Face of a franchise

Michael Strahan's play and persona make him right for New York.

By GARY SHELTON
Published January 30, 2008

Giants defensive end Michael Strahan plays up the gap in his teeth, and made others laugh with him on Super Bowl media day.
	[AP photo]

PHOENIX - The face of a city is laughing now.

Even with a map, you would recognize it. The eyes sparkle like the bright lights of Broadway. The smile is wild and unending, revealing teeth that look like two skyscrapers surrounding the Lincoln Tunnel. The head is tilted slightly backward, as if to absorb the feel of the moment.

Look closely, and you can see the history. You can see a bit of attitude, perhaps even a trace of arrogance. Most of all, you can see the ambition.

Yeah, this is what New York looks like these days.

Funny how much it looks like Michael Strahan, isn't it?

For a long time, his has been the image of his geography. Strahan, New York guy. He is one of those rare athletes who is talented enough, who is charismatic enough, who is oversized enough to become a part of his city's landscape. Joe Namath was like that. And Lawrence Taylor and Derek Jeter and Mickey Mantle and Clyde Frazier and Mark Messier and the rest of the athletes that the city did not throw back.

This week, Strahan may be the essential New Yorker.

This week, he also may be the essential Giant.

When you get down to it, it isn't much of a secret. The Giants' chances of upsetting the Patriots in Sunday's Super Bowl start with the pass rush, and for a very long time now, that pass rush has started with Strahan.

Even now, even at 36, even in a year he wasn't sure he wanted, things haven't changed much. Tiki is gone, and Shockey is hurt. Who else are Giants fans supposed to depend upon?

If Strahan feels the weight of expectations, it isn't showing. He sat on a podium at the University of Phoenix Stadium, working the microphone, milking the crowd, playing to his teammates.

He sang. He joked. He spoke a little German. He grinned. He laughed. He smiled for Japan. He reminisced. He did imitations. He said hello to Australia. He talked about his coach. He talked about his teammates. He talked about his opponents. He acted as if he was crying for Entertainment Tonight. He turned a one-hour media session into the Michael Strahan Variety Show.

In other words, the pressure isn't exactly eating him up.

"I don't take myself too seriously," Strahan said. "If I did, I would have gone to a dentist years ago."

And off he went. ...

On the Mexican television announcer who walked around media day asking players to marry her: "She knows my history. She better leave me alone."

On coach Tom Coughlin softening his personality: "If he didn't change, we wouldn't be here. I don't think we would have guys with the same commitment to win 10 games on the road or come back from 14 points down in a game we needed to get into the playoffs. Guys would just say 'Let's get this thing over with and go home.'"

On whether he, David Letterman or Alfred E. Neuman had the best gap between their teeth: "SpongeBob, actually."

On the 2000 Super Bowl in Tampa: "I don't even remember playing the game. It was so surreal. The next day, I opened the newspaper and it said 'Ravens win.' I said: 'We played?' "

On Brady: "I like Tom. I'm sort of jealous that I'm not Tom Brady. He looks like a GQ model, and he's dating the biggest model in the world. What's not to like?"

On which actress he might bring to the Super Bowl: "If I wanted to impress a woman, I wouldn't bring her to a Super Bowl. I would give her a chance to stare into my gapped teeth in a restaurant. There are a lot of actresses who are hot, but most of them are pregnant."

On the pressure on him and fellow defensive end Osi Umenyiora: "Every week we go into a meeting, and our defensive coordinator (Steve Spagnuolo) says 'If we are going to win this game, you two have to play well.' We're used to that. We're used to him putting the pressure on us."

So it went, one-liners and ad-libs, punch-lines and rimshots. For Strahan, these are the best days, filled with unexpected pleasures and unpromised success. These are the days of found money and free dessert.

He was going to give all of this up, you know. There were times he was certain of it.

On the eve of training camp this year, Strahan called Coughlin and told him he was thinking about retirement. Some thought it was about money, and some thought it was about missing the drudgery of camp. Strahan, however, said he liked the afterlife of his career enough to consider making it permanent. Time after time, he said, he thought about calling Coughlin and telling him he was done.

Even after Strahan reported, he wondered if he had done the right thing by returning. The Giants started 0-2, and Strahan admitted his mind wandered.

"That beach sounded good," he said. "There was a time when I wondered if I could go back to retirement without anyone hating me."

The Giants turned their season around, however, and Strahan finished with nine sacks, giving him 141.5 for his career. It's a fine body of work.

Could this be the end for Strahan? He toys with the idea, tossing it out and then pulling it back. He swears he has not made up his mind, but you get the idea that walking away is on his mind.

One more game, and his career might be complete.

One more game, and all of New York will remember his name.

[Last modified January 29, 2008, 23:56:16]