Giants DE Strahan retires

Jun 9, 2008 - 5:25 PM EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) -- With a Super Bowl ring on his finger and a place in the Hall of Fame all but secured, Michael Strahan called it quits following a record-setting career with the New York Giants.

Strahan retired Monday morning, ending a 15-year career spent exclusively with the Giants.

Strahan's retirement, initially reported by FOXSports.com, was confirmed by Giants head coach Tom Coughlin after a team workout.

"I'm just finding out about it," Coughlin told reporters. "Let me get organized."

Strahan, 36, flirted with retirement last summer before returning to the eventual Super Bowl champion Giants. The defensive end told FOXSports.com that he wanted to decide on his future prior to the beginning of Giants' mini-camp.

"It was important that my teammates knew which way I was going before they got on the field to start the work to defend our title," said Strahan, the Giants' all-time leader in sacks. "It's time. I'm done."

After spearheading a ferocious defense that helped upset the then-undefeated New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII, Strahan did not indicate this past February if he would return for his 16th season with the Giants.

But just over four months later, Strahan has arrived at a final decision.

"It's a tough decision," he told FOXSports.com. "But I wanted to be fair to the Giants and fair to my teammates."

A four-time All Pro, Strahan appeared in 216 career games - all with the Giants. The future Hall of Famer ranks fifth all-time with 141 1/2 career sacks.

Strahan admitted last summer that he was mulling retirement and missed nearly all of training camp before deciding to play. The seven-time Pro Bowler got off to a slow start before ultimately enjoying a successful regular season, recording nine sacks in 16 games.

The ensuing postseason proved vindicating for the verbose Strahan, who came up short in his bid for a Super Bowl ring in his six previous playoff appearances.

Strahan collected 22 tackles and two sacks - including one in the Super Bowl - during New York's improbable title run, silencing his numerous critics by capping his successful career with a long-awaited championship.

A second-round draft selection in 1993, Strahan led the NFL in sacks twice (2001, 2003) and recorded double-digit sacks in six different seasons. He rewrote the NFL record book in 2001, when he collected a single-season record 22 1/2 sacks.

Following a stellar 2003 campaign in which he led the league with 18 1/2 sacks, Strahan's career took a sour turn in 2004 - when he missed the final eight games with a torn pectoral muscle.

After playing the entire 2005 season and finishing with 11 1/2 sacks, Strahan missed seven games in 2006 due to a foot injury. The Houston native also clashed with teammate Plaxico Burress and the New York media at one point during the 2006 campaign, leading to speculation that his days with the Giants could be numbered.

But despite his prolonged holdout last summer, Strahan was voted as a team co-captain by the Giants prior to last season, a vote of confidence that seemed to spur him toward another solid season.

Led by Strahan, New York's defense paced the NFL with 53 sacks this past season. The Giants also recorded eight sacks during the postseason, including five against Tom Brady in the Super Bowl.