Chris Myarick scored the only Giants touchdown on the day the team retired Michael Strahan’s No. 92, and perhaps, it was fitting that it was not only an underdog, but someone who grew up in Philly that was Big Blue’s hero on Strahan’s day.
Myarick said that Strahan was a “hell of a player” and a “game-wrecker for sure,” rare praise from a Philadelphian for a guy who was booed more than most by Eagles faithful during his career.
The Giants, of course, didn’t see the ceremony, as they were in the locker room for halftime preparing for a tough second half against the Birds, but Joe Judge made sure his team knew exactly what was going on and what it meant to the organization and the fan base.
“We talked about it with a guy like Strahan being honored – we're always big on the history of the organization. We talk about the area, the people we represent and the history of the organization, who came before us in terms of who we represent,” Judge said. “When you've got a guy being honored like that, you don't want to go out there and lay an egg. Michael Strahan is out there being honored for the great player that he was and what he did for this team – you don't want to go out there and lay an egg, especially defensively.”
Judge said that Leonard Williams made a comment about the ceremony as the team came back out after the half, proving the head coach’s statement true.
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“They're very conscious of the people who came before us, the players that made an impact on this team over the years. The only pictures we have in the building are of former players,” Judge said. “We've got the boroughs and North Jersey so everyone is aware of who we represent, and then we've got pictures of former players. That's all we've got. We don't need a bunch of motivational sayings and all that type of stuff. All we need is who and where, that's all that's important.”
The Giants got Strahan a 13-7 win on his day, and it meant a lot to the D to be able to come up big.
“Anytime something like this happens on a day like this, obviously we want to make the players that played before us and built the foundation before us, we want to make them proud,” safety Xavier McKinney said. “We go out there and fight every down throughout the entire game, so definitely, there was something that we saw and we wanted to go out there and dominate.”
They may not have seen the ceremony, but thanks to our friends at Giants.com, you can view photos of the ceremony and also check out Strahan’s speech here.
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