Michael Strahan reveals his GMA retirement ‘window’ amid daughter’s health troubles and empty nesting

Michael Strahan has been a mainstay of Good Morning America since 2016, after leaving Live! with Kelly and Michael to focus on the ABC News show full-time.

The 53-year-old former NFL pro balances his morning show career with appearances on FOX’s NFL on Sundays, the latest incarnation of Pyramid on ABC, plus his own eponymous apparel and lifestyle brand.

He took a weeks-long break from the show last year, however, to care for his daughter Isabella when she was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, which they made public with an interview on GMA this January. Watch below…

While Michael continues to ramp up his entrepreneurial and hosting ventures, in a recent conversation with Forbes, he spoke about considering retirement and revealed that he even had a “window” in mind.

Reflecting on his life now as an empty nester, and specifically the challenges he faced over the past year with his daughter’s health, he explained that he had “a soft landing in mind,” although added: “I won’t go cold turkey on everything, but I see myself slowly dropping different things until eventually you’ll just find me on the golf course.”

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He spoke candidly of developing a new perspective on the passage of time after seeing how his 20-year-old daughter battled her disease (Isabella is now cancer free and back to being a full time college student), emphasized even more so after becoming a grandfather for the first time through his oldest daughter, Tanita.

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“Time is the one thing that once it’s gone, you can never get it back,” the dad-of-four shared. “I’m very conscious of that, being a dad. That’s what has led me to think more about the end of my career.”

“I don’t want to be someone who’s on TV at 80 years old. It’s an absolute pleasure and privilege to be able to have that option. But I can get more of everything in life except for time.”

MORE: Michael Strahan’s daughter Isabella highlights growing curls in heartwarming photo alongside dad’s girlfriend Kayla Quick

During a previous appearance on In Depth with Graham Bensinger, the former New York Giants player spoke about quitting the NFL to raise his children and enter the media industry, and what it all looks like for him after he decides to call time on his illustrious career. 

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“I like company, I like vacations,” he said of his life away from the cameras. “I’m at the point in life when I just want to enjoy it. I don’t want to work forever, I want to enjoy life at some point.” 

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“I retired when I was 36, from football,” he mentioned during the conversation. “My twins were three. There I was talking about ‘work hard. Get out there and go all out.’ But they never saw any of that. They never saw me play football.”

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Later in the conversation, the empty nesting dad added: “When you have kids, you find out that’s what life is all about. I try to be a great parent.” He explained that he worked hard because “I want all of my kids to see me and know it’s not easy. Nobody gives you anything. You gotta go earn it.”