He played in the NFL for 15 seasons and was widely acknowledged as one of the greatest defensive players in the history of the game.

“

... I think with what they do, your life is in your hands every freakin' second that you're out there. So I think what they do is a whole lot more stressful than myself worrying about beating up on some 350-pound guy.

”

MICHAEL STRAHAN

But now that he's retired, Michael Strahan splits his time between traveling the world, working on new projects that might surprise you, working as a television studio analyst on the FOX NFL Sunday pre-game show, and following NASCAR. He was grand marshal at last Saturday's Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, where he sat down for a one-on-one conversation.

Q: What are you doing to stay busy now that you've retired from the NFL as a player?

Strahan: Retired? What is that? ... I'm busier now than I ever have been. One thing that has been neat about it is that I've been able to travel some. Of course I've stayed busy with the FOX pre-game show and then I've done some traveling, but now it's time to do something on top of that.

Too much free time, I don't know if that's good for me. I'm a little too young for too much free time.

Q: So what are you looking to do next?

Strahan: I'm working on a sitcom -- a half-hour comedy for FOX right now. So if that gets picked up, I'll be working six days a week.

Q: What's the sitcom going to be about?

Strahan: It's about myself. Daryl "Chill" Mitchell [of House Party fame] plays my brother. Carl Weathers [of Rocky] plays my father. CCH Pounder [an accomplished television actress who has appeared in numerous series] plays our mother. I'm pretty much retired from the game of football, somewhat like my real-life situation -- and I go home to reconnect with my family that I don't necessarily want to reconnect with. But I don't have a choice.

It's interesting. It's extremely funny. And we film [this week]. I'll be filming Tuesday and Wednesday. We have a great cast, great writers and a great producer, so we'll see where that goes.

Q: Is it true you are a legitimate NASCAR fan?

Strahan: I know sometimes you get grand marshals who know nothing about cars -- or NASCAR. But I grew up in Germany. I've always been into cars and speed and all that stuff.

I've had a chance to meet a few of these guys in my life before. It's amazing to me what these guys do in terms of endurance and strength, and just the whole mental part of coming out weekend after weekend to go around these tracks at the speeds they do in this heat.

I mean, I'll be honest: If they were going to put me in to drive a car, I would need some air conditioning in there. These guys do it week after week without it, and I admire that. So I've always been a big fan of NASCAR. I've gone to Chicagoland to watch races. I've done it all. (Continued)