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Giants lose a leader in Strahan

Arthur Staple

9:50 AM EDT, June 10, 2008

It wasn't a complete shock to hear news of Michael Strahan retiring Monday, but still, it's a shock. Those weren't just platitudes for a longtime teammate that Osi Umenyiora and Justin Tuck were saying Monday, those were words of loss for a guy who was a leader on the order of Messier or Jeter.

Don't believe me? Ask Tom Coughlin how much Strahan meant to the title run last year. The look on the coach's face when speaking about Strahan's absence in last year's training camp, a day after a late-night phone call that the early-to-bed Coughlin was sure to miss, said plenty.

Coughlin was mad as hell at Strahan and ready to be done with him. After missing those six weeks, Strahan came back and all of us who covered the team and even a few who played for it thought the fireworks were about to begin.

Instead, Strahan played the loyal soldier. He told Coughlin he would do anything and everything to help the team, and then he did just that, after a rusty start. Oh, and his teammates voted him a captain a few days after he returned, so there was no resentment in there either.

I sat in Coughlin's office during the bye week to ask a few questions, one of which was about Strahan. Coughlin let out a short laugh and just said, "He's a rare kind of leader, I can tell you that."

Strahan was still a pain in the butt to deal with, I can tell you that. In three years covering the Giants, I saw him spit PB&J into the face of an ESPN reporter; belittle the team's PR staff as often as possible and do the same to some of the regular reporters in the locker room. He wasn't really a give-and-take guy. He gave, you took, and if you tried to give it back, well, he wasn't really having that.

I had my own minor brush with him, in training camp, 2006. Strahan had been an ice cream sundae of a treat for the tabloids that spring, with his divorce splashed on the front pages of the Post and News with some crazy stuff from his ex-wife's side - he was gay, a bad father, etc.

He showed up to camp the same day as everyone else, but declared he wasn't talking to the reporters. I was standing near him when he said he hoped to go the whole season without talking to us.

"I'd like to see you try," I said, trying to sound cool and funny, but realizing quickly it would not be received well. He looked at me and said, "Watch me." He stalked off, and a few minutes later someone came out and told me, "Boy, he's mad at you."

I figured that was a pretty long list, so it didn't bug me too much. After a couple days of him ignoring everyone, I decided to apologize, because what I'd said was dumb and I didn't want to be responsible for Strahan not talking.

I approached him after dinner one night, as I was leaving camp. I extended a hand, apologized and we talked, very briefly, about all the stuff he'd gone through with the divorce. He walked off, and I noticed he had something tucked under his arm.

A copy of the Post.

He was a rare one, all right. The Giants may have a little less drama now, but they're also not as good, no matter what anyone thinks of Strahan.