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How do you handle a growing story you don’t believe should be one? That was the conundrum facing Michael Strahan and Fox Sports over the backlash to his actions during a rendition of the national anthem on Sunday.
Strahan, whose father served with the 82nd Airborne, declined to put his hand over his heart during the playing of the anthem. While Strahan stood respectfully with his hands folded at his waist, all six of his Fox NFL Sunday colleagues put their hands over their hearts.
I spoke with several sources about what happened during Fox NFL Sunday’s telecast from Naval Base San Diego on Sunday. They say Strahan meant zero disrespect.
“This whole thing is so ridiculous,” says one source. “If Michael wanted to go full [Colin] Kaepernick he would have come up with something better than just holding his hands together.”
Strahan hadn’t directly addressed the controversy for days, and neither had Fox, as both Strahan and the network didn’t want to pump oxygen into a media brushfire. As criticism intensified, however, that changed on Wednesday with a video Strahan released through his Instagram account.
“The only statement that should be made and I want to make is that I love the military, I’ve always loved the military, and I’ll always love the military,” Strahan said.
“I was caught up in the moment. I’m looking at all these young sailors, standing at attention before the National Anthem plays, and I’m thinking how incredible. … And by the time I looked up from that moment, I panicked.”
Fox executives felt the “cowardly Strahan disrespects veterans” theme is a crock ginned up by social media critics. As one of the few networks broadcasting from military bases every year, Fox is angered by accusations it acted unpatriotically—on the eve of Veterans Day, no less.
Fox’s Jay Glazer offered a full-throated defense of his friend on X/Twitter. If Strahan was protesting some issue, he would say so loud and clear, according to Glazer. The NFL insider said that before forming an “angry mob,” his critics should learn about the donations he’s made to veteran charities over the years.
“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!” Glazer tweeted.
I agree that people need to lighten up and stop looking for insults where there aren’t any. I believe Strahan meant no disrespect toward veterans. Stories like this love a vacuum, however. As FOS editor-in-chief Daniel Roberts laid out Sunday, with President-elect Donald Trump returning to the White House, sports and politics will be intertwined once again. Strahan is one of the savviest media personalities on Earth, rising from a Hall of Fame playing career to cohost of GMA. It took too long, but it appears he realized that if you don’t define the narrative, the narrative defines you.
