Years after Colin Kaepernick was blackballed from the NFL for kneeling during the National Anthem, NFL Hall of Famer Michael Strahan faces backlash for what appears — at least on the surface — to be a similar action during the “Star Spangled Banner.”
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On Sunday, during a special broadcast of “Fox NFL Sunday” from Naval Base San Diego, Strahan was seen on the broadcast not putting his hand over his heart as the National Anthem played, while the rest of his co-workers did.
This caused some controversy on social media, with many claiming that the former New York Giants star was disrespecting the country and the military.
Despite the wave of negative comments toward Strahan in the days following the special broadcast, Strahan did not seem to be bothered by the conversation happening on social media.
On Tuesday, while co-hosting “Good Morning America,” it was business as usual and the former defensive star just did what he normally would.
But hours later, once he returned home from “GMA,” a Daily Mail reporter approached Strahan outside of his home, asking him to address the criticism of his actions during the National Anthem on Sunday.
In response, Strahan lashed out, yelling, “Don’t come to my house, man!” and grabbed the reporter’s phone and tossed it before going inside his New York home.
Shortly after the above altercation, Strahan had enough, and felt like it was finally time to address his actions during the special broadcast on “Fox NFL Sunday.”
On Tuesday evening, he posted a lengthy video to Instagram, saying, “I want to address what happened this past weekend. I feel like I need to address it because it spilled over, to the point where I get out of my car today and I’m ambushed by a media outlet here at my house. Which I’m not proud of the way I handled that whole situation. But I think anybody out there is gonna understand things you’re gonna do; you’re gonna protect your family and you’re gonna protect your home.”
He continued, “I have nothing to protest, I have no statement to be made. The only statement that should be made that I want to make is I love the military, I’ve always loved the military and I will always love the military. I do so many programs to help veterans and soldiers. I grew up on a military base with a father who was a major in the army. My brother, my sister, my cousins, they all served in the military...I’m a military brat.”
Strahan later explained that the claims that he’s “unpatriotic” are not true and that he was simply “caught up in the moment” during the broadcast on the Navy SEAL base.
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