What do you do when life doesn't go according to plan that moment you lose a job, or a loved one, or even a piece of yourself. I'm Brookshields and this is now What, a podcast about pivotal moments as told by people who lived them. Each week, I sit down with a guest to talk about the times they were knocked off course and what they did to move forward.
Some stories are funny, others are gut wrenching, but all are unapologetically human and remind us that every success and every setback is accompanied by a choice, and that choice answers one question. Now, what what guest makes you laugh the hardest?
Oh man. The one guest who came on who made me flap harder than anyone else was the last time they were always one last time Tiffany Hattish. And the reason that Tiffany Hattish made me laugh so hard is she was all over George ste Monopolis with the jokes and she made George actually kind of dance for George. It was a dance, I know it was. He refusedes to dance for me on GMA. So Tiffany Hattish, Dotty Parton, Dottany Parton's actually another funny one and told me one
of the funniest things I've ever heard. When I asked her one time, so, what's the first thing you do when you wake up? She said, Well, Michael, I put on my clothes and I go home. Ah wow.
My guest today is a familiar face to many of you. Michael Strahan is a television personality, a journalist, a former NFL legend and then into Football's Hall of Fame, a business owner, an entrepreneur, a dad. Oh, I could go on and on. We met a number of times over the years, and I'm always blown away by how kind and genuinely down to earth he is. I love Michael's approach to life, and I'm in awe of his work ethic. Chatting with him is always fun, and I'm so pleased
to share a conversation with you all. So, without further ado, here is Michael Straham. Well, thank you for taking time to talk to me. There's so much about you that I'm so in awe of, and I feel you're such an inspiration. Tell me just a little bit about your childhood because you were an army brat. My husband was also an army brat, and then you went to Germany at age nine.
Yeah, I was nine. We moved to Germany where I was nine. We were at Fort Brake, North Carolina before that. I grew up there.
Do you still speak the language?
Oh I can't. Well, if we were there together, we would we would always have to be able to order food and drinks. Okay, outside of that, we might be a little iffy.
That's okay. Did you enjoy it?
I loved it. I think growing up overseas and growing up on a military base gave me a very different perspective than most people get and have the ability in what way just to be around different people of different backgrounds, different races, different religions, and none of it mattered because when you're on these military bases, you're just living. You're Americans, You're all like one, and it didn't matter. And it taught me and something that I think has helped me
in my life now. I look at people as individuals. I don't look at you for color of your skin or where you're from and what you have. I don't care about those things. It's like the quality of the person. And I attribute that to growing up on the base overseas.
But you know what, that that just goes back to you know, we're not born with these with prejudice in that way, like we're not born noticing somebody is different than the other person. We're born to know. Wait, that person feels safe, that person I feel is going to love me, like really sort of saying that type of freedom of perspective allows you to meet people where they are exactly.
And I've found it's been refreshing to meet so many people and go that's completely the opposite of what they're maybe their public perception would be it what you would or what they would look like.
And did you feel it in reverse? Like did you feel it? Was it reciprocal?
I think yeah, I think they're there. It was definitely reciprocal, you know. And I think in my life now, because people know who I am, they always come in with this preconceived notion of you know, or how the people who do know who who think they know who I am their preconceived notion what I'm like. But I think for me, I've been able to transfer who I am to what I do. Yeah, if you understand, like, I don't have to get on TV and try to be
a different person. My job is I kind of been able to do my job and stay the same person. But I also am aware that I cannot believe that my job is who I am, this whole celebrity thing and his whole thing. I'm uncomfortable with that because I just want to finish doing what I do. Like everybody goes to regular jobs or any job, and I just want to come home and I want to walk around the street and I want to say hello to people, and I want to go to the coffee shop and get a coffee and.
Yeah, yeah, But it's how you put that out there. I mean two people, my husbands. One of them said, he ran into you, met you for the first time at a boxing match. Okay, uh, usually more than two people at a boxing match, and met you once two years later, ran into you at SOHO house and you remember his name. And my husband calls friend of his who was in shause at that minute, and he's like, oh my god, I'm not gonna believe what just happened.
