“My Hero”– Michael Strahan Shares Emotional Post About His Father On Veterans Day Amid National Anthem Outrage

Veterans Day reminds America of the sacrifices the great men and women in the U.S. armed forces made and continue to make to this day to protect our great country's freedoms. The NFL has always been a proud advocate for military causes, and has a Salute to Service initiative that has raised over $73 million since launching in 2011. Former President George W. Bush was at the Cowboys-Eagles game in Dallas on Sunday to do the opening coin toss, and that's one of many high-profile engagements the NFL has done of late to honor the community of military veterans. Longtime New York Giants pass-rusher Michael Strahan is a core member of FOX's NFL coverage these days. Before all that, though, Strahan was shaped by his experiences growing up with a father who served 23 years in the U.S. Army. Thus, Strahan honored his dad, 82nd Airborne Division Maj. Gene Strahan Sr., in an Instagram post on Monday: https://www.instagram.com/michaelstrahan/p/DCOqk6VR0k7/?hl=en&img_index=1 Now I can't read Michael Strahan's mind, but I'm sure he has several photos of his father to choose from. You'll notice that the elder Strahan has his hands folded in front, at rest, in the picture above. I couldn't help but think it might be a low-key response to some wildly unnecessary controversy that erupted this weekend. At Naval Base San Diego, Strahan joined his FOX colleagues for some time with the military in honor of Veterans Day, beginning with this awesome establishing shot aboard a massive Navy vessel, and including a rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner." https://twitter.com/NFLonFOX/status/1855671090657345784 Now be careful, you're liable to lose some brain cells trying to grasp this next bit, but some dude tried to twist the way Strahan was standing as a sign of disrespect to the military. https://twitter.com/toddstarnes/status/1855694636980879577 If that initial viral post wasn't enough, you should see some of the replies. https://twitter.com/WitherbyLori/status/1855714993045447108 https://twitter.com/lucidhub/status/1855696557678755966 My favorite might've been the comparison to Nick Bosa's fine for wearing a MAGA hat. https://twitter.com/Magnamanstock/status/1855703749513097687 I won't dignify sharing more of the comments on that X post/tweet liked by over 66,000 users as of this writing. At least some people could recognize what the hell was going on, rather than reacting before bothering to do a simple 10 seconds of Google research. https://twitter.com/JoePompliano/status/1855989977395466550 It's possible that Strahan's father preferred the stance he took during the national anthem. Maybe that's why he used that particular photo of his dad for Monday's IG post. Can't know for sure without asking the man himself. I just think it's wild that people would come at somebody sideways whose family and personal causes are intricately linked to the U.S. armed forces and military veterans. Michael Strahan is, by all reasonable accounts, a patriot who fully supports veterans, and is deeply moved by his father's own military service. You know what's equal parts wild, hilarious, and pathetic, though? There are still trolls commenting on Strahan's IG post about how he doesn't actually respect the military. A mere sampling of the ignorance below. "FU Strahan. How dare you disrespect everyone today. Good Morning America we have had enough" "HE OBVIOUSLY FORGOT TO TEACH YOU SOME RESPECT" "Your father is [sic] MUST be so embarrassed what you did yesterday." "Pitiful, you embarrassed your Dad." "Feel how you may, but disrespecting soldiers is unacceptable." "Our flag is not a political toy. Find another way to express your 'feelings,' spoiled boy." "That moment was no time to virtue signal." Some people are just irredeemably, willingly stupid. That's the only explanation I have for such flagrant disrespect. Anyone wanna line these folks up with Strahan for a little Oklahoma drill? Donate all the proceeds to causes that support veterans? I would pay money to bear witness. Jay Glazer probably summed it up best: "I’ve just seen the criticism of Michael Strahan. Let me tell you this, I don’t know if I have a friend who is more proud of his military roots than Michael, growing up on an Army base constantly talking about what he learned from his dad Major Gene Strahan and how his time there shaped him. I heard it CONSTANTLY, still do! But also, with no fanfare I personally saw him donate thousands of dollars of clothes to veterans, including many homeless veterans as well clothes for veterans to go on job interviews. I know these days people want to be angry fast but maybe first, how is THIS for a novel idea. ASK him if he’s protesting something. When you protest you want people to know, don’t ya? He was NOT, just got caught up in how beautiful the whole moment was during the anthem and didn’t think about it. Ask the dude before forming an angry mob, but also maybe find out all he’s done for our veterans over the years." https://twitter.com/JayGlazer/status/1856049265346584668