E-GIANTS
Dave Klein was the Giants' beat writer
for The Star-Ledger from 1961 to 1995.
He is the author of 26 books and he is one of
only four sportswriters to have covered all the Super Bowls.
Dave has allowed TEAM GIANTS to reprint some of his articles.

MICHAEL STRAHAN PULLS THE PLUG; ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT AFTER 15 YEARS
By DAVE KLEIN

It was at the Super Bowl, in those final fateful seconds of the fourth quarter (29 of them, to be exact) when the Giants had just taken their shocking 17-14 lead over New England.

But the still undefeated Patriots, with one of history's most potent offenses, had the ball and all the horses and needed to go just far enough, at worst, to get in position for a field goal that would create the Super Bowl's first overtime game.

They were on their 26 and could have made it happen if they reached the Giants' 35, to set up a 52-yard field goal attempt. But they didn't seem to want to do that, they wanted to win it in those few seconds to increase the myth.

Just before that series began, Michael Strahan was in defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo's face. "Bring the guns," he yelled. "Bring it, coach." He meant an all-out pass rush, and since Spagnuolo hadn't been conservative all season, he wasn't inclined to start at that moment.

He brought it. He brought the "terror defense" to attack Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady, and the heat the defense put on him, including a 10-yard sack by rookie Jay Alford, was enough to lock up the Super Bowl.

It was Strahan's first Super Bowl in his 15 years of playing for the Giants, and as it turned out, it was his last year playing for them and his first and last Super Bowl.

But he got the ring, finally, and that made it easier for what he did Monday morning.

Strahan retired. He phoned Giants' president John K. Mara with his decision even as the team was on the field in the bubble sweltering through one of those Organized Team Activities.

"Michael called me earlier this morning," Mara said, "to tell me he had decided to retire. I told him I was disappointed and that I knew he could still play at a very high level and we were hoping to have him back. But I certainly understand his decision. I told him he's been a great Giant. He thanked me for everything the organization has done for him and I said, 'I think you have done more for us than we can ever do for you."

We will go through all Strahan's statistics and whether or not he is the team's all-time leader in sacks since the league began to keep official records of them the year after Lawrence Taylor had 9.5 as a rookie in 1981. Counting the official total, Strahan is the team leader with 141.5 (fifth highest figure in history from 1982); counting L.T.'s rookie year, Strahan is second behind his 142.

Does it matter? Not at all. Michael Strahan was one of the most charismatic players in team history. He was as good as he said he was, as good as anyone who ever played the position, and yes, that counts some of the great defensive ends such as Reggie White and Bruce Smith.

He holds the NFL single-season sack record of 22.5, and if you choose to go through life insisting that Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre "gave him the sack" by falling to the ground in the final game of the 2001 season, then go right ahead. In 2003, Strahan led the NFL again with 18.5 sacks.

Strahan was the Giants second round choice in 1993 (they had spent the first round pick in July of 1992 with a supplemental selection of quarterback Dave Brown), and it wasn't too bad a draft since the sixth round pick was a linebacker named Jesse Armstead.

When the news broke, the players were unaware and, if reports are to be believed, the coaches didn't know, either. Word came filtering through on hand held Blackberries and other forms of computer-generated news sources. Shortly after the 90-minute practice session ended and the players and coaches sogged their way back to the locker room, questions began to fly.

Wide receiver Amani Toomer, the team's oldest veteran now, wasn't sure whether to believe the news. "You know, you read all kinds of things in the papers," he said, "I'm just not sure." When he was told the team had officially acknowledged the fact, he shrugged. "I guess I'm going to be in denial," he said. "It was a deeply personal decision and, well, I hope he changes his mind."

One of the defensive ends, Justin Tuck, is the clear candidate to replace Strahan. He shook his head when that was floated. "No, nobody can replace him," he said. "I am going to play the best football I can but there will only be one Michael Strahan."

Asked how Strahan had helped him since his rookie season three years ago, Tuck said: "In every way possible. He taught me how to use my hands, how to make the moves you have to make, foot placement, how to get ready for a practice, how to get ready for a game. He was a great, great player, and while I'm not surprised, because 15 years with the same team is a great career, I'm going to miss him."

The other defensive end, Pro Bowler Osi Umenyiora, with whom Strahan established a close friendship over the last six years, appeared to have known ahead of time. "It is a very sad day for me personally because I love that guy," he said. "He is like a brother to me and that's something that in this day and age is damned near impossible. He had a strong career and I am happy for him. He has a lot of opportunities off the field and in my opinion he is probably the best Giant ever so I am happy for him but sad for myself."

Umenyiora expressed some surprise that Strahan would make the decision now. "The way he was playing and the way he was producing I thought at least he would give it another year or two," he said. "But he retired at the top of his game. A lot of us don't get the opportunity to do that."

Indeed.

And so while everyone else wandered around trying to see who else would comment on the retirement of this great player, I walked down the row of lockers to the last one on the right, and just stared into it, as if bidding some of the past to reappear.

The placard read "Strahan 92" and while it wasn't empty -- that will happen in the next few days -- it had a sort of desolate feeling. It was where Strahan had held court for years, where he expressed anger and outrage, where he smiled that unique gap-toothed smile thousands of times, where he accepted accolades and tried to explain defeats.

He is going to be difficult to replace, and way tougher than that to forget.

Check out Dave's website at E-GIANTS where you can subscribe to his newsletters which run much more frequently than what is available here.
- Team Giants

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