Michael Strahan to bring recently retired No. 92 Giants jersey to space tomorrow

It's been a crazy few weeks for Hall of Fame defensive end Michael Strahan.

Strahan recently had his No. 92 Giants jersey retired during a special ceremony at halftime of the Week 12 game against the Philadelphia Eagles at MetLife Stadium.

Around the same time, the co-anchor of ABC's "Good Morning America" told the world that he would be going up to space as part of Blue Origin's third crewed flight on its New Shepard aircraft.

New Shepard is scheduled to launch Saturday at 9:45 a.m. ET.

The Giants legend recently announced that he will be bringing something special with him on the trip to space: his recently retired No. 92 Giants jersey.

"I've got my Giants jersey here," Strahan said on "Good Morning America" this week. "This is the actual jersey that the Giants retired just over a week ago. I had them take it out of the frame and give it to me so we could make the trip to space with me."

Strahan will be joined by five other passengers on New Shepard, most notably Laura Shepard Churchley, the eldest daughter of NASA astronaut Alan Shepard who was the second person and first American to travel into space.

There will be no pilot onboard, as the spacecraft is an automated system.

Strahan becomes just the second retired NFL player to launch into space. The first was Leland Melvin, a wide receiver who was drafted in the 11th round of the 1986 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions but released just a few months later.

At 6-foot-5, Strahan will become the tallest person in history to go to outer space.

WR Sterling Shepard 'very optimistic' about return

A quad injury limited Sterling Shepard to 23 snaps and four catches in November, but the Giants' wide receiver is confident he will have a better December and January, beginning Sunday against the Chargers in Los Angeles.

"I'm very optimistic that I'll be able to be out there this week with the guys and hopefully that's the case," Shepard said Thursday after the team's practice at the University of Arizona. "It's been a bummer just sitting on the sideline watching the guys, especially on game day. It already hits me whenever I've got to watch them practice and I'm not able to help them out with some of the reps and stuff like that. Then on game days, obviously, that's where you get all the juice and I still have that same fire, that same juice, but I'm not able to go out there and actually perform. It'll feel good if I'm able to get out there this week and play with the guys."

Shepard injured his quad in the Monday night loss in Kansas City on Nov. 1 and has missed the last four games. He had a hamstring injury early in the season and has been inactive for seven of the Giants' 12 games.

"Super frustrating," said Shepard, a six-year pro who is the Giants' longest-tenured player. "You play this game to be able to play throughout the whole season. It's something that we love to do, we all love to do, and it's been frustrating for a lot of guys this season. Been pretty banged up, but that's the way it goes. You've just got to kind of roll with the punches and whenever you're out there healthy, give it max effort.

"I think in any situation I love to live without regret. I work hard every single offseason. The last camp was probably my best camp that I've had in my career, but I've worked as hard as I've ever worked this last season. This is football, stuff is going to happen from time to time. Sometimes you can get out of there with a clean season and sometimes that's not the case. You've just got to kind of roll with it and do everything you can possible and that's what I always do."

Nets superstar Kevin Durant joins The Eli Manning Show

In the latest episode of The Eli Manning Show, presented by Dunkin', Eli and co-host Shaun O'Hara welcomed in Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant and his business partner Rich Kleiman of 35 Ventures.

Durant was born in Washington D.C. before being raised right outside the nation's capital in Prince George's County, Maryland. He would go on to play most of his high school basketball in Maryland before playing his college ball at the University of Texas.

While Durant may have grown up rooting for a certain division rival of the Giants, Manning would not let that deter him from attempting to convince the 6-foot-10 NBA star to switch over to Big Blue.

"KD, obviously you grew up in Washington, so I heard you are a Washington Football Fan," said the former Giants quarterback. "We brought you here today into MetLife Stadium, home of the Giants, we're trying to convert you. I know you're in Brooklyn now, you're playing (for the Nets), is there any chance we can turn you into a Giants fan? I know Rich is a Giants fan."

To that, Durant joking replied, "Absolutely not. I probably shouldn't have even agreed to be on this show."

The group would go on to discuss the business strategies of Durant, Kleiman and 35 Ventures, along with the seven different Nets uniforms the team has worn since he signed in Brooklyn. Manning and Durant also went head-to-head in an intense game of Pop-A-Shot, a contest that Manning surprisingly almost emerged victorious.

Finally, the two-time NBA Finals MVP would take the field at MetLife Stadium to catch a touchdown pass from the two-time Super Bowl MVP.