He just remembered my name after two years. He's like, damn, he did the same thing to me. So you put out there this accessibility, and what's interesting is celebrity aparts athletes, they are themselves, whereas actors are playing other people. So there's an intrinsic sort of difference. So, but people think they know you. They also think it's been easy for you everything. You just had it all. You had it all handed to you, didn't you your overnight success? Aren't you?
You are too you know. They think you just selled up and they said, hey, just throw her all over the place. She's gotta make it. There's no work involved. But I think that is up that you heal the point. And I think that's what it's so funny as an athlete, because most people have no idea why I went to college. They have no idea I went to HBCU. They think, you know, they think either I went to some big school or some fancy program, and I didn't. I went to a school where we had one pair of cleats
for the entire season. We took a bus. We literally took a bus to every game. My senior year, we went to Florida on a plane, and we went to Las Vegas on a plane my senior year. The other years, every place from one trip to Florida, Mississippi were Arkansas. We were on buses and we had bag launches. I respect the Shawnee's restaurant chain, but I if I can help it, will never eat out another show because that's all the fetous good for football players. You feed the whole team for a discount.
How do you think that shaped you? Though? How do you think that that I don't know that the real truth and the grit of that experience and that bonding and that amount of time spent sort of being uncomfortable, how do you think that's shaped you.
I'm grateful and I'm appreciative because I know the other side of it. And when you come to the NFL and everybody's given you a new pair of cleats every day if you want for practice in the games, and guys are putting your pads in your pants and putting your jersey on your shoulder path.
Before, explain that to me a little bit better. I'm not aware of sports that much, but wow, okay, that's a piece of it. I did not reckon. I did not know about nobody's putting. People have put pads in my boots before.
A little different, okay, the kind of the same concept. But when you get these somebody does everything for you, and a lot of guys grew up that way. They were always the best in middle school, elementary school, high school, college. I didn't grow up that way. I grew up where everything felt like it was a struggle everything. I had to prove myself to get the respect that I wanted
out of whatever I did. But it drove me to work harder, and it drives me to this day to appreciate everything, to appreciate everything I do, everybody I'm allowed to be around, and people allow me into their lives, and I appreciate friendships, and yeah, just gave it this great appreciation of life because I understand what the alternative
could be. I remember value. Taught me value of people too, because I remember cutting grass and I bestly remember moving furniture growing up and working in the kitchen also, But people treated you as if you pretty much had no value, like you're here to serve me. And I have always always felt I always knew I felt unseen because I knew that's where I had to be at that time, but that wasn't going to be my life. So now
I'm where I'm at in my life. It's very important for me to make sure that everybody around me is seen and that I let them know that like a just a hello, or remembering someone's name like you said earlier, using it because that's a personal connection to that person that some people may just go just somebody who's you know, cleaning the dishes off the table. Hell, I was at guy at one point.
I call the show now what because there are so many moments in our lives that are pivotal that things change in our lives, either for the better or for the worse, and whether we realize that at that time or not, they're pivotal, and it's how we react to them. And I'm curious if there is an outstanding now one moment for you that comes to mind?
Yeah, yeah, I mean I have several two that stand out. One when I was thirteen and the other one when I was seventeen. And when I was thirteen, this was kind of funny now, but I was. I was a big bone kid. Let's just put it that way. I was a big bone boy.
I can call him a basketball so we'll talk.
But my brothers and their friends, I used to I'm the youngest of six, like I said earlier, after run around with them, and they called me Bob. I thought it was cool because I'm the youngest of the kids and I'm hanging out with the older kids and they give me a nickname and usually get a nickname, and me sure, cool. But then one day one of the friends told me that Bob meant big old butt booty on back, like you can grab your wallet like that your but so big, and I cried like a baby.
