Following a tremendously revealing interview with Prince Harry, probably the signature interview of Michael Strahan’s TV career, the Hall of Fame football star-turned-TV celebrity is reportedly taking a brief vacation from “Good Morning America”.
According to celebrity news, his replacement Cecilia Vega, has already hit the ground running with co-hosts Robin Roberts and George Stephanopoulos on the program. This isn’t Vega’s first rodeo on the show. She appeared on Tuesday, and she frequently fills in when the main anchor takes a break, so her presence shouldn’t be too alarming to Strahan fans. This is still, however, all very mysterious, as the reason for Strahan’s “break” from the show is unknown.
The lineup change comes a few days after Strahan interviewed Prince Harry for his new book, which came out on Tuesday.
During the interview Strahan dug into Harry’s relationship with his older brother Prince William, who Harry described as his “beloved” sibling and “archnemesis.”
Strahan hit it out of the park when he asked Harry what his late mother, Princess Diana, would think about the state of their relationship, to which Harry replied, “I think she would be sad, I think she would be looking at it long term to know there are certain things we need to go through to be able to heal the relationship.”
Now, most of TSL’s contributors come from the Joe Mazzulla school when it comes to concerns about what’s going on with the royal family. The Boston Celtics coach had a classic reply when asked about the royal family’s attendance at a Celtics-Heat game back in December.
“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph? I’m only familiar with one royal family. I don’t know too much about them,” said Mazulla, who currently has the Celtics humming and atop the East since taking over for Ime Udoka.
But let’s give Strahan his props with a timeline of his illustrious and pioneering success from his time as a transcending HBCU football talent to the NFL to his current break from GMA.
1993-2007
Michael Strahan: From HBCU To All-Time NFL Single-Season Sack Leader
Michael Strahan was a second-round pick out of Texas Southern by the New York Giants in 1993 and during a career that lasted until 2007, the defensive end was a seven-time Pro Bowl selection, six-time All-Pro, Super Bowl champion and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
(Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
As the heart and soul of a ferocious Giants defense in 2001, Strahan set the single-season sack record with 22.5, which is yet to be broken. There’s been some recent debate about Al Baker having 23 sacks in 1978, but we’ll leave that up to the historians. Jared Allen and Justin Houston came close. Each had seasons with 22 sacks. T.J. Watt had 21.5 in 2021.
While most weekend warriors struggle to find a groove and a self-serving stage in life after football, Strahan switched lanes but stayed true to who he was. He didn’t slow down after retirement, he turned up and used his gap-toothed smile, chiseled figure, soft-hearted but competitive nature and charisma to become a TV star.
2008
Michael Strahan Joins Fox Sports
Upon retirement, Strahan wasted no time capitalizing on his celebrity and joined Fox Sports, becoming a regular on the NFL pregame show “NFL Sunday.” He continues to shine on the show alongside host Curt Menefee and analysts Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, and Jimmy Johnson — his cast of media legends and former Hall of Famers and has won multiple sports Emmy Awards for his work.
(NFL)
2012-2016
Michael Strahan Joins Kelly Ripa
In 2012, Strahan joined Kelly Ripa on “Live! With Kelly and Michael,” following Regis Philbin’s departure.
Despite reports of tension between the two stars, they had a great run that ended in 2016, and Strahan won two more Daytime Emmys for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show. It was the top-rated nationally syndicated entertainment talk show.
2016-Current
Michael Strahan Becomes ‘Good Morning America,’ ‘GMA 3’ Co-Host
Strahan fractured his partnership with Ripa to become co-host on “Good Morning America” in 2016, breaking more barriers for Black television personalities in big-money mainstream television, which led to him hosting a GMA spin off show, “GMA 3” with Sarah Haines and Keke Palmer.
Michael Strahan Game Show Host
He’s also the host of the ABC game show “The 100,000 Pyramid,” and the series has been renewed for six seasons.
2022
Strahan Makes Hollywood Walk of Fame
Strahan is now being rewarded for all of his hard work on TV, as the Hollywood Walk of Fame announced that the Giants great was chosen as one of the members of its Class of 2022. Strahan earned his star as part of a new category titled “Sports Entertainment” in which he was the first-ever nominee. So, he just opened the door for other underrated stars of burgeoning new platforms of entertainment to receive their flowers.
All of this and in his spare time he suits up HBCUs with gear from his clothing line so they can look flavorful when stepping off of the bus to handle business. And donates helmets to his cash-strapped alma mater.
Michael Strahan had custom suits made for the entire Jackson State football team as a favor to Deion Sanders.
• ~150 suits made
• An on-campus pop-up Men’s Warehouse shop was made for fittings
• "They just felt so wonderful" Sanders said of his team
(via @thisisinsider) pic.twitter.com/jnh48FmU6p
— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) September 5, 2021
SMAC Entertainment
Strahan also founded his own production company, SMAC Entertainment, which produces strong and diversified content for ABC and other networks, most notably “The Joker’s Wild,” “ESPN 30 for 30: Deion’s Double Play,” “Wiz Khalifa: Behind The Cam,” “Back In The Game” and “The Cost of Winning,” a four-part docuseries follows the football team at St. Frances Academy in Baltimore, Maryland. Since 2014, Strahan and SMAC have also produced the highly rated and critically acclaimed Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Sports Awards, which he hosted in 2014 and 2019.
Michael Strahan’s SMAC Entertainment Signs ‘Total Bellas’ Brie & Nikki Bella https://t.co/aAiVtH4Hqb pic.twitter.com/VqdoJDYjAk
— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) July 8, 2020
When you talk about pioneers of the game, Strahan’s name is often overlooked, but he’s always booked, breaking barriers, and we can’t wait to see what he has in store next and when he’s returning to “Good Morning America” as a familiar face for Black people.
