Giants' Michael Strahan announces retirement

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Giants defensive end Michael Strahan said he was retiring on Monday, ending a 15-season National Football League career.

Strahan informed the Giants front office Monday morning of his decision.

"It's time. I'm done," Strahan told FoxSports. "It's a tough decision, but I wanted to be fair to the Giants and fair to my team mates."

Strahan helped lead the Giants to Super Bowl XLII last season when they upset the previously unbeaten New England Patriots 17-14 in what was his final game as a player.

The 36-year-old played his entire career with the Giants, and retires as the NFL's single-season sack leader with 22.5 sacks in 2001.

He was selected to the Pro Bowl seven times and is the Giants franchise leader in career sacks with 141.5, putting him fifth on the all-time list.

A second-round draft pick by the Giants out of Texas Southern University in the 1993 NFL Draft, Strahan played in 216 career regular-season games, another franchise record, and started 205 times.

Strahan considered retiring before last season but finally reported to the club five days before the season opener after missing training camp. He had 57 total tackles and 9.0 sacks last season.

(Writing by Roger Lajoie in Toronto, Editing by Alan Baldwin)