But it was pivotal because I went out and somehow scround up the money to buy the Jane Fonda workout tapes and I did the Jane Fonda workout tape, the butt lift, the side lifts, all that stuff, and then herschel Walker back and back in what eighty three eighty you or something like that or eighty four was big time, big time football player and he was coming out of here in Berthiage, Georgia. He had a book and it was all about body weight, push up, sit up, pushing tires.
I did though, between Jane Fond and herschel Walker. I did those workouts and it worked. It's like hey, but my dad saw me working so hard, so he said, you know what, I'll work out with you. So every day my dad and I used to go to the gym six days a week and we work out. And there were times when I'm thirteen, fourteen, fifteen year old kid and I'm like, I want to be here right now. On the weekend, I'm my friend are having fun. My dad said, don't worry, Son, you put it into work,
then you have your fun. But it will all pay off one day. I'm in a kid in Germany, just working out, trying not to be called Bob. I'm not thinking about sports in any way, not even playing any sports. And I get the scholarship. My dad sends me to Houston five months, live with my uncle. Get one scholarship Texas Southern University. After my first semester. This is the second point, go home for Christmas break. I was way from home for five months. Oh my god. I hated college,
hated everything about it. I go, I take the light bulbs, like I was not going back to school. I cleaned that room out and my dad was like, I was like two weeks since school had started. I was like two weeks I'm still in Germany. But Dad said, what are you doing here? I'm like, I'm not going back to school. I thought I was gonna man up, and he looked at me and said, what are you going
to do. I'll get a job. And he looked at me again and said, what are you going to do, And like a light bulb clicked in my mind that you know what, you got to grow up. You can't live your life and expect mommy and daddy to take care of you for your whole life. Take care of you, know,
take advantage of whatever opportunities you have. But if you got to go back to school because your dad's not letting you stay here, anything you do from here on out, you do it to the best of your abilities, because anybody can just go do it, just just try your best and see what happens. And that moment changed my life. I realized I didn't have the luxury of depending on my mom and dad. They looked at me like, you got an opportunity, You're going to be grown, You're taking
care of yourself. You figure it out. And those two moments changed my life. One manue work out, the other one that's left of football, and my dad pushed me to stay with it.
So something does strike me about what you've been saying. It strikes me the number of times that you've had to be separated from your loved ones at different points in your life. You were a young father, so as a young father, when your career first started as a son, you were saying from your parents and a felt. I mean, just all of your career has had to bring you away and be alone in environments. How did that affect you?
Having to spend that much time separated from the people who loved you and you loved.
That was hard, The hardest thing I've ever done. That's why I really why I wanted to quit college and go back, because I had my parents were there, my brother's there, my first love with their in Germany. So I'm like, oh my god, this is where I need to be.
Had you had a baby by then, No, no.
Not by then, and that was a few years later, but even then that was another moment. When I had my daughter, Tadda been, you know, going into my senior year, it's like, okay, I have no choice but to figure something out, like this is this life is real right now because it's not about me, it's about her and making sure that she's okay, giving her the best opportunity.
So you have to sacrifice a lot of yourself. I had to get rid of the selfishness that I had in order to do what I felt needed to be done to make sure that they were going to be okay.
Is it really selfishness though? Or was it youth? And I mean that doesn't strike me as selfish. It just strikes me as maybe a little afraid young, you know, surrounded by your siblings and then on the base, which you've said is so secure, and then all of a sudden out of your comfort zone. You don't even know what your value is yet because it doesn't come in the form of a passion yet.
Yeah, you know, I agree, And I didn't. I didn't know what my future was going to be. I just I knew i'd work hard. I knew that I would if I had an opportunity, I would do my best at it. But it was still tough, because no matter so young and having kids and having all the responsibilities
you do. I do look back and I do think, you know, I wish I had done a lot of things better as far as being a parent, because I felt like there were so many times that I should have probably sacrificed certain things in order to be a little bit more present. But then there are times I looked back, and I think I couldn't. In order to have the life that I've been able to, you know, give them, truly provide and give them. I had to sacrifice a lot of things. And a lot of people
say they're the balance. It's a really tough balance. It's a tough balance, and I don't know if there really is one. In my instance.
