They were teammates for one of the greatest Super Bowl wins in NFL history. Four years later, they’re on opposite sides of a debate that has nothing to do with football.
So why are we mentioning it here? Blame it on the lockout.
Last week, Giants defensive end and future first-ballot Hall of Famer Michael Strahan appeared in a video supporting same-sex marriage in New York, which is considering a law recognizing such relationships.
“I always played the game tough but fair,” Strahan says in the 38-second message. “And I feel it’s unfair to stop committed couples from being married.”
Strahan appears in the video with his girlfriend, Nicole Murphy. “We believe everyone should have the right to get married,” Strahan says.
More recently, the guy who helped deliver Strahan’s only career Super Bowl ring disagrees. In an interview with the National Organization for Marriage, via TMZ.com, David Tyree says "[t]his will be the beginning of our country sliding toward . . . it’s a strong word, but anarchy.”
Tyree also says that “two men will never be able to show a woman how to be a woman,” apparently referring to whether two men could raise a daughter -- but demonstrating that he has never seen La Cage Aux Folles.
The fact that former Super Bowl heroes are being enlisted for this debate shows how divisive and controversial the measure is. We’ve got a feeling that a strong sense of that reality will be demonstrated in the comments posted below.