Strahan's divorce trial gets real ugly
By AUSTIN FENNER and DAVE GOLDINER
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
New York Giants sack king Michael Strahan grimaces in the stand yesterday during his nasty divorce case with estranged wife, Jean.
Jean Strahan
Michael Strahan's nasty divorce trial hit a new low yesterday - as his estranged wife suggested the Giants sack king and handsome married TV doctor Ian Smith are more than just friends.
After the couple's marriage collapsed, "Michael moved into Ian's one-bedroom apartment," Jean Strahan told reporters after another bruising day in divorce court.
"And you can say an alternative lifestyle sprouted," she added, though her lawyer stopped her before she could elaborate.
The blond mother of two dropped the bombshell after the burly gridiron great made her cry in court when he testified that he couldn't remember her birthday.
"He basically denied we ever existed," Jean Strahan, 41, said angrily. "It was devastating to hear."
Michael Strahan himself hinted at some controversy when he said in court that he wasn't sure whether one of his love letters was addressed to "Jean" or "John."
"I've been accused ..." Strahan, 34, quipped on the witness stand before cutting himself off in midsentence and flashing his gap-toothed smile.
Strahan's lawyer rejected any hint that there's anything more than a friendship between his client and Smith.
"It sounds like sour grapes by someone who doesn't like what's going on in the court," said attorney Robert Penza.
Ian Smith derided Jean Strahan's comments as "absolutely ridiculous."
"This is laughable," said Smith, a best-selling author and medical correspondent for ABC's "The View." "I am a very happily married man."
Later, Jean Strahan's lawyer tried to back away a bit.
"I don't think she's making a definitive allegation," said Ellen Marshall, the lawyer. "Couples have private squabbles. This is one of them."
Smith's name has come up several times in the bitter Strahan vs. Strahan divorce case, which seems to get uglier by the day - rife with allegations of infidelity and arguments over who's the bigger spender.
Jean Strahan said she was miffed when her husband brought Smith into the hospital room when she gave birth to twin girls in 2004.
She also charged that Smith hooked Strahan up with extramarital affairs with women in Los Angeles and Toronto - claims the NFL star has repeatedly denied.
When things really got ugly last year, Smith put Strahan up at his upper East Side pad after the athlete's marriage imploded.
The doctor insisted he was simply doing what anyone would do for a friend in need.
"Michael Strahan is one of my best friends and needed a place to stay after he was kicked out of his own home," Smith said. "I let him sleep on my couch as any best friend would do."
Smith, 36, wed his longtime girlfriend, high-powered Chicago lawyer Triste Lieteau, last year in a glittering candlelit ceremony at the Rainbow Room.
Even before Jean Strahan's explosive comments, things were already testy as the Strahans sparred over their big-bucks divorce in Essex County Family Court in Newark.
Her lawyer, Marshall, unveiled a string of sticky-sweet love letters in an effort to debunk Michael Strahan's claim that his wife abandoned their marriage.
"It's my first day of camp, I already miss you," Strahan wrote from Giants training camp in 2004.
In another letter, the 275-pound defensive tackle wrote the words "I love you" over and over - 24 times in all.
"Thanks for taking care of me," he wrote to her after an injury. "I promise to always take care of you."
Jean Strahan kept hundreds of gooey love letters to document their romance.
But she burst into tears when Strahan, sitting just 6 feet away, said he didn't know why one was dated March 22. It turns out that is her birthday.
He also said he didn't remember several cards, including one created from the ultrasound image of their twins during her pregnancy.
"I compiled them all because it's the only history of our love," Jean Strahan said. "That's going to be the only history of us together."
Originally published on June 21, 2006
