Michael Strahan Talks Football and Facemasks

Photo: Peter Yang 

I’ve known Michael Strahan for over 15 years and I think it’s fair to say I’m in awe of my friend. It’s not just that he played his entire NFL career for one team (the New York Giants) and won a Super Bowl in his final season in 2007 as team captain. Nor is it his success as a commentator on Fox NFL Sunday, or as a co-host on Live! With Kelly & Michael, or as an anchor (his newest gig) on Good Morning America. And it’s not even that he was recently inducted into the 2014 Football Hall of Fame.

What impresses me most is that he has not changed one bit throughout it all. He is the same funny, sweet, love-able Michael who has come into my house for many holiday celebrations (literally turning my boys upside down), and who offered to introduce me at an event and personally give me a ride. That drive is when I truly got to know the real Michael, and the very funny, personal conversation we had that night is similar to the one you’re about to read here.

I’m honored that I got to get up close and personal again with Michael for Yahoo Beauty and that I get to share it with you all. Enjoy!

BB: Hey Michael.

MS: Well, hello Bobbi.

BB: Everybody loves you. I have never heard anything but positive things about you Michael Strahan!  What is it about you? You’ve got the magic.

MS: [Laughs] There’s no magic! I just wake up every day and really try to be nice to people.

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Strahan with his father, on the right. Photo: Courtesy of Michael Strahan

BB: You have so many jobs and TV appearances, and honestly I don’t know how you do it all because you have so much going on. Do you do meditation? Do you do yoga? What’s your secret?

MS: You know I actually kind of do that through my workouts. It’s my time to relax and enjoy myself and to take out my frustrations in a physical way—which is something you do every day if you are an athlete. For me, it’s more about time management than being stressed in a situation. I get to be myself at my jobs, so it’s not a stressful thing. I like to work out and stay on top of everything. I can hold up physically, then mentally it’s not a problem.

BB: You are still in such amazing shape even though you’re not a professional athlete anymore—how do you stay fit?

MS: As we get older our bodies change, but often we don’t change our diet, we don’t watch what we eat. I work out every day. I am also very mindful of what my instinct is with food. I look for right things that are healthy. I use a lot of Meta products. They’re full of fiber and keep me from going out and snacking.

BB: I agree, I’m also a huge fan of fiber. It really works to keep you full.

MS: It’s something that I actually do. It has become integral to my life and it is something that seems to work.

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BB: Do you ever go off your diet?

MS: Yeah, but I don’t consider it a diet—I consider it a lifestyle. It’s part of my routine to take my powder, but I eat just like everybody else. I love a good burger! I have an 80/20 rule: 80 percent of the time I am clean, 20 percent of the time maybe I do want something else. Maybe I am playing golf and it’s, like, “OK there is nothing else to eat here except for a hot dog.” I think you have to enjoy your life; you’ve just got to be mindful of what you put into your body.

BB: And how is your golf game?

MS: My golf game is actually pretty good!

BB: What are you shooting?

MS: I am somewhere in the 80’s

BB: High or low?

MS: Well, you know I am in the middle somewhere.

BB: OK, that’s pretty good!

MS: [Laughs] Your husband is going to want me to give him putting lessons or something, but I am sure he is doing better than me.

BB: Actually, he has been hitting some of his lows. I am actually taking him to Pebble Beach tomorrow for our anniversary, so he is a happy guy.

MS: Congratulations! If I’d have known you’d do that I would have married you!

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BB: Aw, yeah, what can I say? I just interviewed your good buddy Victor Cruz and he told me he loves to get a good facial and a good pedicure. Since this is a beauty site, what do you like to do? What’s your grooming thing?

MS: Being on TV, even though my makeup is light I am still doing makeup five to six days a week. So once a month or so, I get a facial in L.A. with a great lady, J’ai Lone. She tells me don’t pick, which I try not to do. I am also really diligent about what I put on my skin. J’ai has her own creams and masks that she puts together for me. I just make sure I do my mask when no one else is in the house. I don’t want to scare anybody!

BB: I have to have a visual! What color is the mask? Is it a pretty pink one?

MS: [Laughs] No, it is a white cream mask, Bobbi! I’m not walking around the house with a pink mask on!

BB: [Laughs] Since no one can see it, I am just trying to get a picture. And do you wear sunscreen?

MS: Definitely. Recently there was one area around my nose that was getting red, and J’ai said I needed to be very mindful of that. As African-Americans we think, we don’t need sunscreen, and that is so not true. Also when I shave now I use an oil instead of shaving cream. Since I’ve been doing that, I don’t get ingrown hairs, my skin is great.

BB: As a former football player you definitely have had a lot of kids look up to you, but I’m curious: Who was your role model growing up?

MS: My dad. I know everyone says that, but it’s true. He never said “if." He said "when" to me. There was no doubt. It was, "When you go to college, when you make the pros." I never thought "if." He was an example to me. He went to college after being in the military for 12 years and graduated magna cum laude of his ROTC class. Then he went back to the military to become an officer, because he wanted to improve himself as much as he could. He did that with five kids and I was on the way. He taught me to take a chance on myself.

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BB: One of the stories I love about you is that you were a late bloomer. You didn’t play team football until you were older right?

MS: I played a little when I was 7 and 8, but then we moved to Germany. I was a chubby kid. I would eat anything I wanted. Then I started working out with my dad in high school. I’m a late bloomer when it comes to sports, but I attribute my dad to always making me interested. I was always curious about the game. Sometimes you get burned out on it if you start too young, and that didn’t happen to me. I started playing high school football my senior year. My dad said, “You are going to get a scholarship, and when you get it you’re going to go to a great college, and you’re going to do well.”

BB: He must be proud. You’ve accomplished so much, Michael — TV star, Hall of Fame, the list is long. … What’s next, an Oscar?

MS: [Laughs] An Oscar, ha, who knows! But truthfully all of my success has come from doing things that I love. I am really enjoying everything along the way. I am not showing up and saying, “Let me just get a paycheck.” I just try to pick things that I love. If you are passionate about things, people want to see you and help you succeed; people want to be a part of your success. But if you just show up and say, “I want to get this check,” people can feel that, too. I don’t think anyone wants people who are just faking it to make it, and I am trying to be true to who I am.

BB: We both share the motto “Be who you are," and as someone who has been your friend for a very long time, I am so proud of you. I will be watching and waiting to see what’s next.