When do you think you started? When do you think you really started to seriously consider a career in broadcast and what that would mean.
I think a few years before I retired, I was just always doing stuff for networks. Would have asked me because I thought it's fun, I'm having a good time. This is I'd ever thought about getting paid. I didn't really know with a career. I thought it would just something you do to have a good time. And one head of a studio, head of a network called me for lunch one day and at lunch asked me if I realized if I knew how much long I wanted to play football, And then I was like, wow, he
asked me this. Then he was like, because we really would love for you to consider come joining our network. And that's the first time I realized that, oh, there's another side after the game. But Fox was incredible when I used to go do that show because it was free, it was yourself, it wasn't rehearsed. Everybody loved each other. It was like a family. So when I retired, I knew that was where I was going to go, and I was just lucky enough that they wanted me.
What's the most challenging part about it?
Oh? Man, Oh, the most challenging part about it. I don't really look at anything that's challenging. It's weird. I don't have a bad job.
Well, it's not comparatively like when you look at what it took for you to be the exceptional athlete, like that was challenging. That's challenging. And then but there are there are things.
Well, when I first yeah, when I first started, the challenging thing was getting up the speed because I didn't realize in the television world, for the most part, they just throw you in the fire and you've got to figure it out, and if you don't, they bring up the next guy. So I like, what is the rundown for a show? You know, this guy talking in my ear while I'm trying to try what is he talking about it.
That's my favorite part. That's my favorite part about hosting or co hosting is when they're talking to you. You're reading your notes and you're having to listen to the to the person speaking. I love that. I love that challenge more than anything.
It's like shutting off a part of your brain. You got two thighs and you gotta use them both.
And I can bring a triple threat.
Yeah, you get that every day at GMA, and and that's what I love about. I love that challenge too. It's weird we both love the same thing. And I love like figuring things out and I love I love live TV. And there's so many people who are terrified for live TV that they go, I don't know how you guys do this every day. I hate taping things because, first of all, you could do it, I have to do it over again. If you mess up, I'm like, oh, forget it. Yeah, messing up is part of being human.
And I don't want to watch somebody or I think it's on TV's perfect, because no one's perfect. I want to watch somebody I can feel a connection with, the comfortable that Okay, yeah they messed up that word, they corrected it in the normal course of a conversation. But they're human.
They're like me, talk to me about your company, Smack Entertainment. That's just one more way in which you're an entrepreneur and you start a new business and you pivot from your sport to broadcast. Tell me about that company and why you wanted to start it and what it is.
Well, you know, smack and Smack is interesting because I retired from football thirty six years old, and I'm like, either I can just sit and do nothing, or I could try to figure out what the next step was. And I did have a job with Fox doing the broadcasting. And I also, you know, wanted to sell my kids, like my youngest too. The twins were so young that you can bark about working hard, and you can tell your kids you've got to go out there, but if they never see it from you, like you're the best
teacher they're ever going to have with you. They see you every day. And so for my kids to see me work hard, I think we're very important. And Smack was started by Constance Schwartz, and I would go to the office all the time and I would just bug her. I retired, I living in La doing Fox Football. So I had all this free time during the week and I would go on the oft and bug her about the other things she was working on, giving her all this advice, and she finally said, after so many months
of that, I'm kind of sick of hearing you. So if you're gonna come in, you need to either invest in this thing and be a partner or don't come back. And I joined her as a partner and that was been. That's twelve years ago, and it has been the best experience because it's allowed me to open up a different side of my brain and a different muscle exercise. As far as being an entrepreneur, and with Smack, we do
a variety of things. We know, we have a production company, but we also do talent management to the Garcia Twins, which is be the Bella Twin wrestlers, to Aaron.
