Michael Strahan admits he’s “not proud” of his furious exchange with a DailyMail.com reporter on Tuesday after finally explaining his controversial national anthem performance.
Strahan, who sparked outrage by not covering his heart with his hand during the national anthem over the weekend, lashed out at the journalist when asked for comment on the situation Tuesday afternoon.
“Everyone, it’s Michael here, and I want to address what happened last weekend,” the Fox Sports NFL analyst said in a video message on Instagram Tuesday night.
‘I feel like I need to address it because it has spread to the point where today I get out of my car and am ambushed by a media outlet here in my house.
“I’m not proud of the way I handled that whole situation, but I think anyone can understand the things you’re going to do.” “You’re going to protect your family and you’re going to protect your home, which I felt like I needed to do at that moment.”
Michael Strahan admits he’s ‘not proud’ of his furious exchange with a DailyMail.com reporter
Strahan (right) sparked outrage by not putting his hand over his heart during the national anthem.
Strahan went on to reveal the story behind his national anthem gaffe, admitting that he simply got “caught up in the moment” before realizing his mistake.
“If you want the truth, I’ll tell you the truth… it’s that I got caught up in the moment,” he continued. “I look at all these young sailors standing there, standing at attention, before the national anthem plays and I think, ‘How amazing to be so young and know that you want to do this.’ “It’s a big commitment, but you’re willing to commit to something that gives us our freedoms.” Plain and simple.
“I’m sitting there in awe and I’m always in awe because I don’t take it for granted no matter where we go in the world, from Afghanistan to all the military institutions here in this country.
“And when I looked up at that moment, my five guys had their hands over their hearts, the national anthem was playing… I kind of panicked and thought, ‘Am I going to be the fool who puts his hand on that?'” his heart… later? Or do I just stand here with my hands in front of me respectfully? And that’s what I did. That’s what happened.
‘And if that offended any of our military and veterans, I apologize. Because that was never my intention.
“I am a product of the military, a proud lover of the military and a proud lover of who served before, now and who will serve in the future.”
Several furious Americans are calling for Strahan to be fired from his position at Fox Sports after his controversial act on Sunday.
However, the 52-year-old insists it was never his intention to disrespect Veterans Day or the United States after emphasizing that he comes from a proud military family.
“I did a two-hour show praising the military and everything they’ve done for us, celebrating Veterans Day,” Strahan said. ‘We played the national anthem, I didn’t have my hand on my chest. Everyone thought, “He’s protesting. He’s making a statement,” which is very far from the truth.
‘I have nothing to protest, I have no statements to make. The only statement that should be made and that I want to make is that I love the military, always have loved them and always will love them. I do a lot of programs to help veterans and soldiers. I grew up on a military base with a father who was an army major. My brother, my sister, my cousins… they all served in the military.
‘I’m a military brat. And so the fact that (people) say I’m unpatriotic couldn’t be further from the truth.”
