Michael Strahan Is On the Clock

WITH THREE TV JOBS (AND COUNTING), THE PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAMER MAKES HIS DAYS SEEM LONGER THAN 24 HOURS AND REWARDS HIMSELF WITH A MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR WATCH COLLECTION. BUT AT 53, HE'S ALREADY DREAMING OF RETIRING. AGAIN.

- SIMONE MELVIN

FRESH FROM A Wednesday taping of Good Morning America, Michael Strahan heads to downtown Manhattan cradling two leather watch cases in the crook of his left arm, like he's just recovered a fumble. Embossed with his initials, MAS, each holds four watches worth nearly $1 million in total. "I just grabbed a bunch," Strahan says of his collection, which includes some 40 watches, including Audemars Piguet, De Bethune, Hublot and plenty of Rolex Daytonas.

"A Daytona was my first big watch purchase when I came to the NFL. If it says Rolex Daytona on it, I have it," he says. "I think it's like me: durable, sustainable and versatile."

At 53, Strahan has certainly stood the test of time. He spent 15 years (19932007) as a defensive end for the New York Giants, becoming one of the most dominant pass rushers in history. In 2014, seven years after helping the Giants win Super Bowl XLII, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Going pro was never a given for Strahan, who was born in Houston but grew up in Germany, where his father was a major in the Army's 82nd Airborne Division. "I was hoping just to have a job when I got out of college," he says of his years at Texas Southern University, where he followed in his uncle's cleats as a star defensive end.

That mentality has clearly stayed with him since he hung up his helmet in 2008. He joined the Fox NFL Sunday team immediately after, and in 2012, he beat out an all-star roster of talent to become cohost of Live! with Kelly Ripa.

Four years later, he landed his current role as a cohost of Good Morning America and added a side hustle as host of The $100,000 Pyramid. All told, Forbes estimates that his TV work earns Strahan at least $20 million a year, considerably more than the $6.9 million he averaged on the field for his final ten seasons with the Giants.