Earlier this year, the 54-year-old Michael Strahan was stuck in a dilemma. He’s had a winning NFL career, and then he followed it up with a successful run as a FOX analyst. But he wondered about the time he had lived and the time he had left. While that was a question about when he should call it a day from a long career in front of the screen, he clearly had more things in mind.

Recently, TMZ broke the news that the former New York Giants star had welcomed his fifth child, a daughter, with his decade-long girlfriend Kayla Quick, 36. As soon as the news came out, former NFL linebacker Emmanuel Acho, who was let go by FOX last year, took notice. While he may have used some blunt words, he had a reason why this topic is personally important to him.

“But I’m just thinking like, if you have a kid at 55, 54, whatever the case is, are you putting your child in a position to get clowned?” Acho said on the latest episode of Speakeasy. “Now you’re Strahan, so you’re Strahan; it doesn’t matter. There comes a point where even well-intended parents might be setting their kids up for jokes.

“When, Strahan is going to be 72 when his child is graduating high school. I’m pro-life, but are you setting your kids up?

“You know, here’s my problem: Is that not negligent? If you know you’re not going ot be around very long for the child’s life, then is it, to some degree, negligent to bring a child into the world knowing you may not be around very long to raise that child?”

In a way, Acho’s point comes from a personal standpoint. He is the youngest of four kids, and he was born when his father was already 40 years old. By calculation, that makes his father 75 years old today.

Acho’s point centered partly on how an age difference could affect a child socially. He described seeing his own parents attend school functions as grandparents, considering his oldest siblings already had kids when he was also in school, and wondered whether children with significantly older parents could face unwanted attention from classmates. Then there’s the question of understanding.

With the age gap decades apart, understanding concepts of each other’s generations also becomes tough. Strahan’s situation is even more advanced.

Michael Strahan becomes a proud father of five

After he had retired from the NFL, Strahan had already promised that his focus now is giving priority to his family. But he certainly has many hands pulling him in every direction.

Strahan is a proud father of five now, having already welcomed his two older children, Tanita (34) and Michael Jr. (31), with his first wife, Wanda Hutchins. He then welcomed twins (21), Isabella and Sophia, with his second wife, Jean Muggli. But Strahan has already made it clear that his kids don’t really look at anything but the fact that they are siblings.

“You worry how the kids will mix and blend, but brothers and sisters are brothers and sisters regardless of different mothers,” he shared in 2016.

Now, the youngest daughter joins the squad.

Strahan and Quick, the co-founder of FIZZNESS, a wellness supplement company, have been linked since 2015 but have never publicly mentioned how they first met. The two were together when the NFL legend was added to the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2023. Neither Strahan nor Quick had publicly announced the birth at the time of the report, keeping the news private. The biggest question, however, remains: How will Strahan spend enough time with his young daughter?

Strahan faces the same dilemma he did years ago with his kids

Strahan shares two kids with his first wife, Wanda Hutchins, whom he married when he was 20 years old and lived in Germany. When they divorced, Hutchins stayed back and raised her two kids in Germany. Then came the twins with his second wife, Jean Muggli. All this while, he was still playing in the NFL. So, his biggest concern was spending time with his family.

“It was still tough,” Strahan said on Hello! Magazine’s What Now podcast. “[I was] so young and having kids and having all the responsibilities, I do look back, and I do wish I did a lot of things better as far as being a parent because I felt like there was so many times I should’ve probably sacrificed certain things in order to be a little bit more present.”

He is long past his NFL career now, but Strahan is still as busy as a bee.

The former NFL star remains a prominent television figure, serving as a co-anchor on Good Morning America, an analyst on FOX NFL Sunday, and the host of The $100,000 Pyramid.

In another instance, Strahan also said how his kids have become understanding of his busy routine and popularity.

“They’re willing to give up their time with me to make other people happy,” he said at the Meta Heart 2 Heart panel. “This is another thing that makes me happy. They are very giving and caring in that way to think about somebody else before themselves.”

Michael Strahan has always tried to be there for his kids whenever he could. As he begins this new journey with his fifth child, the hope will be for him to be more present for his newborn daughter.