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Michael Strahan doesn’t owe you an apology for anything. There is no controversy. There is just a bunch of grifters looking to farm some clicks and retweets so that the ultimate grifter will pat them on the head and maybe give them some money.
Since like 2001, there has been a subsection of media that has made “who doesn’t love America enough?” its entire schtick. Their targets are of fleeting interest. That’s not because there are so many treasonous anti-patriots to get to, but because there is just so little to say after the initial accusation. It’s content with no page two.
On Sunday, Strahan joined the rest of the FOX NFL Sunday crew for a show that originated from Naval Base San Diego. During the broadcast, everyone stood for the national anthem. Strahan was the only one that did not put his hand over his heart during the song – a violation of US Flag Code, but not any law.
Was it a faux paux? Maybe, but it is one you will see thousands of people make literally any time the anthem is played in public. Hell, I’ll admit right now, that when the anthem is played, I stand, but I only put my hand over my heart if I am wearing a cap, because it is what I was taught (apparently incorrectly) when I started Little League and that lesson just stuck.
Strahan is catching heat because after any election, that subsection of media smells blood in the water and instinctively knows it’s time to go a’pandering.
I don’t know a nice way to say this, so I am not going to try to be nice. Also, I will tell anyone that asks that hosting an angry white guy political show is one of the easiest jobs in the world. I have written many times (on this very website, in fact) that I have absolutely no respect for those people, so why start pretending now?
Hey, people pretending to be mad at Michael Strahan, every single one of you is lying. We all know it. We all know this is easier than having an original thought or presenting interesting content.
Michael Strahan doesn’t owe anyone an apology. He doesn’t owe anyone an explanation either, but he offered one via Instagram on Tuesday because he works at FOX, where the news network spent most of 2016 and 2017 telling its audience not to watch the single most valuable sports property on its broadcast network, so who the hell knows what the rules are over there?
Strahan’s FOX NFL Sunday colleagues don’t have to defend his character to anyone. Jay Glazer did, because the two are best friends. He is, understandably, going to step in when he sees someone he cares about being attacked.
I am not here to say either man did anything wrong. I am only saying that they are hustling backwards, trying to reason with unreasonable people and trying to offer genuine insight to people that have made being phony their brand. I mean, for a group that regularly bemoans what it calls “cancel culture,” they sure are working hard to make sure Strahan faces some kind of consequence for committing no real transgression.
FOX has said that Strahan will face no punishment. That is good. Now, the network needs to go one step further.
Don’t even address it on Sunday. Don’t give oxygen to a fire lit by people who would be disappointed to see it put out.
Somewhere along the way, probably within that same timespan that this very same subsection of the media came into being, we decided that the men and women that serve this country are simultaneously superheroes that can do anything and fragile babies that cannot survive without constant adoration.
I’m here to tell you that neither one is true. In fact, I would bet most vets and active service members don’t even know that anything allegedly significant happened on FOX NFL Sunday last weekend, let alone feel irreversibly wronged by it. Michael Strahan is just the latest strawman for a group that performs patriotism by seeking out things to be offended by on behalf of the people they know they could never be.
Demetri Ravanos is a columnist and features writer for Barrett Media. He is also the creator of The Sports Podcast Festival, and a previous host on the Chewing Clock and Media Noise podcasts. He occasionally fills in on stations across the Carolinas in addition to hosting Panthers and College Football podcasts. His radio resume includes stops at WAVH and WZEW in Mobile, AL, WBPT in Birmingham, AL and WBBB, WPTK and WDNC in Raleigh, NC.
You can find him on Twitter @DemetriRavanos or reach him by email at DemetriTheGreek@gmail.com.
