was a crowd of 500 or a group of 10 people just standing around with him. He gave you the warm feeling of the guy on the couch sitting next to you watching the game. He's totally charismatic.''

That is why in his next life -- presumably as an NFL analyst for one of the big networks, probably FOX -- he'll have as much trouble fitting in as he did when he walked into a banquet in Manhattan. He might not own the room when he walks in, but give him 15 minutes. He'll fit perfectly.

***