Every athlete has a parallel life—one shaped by the choices they didn’t make. For Antonio Gates, that life lived on a basketball court. Before becoming a tight end, he was a star forward at Kent State, leading them to the Elite Eight and averaging over 20 points a game. Had the NBA called, maybe he’s guarding LeBron or dishing to Kobe instead of catching touchdowns in San Diego. But when pro scouts called him a “tweener,” Gates pivoted toward a sport he hadn’t played since high school. The rest is Hall of Fame history. Still, the question lingers: what if he’d never made the switch? As it turns out, Michael Strahan had one of those ‘what if’ moments, too.
It was during the Indy 500 race that Strahan was covering that FOX surprised him with this question. During the coverage, FOX played a video of Strahan’s life and depicted the huge ‘What if”. It was an AI-generated video that talked about how he grew up in Germany, driving on the famous autobahn, that made him want to go into racing. However, it was the move to the US that ultimately shaped his decision to become a Football player.
The video then explored the possibility of Strahan’s life as an IndyCar racer and what if he chose racing, his first love. It showed Strahan driving and winning the Indy 500 and chugging an ice-cold bottle of milk, a tradition which has been passed down for 75 years. It even showed Strahan polishing his miniature of the Borg-Warner Trophy and watching the NFL on his television. Ending it very cleverly with the dialogue, “Something tells me, you’d still see me on your TV, the day of the Indy 500,” as if Strahan had said it in the first person. Cueing the camera straight to Strahan. When asked about what he thought of the video, Strahan said, “That was extremely cool, I would’ve loved that, but I’m glad my life worked out,” expressing that he has no regrets regarding his career.
Reacting to the video, which was posted on Instagram by the ‘indycaronfox’ page. FOX broadcaster Erin Andrews shared her surprise at the story and wrote, “Omg“. Just imagine, Michael Strahan pacing his car through to the finish line instead of sacking the opponent’s quarterback and having 141 race wins instead of 141.5 sacks. It’s hard not to imagine how different things could’ve been. Would Strahan have been the face of American motorsports instead of the NFL? Would the ferociousness that made him a defensive nightmare have translated to late braking and daring passes on the final lap? The curiosity lingers.
But even amid the lighthearted surprise of the clip, there’s an emotional undercurrent, especially when it comes to Andrews herself. Just days before the race, she had opened up on her podcast with Charissa Thompson about a deeply personal loss — a tragedy that made her colleague’s playful ‘what if?’ feel heavier than it appeared at first glance.
Erin Andrews is quietly battling a heartbreaking tragedy
Erin has always been one to share her life updates and has even shared her infertility journey. She has always been candid when it came to her struggles of having a kid with her husband, Jarrett Stoll. While the broadcaster and the ex-NHL player have struggled with infertility, they welcomed a baby boy, Mack, through surrogacy in July 2023. This time around, the couple again tried surrogacy, however, she shared a sad update.
On the ‘Calm Down with Erin and Charissa’ podcast, Andrews revealed that she and Stoll were hoping for a second baby. But recently, they had to go through a heartbreak when their surrogate had a miscarriage. “We got some real s—– news today that our surrogate had a miscarriage,” she updated. “So, I have dealt with this before but things were going really, really well and her little heartbeat and her numbers were really good, so I even told you guys a couple weeks ago because we thought we had such good news,” she added, expressing the sadness and disappointment the couple felt on receiving the news.
This was the couple’s third attempt at having a baby through a surrogate. Earlier as well, Andrews and her husband tried to have a kid through a surrogate before an unfortunate miscarriage. The couple has been nothing but brave and enduring, with Erin even coming back to work to cover the Indy 500 race over the Memorial Day weekend. Life must go on, that’s what Erin’s words and actions hint at. And it’s a lesson learnt only with time.
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