Stray Hand
When the news was out about Michael Strahan’s wife and their divorce settlement, alimony, his salary demands started becoming a distraction during Giants camp. I vaguely remember reading about how unstoppable Strahan was on the field, a comment which formed the basis for this cartoon. I think I did a good job with Strahan, his wife (the first woman I had drawn for the Geoff the Ref feature), and the Ref’s reaction. Fourth down was icing on the cake. Head Coach Tom Coughlin got a little better, but still needed some tweaking. And I managed to get some comments too.
Geoff the Ref
Sunday, August 12, 2007
"Geoff the Ref"
The Strahan that rocks the Giants
By Geoff Walter / SNY.tv
Defensive end Michael Strahan has become the equivalent of one of those costumed commoners that populated the old game show Let's Make a Deal! -- smiling his gap-toothed grin, desperate to exchange a nail-clipper for a chance at what's in the big box from whomever happens to be playing the part of host Monty Hall at that particular moment, whether it be Fox Sports, the NFL Network, or even his current old team the Giants. Sidelined last year with a foot injury, Strahan seems content with extracting as much money as possible for the minimum amount of work. He is snooping around for those various TV gigs while stringing Big Blue along, hoping to renegotiate his $4 million contract for this season. The only problem is that the Giants know how desperate he is, and have him over a barrel.
The Giants know Strahan is going through a messy divorce, in which his wife is getting everything. They know he is in desperate need of cash for all the money he's going to pay for child support and alimony that will reportedly total about $15.3 million before the appeal. And they know that this is the NFL, not the NBA, where no one player is bigger the team and superstars are cut on a regular basis. The Giants already had to put up with the loss of Tiki Barber at the end of last season. Coach Tom Coughlin and QB Eli Manning are on the hot seat this year, so the Giants didn't need this soap opera playing out during training camp, much less when the season officially starts. The team did the best thing it could do to a guy in Strahan's situation: fine him over $14,000 for every day he doesn't report to training camp. He still hasn't shown up. Maybe Strahan has turned delusional and thinks he can make up the money when the Giants eventually give him a raise, figuring that the Giants will cave after the entire defense did the same in the preseason-opening loss to Carolina. If that's so, Michael, I've got a deal on a bridge I think you'd really like.
Wanna argue with the Ref? Don't like the call? Go ahead and make your own!
