New York Giants legends were in attendance at this weekend’s Fanatics Fest in New York City to spend time with fans and share stories of their time with the team. Hall of Fame Giants pass-rusher and renowned television host Michael Strahan was among the legends on the team’s Night with Champions panel on Friday evening.
Strahan is one of the NFL’s most famous athletes. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2014 following an illustrious 15-year, Super Bowl-winning and record-setting career. Most notably, Strahan set the single-season sack record in 2001 with 22.5 sacks. It was a historic season for Strahan that he delivered to New York Giants fans, and dedicated to New York’s heroes.
Giants: Michael Strahan explains how 9/11 heroes inspired his record-setting 2001 season
When asked about his record-setting 2001 season, Strahan got deep, discussing the aftermath of the September 11th tragedy and how the heroics of first responders inspired him to keep pushing throughout the year and achieve greatness:
“I’ll never forget when that happened and we didn’t play,” Strahan began. “All of the guys that were sitting that were really affected, we were like, ‘We’re not going out there.’ And the league finally said, ‘OK, no football for a week because there were bigger things to think about.’ And we had a chance as a team to go down to Ground Zero a few days after and take supplies and try to do what we could do, which really wasn’t much, but just try.
“And I saw first responders, firemen, policemen — I’ve never seen people that tired. Ever. But unified. And from that moment on, I said, ‘How can I ever complain about being tired? How can I ever complain?’ Our job is literally to go out on the weekend to give people something to entertain them and something to take their mind away from that.
“So then we played in Kansas City the first week back. I didn’t do much. In the first three games I had no sacks. And then I just said, ‘Run through people.’ That was it. ‘Run through people.’
–These quotes captured by Empire Sports Media’s own Anthony Rivardo at Fanatics Fest
And run through people he did. Strahan went on to total 22.5 sacks that season — the most ever in a single season. It’s a record that has been challenged, and tied, but still stands to this day, 23 years later.
Strahan is one of the greatest players in the history of the New York Giants. He’s a fan favorite, not only for the monumental success he found on the field, but his love from the fans also stems from his character off the field.