Andrew wo I just did their podcast.
Yeah, we Carrissa, good luck with that. Hopefully, hopefully they didn't get you into any trouble.
Not at all. It was kind of great. It was it was just blue enough and it was still not it was good. I felt, you know, I was worried they were going to think like Oh whatever, she's not cool or she's not you know, I'm like, look, I'm from New York. So let's just start with that.
Those two are the best. Those two of my favorite people, and they're perfect together the podcast because they're best friends and they need to have the filter. And but but but working with Aaron and her whereby EA line, and of course we have myself being a client and an owner, and my collection line at min'sware House and jac Penny and my skincare.
Of my Good Care, right yeah, then we have.
Dion Sanders, we have Tony Gonzalez and Whiz Khalifa, so we just you know, the whole management side of it's interesting, you know, to.
Me, it's all it's such a beautiful challenge. My last question for you is a very serious one. Oh boy, Nimes, I like to end very very seriously. But what guest makes you laugh the hardest?
Oh man I The one guest who came on who made me laugh harder than anyone else was the last time they were always one last, Tiffany Hattish. And the reason that Tiffany Hattish made me laugh so hard is she was all over George with ste Monopolis, with the jokes, and she made George actually kind of dance. For George. It was a dance I know it was. He refuses to dance for me on GMA, we will all do a little chimmy and George will sit there all stoic. Nope,
And I said, George, you're gonna dance. It goes never, Michael. You know, So to watch Tiffany actually make George do that and dance and laugh, and I don't know what it is when he laughs, it really makes me. I don't do it makes me happy because I know he's got to trying to fight that laughter, but you get it out of him. So Tiffany had his Dolly Parton Dotlly Parton's actually another funny one and told me one
of the funniest things I've ever heard. When I asked her one time, so, what's the first thing you do when you wake up? She said, well, Michael, I put on my clothes and I go home.
God whoa oh God. Well, my husband makes George laugh so much. And when when he and his wife, when Chris, my husband and Ali are together, George literally sits back and just giggles and cackles, and it's like my heart sort of explodes. I love it, but I gotta tell you, Laura, you failed because that was a question for Alie Wentworth by the way, she was like, ask you a question and then say I asked them.
Okay, but I'm gonna back it up. But I'm back it up. I didn't quite fail.
Back it up.
Ali gives me too. I get two things. Ali, by far is one of the funniest people on the plane plan and that's why I love watching George laugh because I know George is not at home still working serious because Ali it's the funniest person. I mean, seriously, she's so funny. But she also makes me accept time go because I know George inside is kind of like, I don't know what's coming. So it's kind of an exciting nervousness even for me. And I'm not even married to you. Ali.
Well, I remember I run the first time I called emailed Ali and I was like, look, you don't know me, but you have to write something for me. I have to work with you, and you're gonna be my friend. And she was really and we've been best friends ever since. And when I if I can make her laugh, then I'm like, Okay, I'm good in the world. I am absolutely fine.
You've accomplished something.
Thank you so much for spending this time with me and for just for everything, always being so nice to me, and I really like you a lot.
Well, are you kidding? Thank you? First of all, thank you for having me on. I really appreciate it. And when it comes to like pivoting and doing different things in your life and career, I marvel at what you've done and who you are, because you are the absolutely nicest person out there. Like every time I see you, it's just like a ray of sunshine, and you're one of the people. When you walk in the room, people get happy, and I think that that's a testament to
your character. So thank you for being you, Brooke, and thank you for having me.
That was Michael Strahan. Catch you MI on Good Morning America every weekday and head over to our show notes to learn more about his latest projects. That's it for us today. We'll talk to you next week now. What with Burke Shields is a production of iHeartRadio. Our lead producer and wonderful showrunner is Julia Weaver. Additional research and editing by Darby Masters and Abu Zafar Our executive producer is Christina Everett. The show is mixed by Vahid Fraser.