Sunday was a big day for two Fox broadcasters being honored by their former NFL teams.
This Sunday, I have the extreme honor to head to Metlife Stadium to have #92 officially retired by the @nygiants. 15 years of representing the team on and off the field and closing out my career with a Super Bowl win went by in a flash!! This didn’t happen without a lot of help. pic.twitter.com/S8E9VTruwk
— Michael Strahan (@michaelstrahan) November 24, 2021
First, Michael Strahan had his No. 92 jersey retired by the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium. The defensive end, now a co-host of Fox NFL Sunday and ABC’s Good Morning America, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2014, so it seems a bit unusual for the team to have waited this long to retire his number. Strahan himself wondered why when speaking to reporters last week.
“I would have expected it a little bit sooner, but it’s still an honor,” Strahan told the Associated Press’s Tim Canavan. “Things come in the time in which they’re meant to come and not at the time in which you want them to come, sometimes.”
https://twitter.com/NFLonFOX/status/1465042091084591108
However, No. 92 had effectively been retired by the Giants in all but ceremony. No player had worn the number since Strahan ended his playing career after the 2007 season. CBS Sports’ Steven Taranto points out that Leonard Williams asked for No. 92 when he joined the Giants in 2019, but was denied that number.
“Every team has their ups and downs,” Strahan said in a halftime speech to the MetLife Stadium crowd (via the New York Post). “But the New York Giants have won Super Bowls. There are teams that never have. Appreciate what you got. We will be back! We will be up again! I guarantee you that!”
Strahan played all 15 of his NFL seasons with the Giants, and was on the team that won Super Bowl XLII. He compiled 141 1/2 quarterback sacks during his career, twice leading the league in that category, and set the single-season record with 22.5 sacks in 2001.
It was great to celebrate @michaelstrahan getting his number retired. Now I get to celebrate the win. pic.twitter.com/QrD0oAcpUC
— Eli Manning (@EliManning) November 28, 2021
Related: Fox’s Jimmy Johnson shares biggest regret of his coaching career
In Green Bay, Charles Woodson was honored by the Packers for his recent induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The defensive back, co-host of Big Noon Kickoff and Fox NFL Kickoff, was added to the team’s Ring of Honor at Lambeau Field, joining other Green Bay legends including Ray Nitschke, Bart Starr, Paul Hornung, Reggie White, and Brett Favre. Woodson played for the Packers from 2006 through 2012, won NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2009, and was on the team that won Super Bowl XLV.
Woodson played his other 11 NFL seasons with the Oakland Raiders, who honored him earlier in November to commemorate his Hall of Fame induction.
The ceremony in Green Bay capped off quite a weekend for Woodson, who was in Ann Arbor with Fox for Saturday’s clash between Michigan and Ohio State. He was honored before the game for his Hall of Fame induction.
Woodson, who won the Heisman Trophy in 1997 as part of the Wolverines’ national championship team, was inducted into Michigan’s Hall of Honor in 2017.
https://twitter.com/TinoBovenzi/status/1464799149765931009
“I ain’t going nowhere now; I’m here. I’m in that stadium forever, man. That’s truly a blessing,” Woodson said to the Lambeau Field crowd. “It’s been a heck of a ride, man, and this is kind of like the culmination. Finally getting the ring, man, and my name being on the field here at Lambeau is special.”
