Be Like Mike

It happened so subtly, accompanied by so little fanfare, that you may not have even noticed it. In fact, it took a torn lateral meniscus in the left knee of Osi Umenyiora, suffered as he rushed the quarterback in a meaningless preseason contest, to bring the issue into the spotlight:

Michael Strahan has retired from the NFL.

Not that he necessarily wanted them, but Strahan would have had a hard time jockeying for headlines as he left his NFL career behind him following the 2007 season. Newspapers, blogs, and the first half hour of every episode of Sportscenter this past summer were dominated by another prominent "retirement:" that of Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre.

Just as Favre deserves all the criticism he receives for the way he played coy with the media, orchestrating his presence as a perpetual top story while pretending not to want media attention, Strahan is to be commended for the grace and sincerity with which he entered a life of retirement. While Favre dragged us all along with him as he proved incapable of making a decision with any conviction whatsoever, texting his BFF Rachel Nichols whenever he wanted to return to the headlines, Strahan made his decision and stuck with it, accepting that retiring from the NFL meant that his life was now a nonstory. And while Strahan is now "open to returning," just as Favre was, the two players' motivations could not be more opposite. While Favre torpedoed and eventually abandoned the team he claimed to love for all those years, Strahan appears to be considering a return only because it may save a team he truly does care for.

Even the circumstances under which the two players retired highlights the differences between their style of play. Strahan had the guts and the knowhow to go out on top, following a Super Bowl victory that his defense won almost singlehandedly. Favre, on the other hand, tried to leave on the heels of yet another ill-advised interception, a significant element of his playing style that the media always seemed to forget to mention.

Now, in what has been one of the most exciting offseasons in recent memory, the two players have reaped what they sowed. Favre found himself in a no-win situation: accept a buyout from the Packers and prove that his love of football could be bought from him, play turncoat against the franchise that turned him into an icon, or play spoiler to the career of Aaron Rodgers and the future of the Packers. Strahan, on the other hand, cannot lose: either he stays retired and proves that, unlike some, he meant it when he said he was done, or he comes back and stands as the guy the Giants could always count on when they needed him. Favre, who always masqueraded as a classy guy, has revealed his selfishness to the world, while Strahan, who truly is one, has nowhere to go but up.

Oh, and by the way: the QB that Umenyiora was chasing when his ligaments gave out on him? None other than New York Jets quarterback Brett Favre.