Houston native and Texan Southern alum, Michael Strahan, announced his retirement yesterday after 15 story book seasons in the NFL, all with the New York Giants.

Strahan was born in Houston and attended Westbury High. After high school, Strahan played football at Texas Southern University where he became a star. Strahan was a two-time First Team All-SWAC (1991, 1992) and also a two-time SWAC Defensive Player of the Year (1991, 1992). After Strahan's junior season, he left Texas Southern with 41.5 career sacks, a school record, and was named a First-Team All-American by the Associated Press in 1992.

In 1993, Strahan was selected in the second round by the New York Giants (40th overall). He retires as one of the all-time NFL greats and a seven-time Pro Bowl selection with a resume only kids can dream of. His 141.5 career sacks are the most in Giants history and fifth best all-time in NFL history. His 22.5 sacks in 2001 is a NFL single season record and he was awarded with NFL Defensive Player of the Year for his accomplishment.

Strahan's career comes to an end after he led his New York Giants to one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history after shocking the undefeated New England Patriots 17-14 in Super Bowl XLII. His retirement press conference will be shown today at 10:30 a.m. CST on the NFL Network and also for free at NFL.com at the same time.

Houstonist would to congratulate this Houston native on a Hall of Fame career and for representing this great city in a proud and professional way.

Photo: Flickr user heathbrandon