Michael Strahan was a little more than halfway through his NFL career when 9/11 happened. The defensive end spent all 15 seasons of his pro football career with the New York Giants.
For a change, Strahan and his producing partner Constance Schwartz-Morini and others sought to put the emphasis on the joyful, inspirational, galvanizing and cathartic moments that the nation experienced in the days after the attacks. There were personalities and moments that consoled a grieving country.
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For Strahan, being part of one of New York’s highest-profile sports teams at a time when the city felt under siege was a profound experience that taught him about the deeper meaning of sports. At first, he wondered how any team would return to a normal NFL schedule after the horror that struck just two days after the start of regular-season NFL play that year. But as the enormity of the loss sank in, Strahan realized that sports and teams that people love would play a huge role in moving the country forward.
“I learned that when you have people who hurt in one area of this country, everybody can feel that hurt. And when you feel that hurt as an American, other Americans step up and really want to be a part of the healing process,” Strahan recalls.
“So many people came up at the screening and said, ‘This is something that everyone at school should see.’ Kids should see this because it lets you know how serious it was, but yet how resilient and how amazing we are as Americans to get through all of this,” Strahan says “The humanity that we showed in that time frame, the love that we show for each other as Americans. There wasn’t such divide and I think that’s a great message for where we are right now. We all just want the same things. We want family. We want love. We want safety.”
