Michael Strahan touched on the reactions he received Not placing your hand over your heart while singing the National Anthem – and then Throwing a reporter’s phone when asked about the argument.

“I want to address what happened last weekend and I feel like I need to address it because it escalated to the point where I was getting out of my car today and was ambushed by a media outlet here in front of my house,” the “Good Morning America” co-host launched into a selfie video. Posted on Instagram Tuesday night.

Strahan admitted he wasn’t “proud of the way he handled this whole situation,” but he hoped people would “understand” where he was coming from when he grabbed the cameramen’s phone and threw it into a bush outside his home.

“You have to protect your family and your home, I felt like I had to do that at that moment,” he said.

The 52-year-old former football player gave his side of the controversial moment when he didn’t put his hand over his heart during the national anthem while surrounded by hundreds of Navy soldiers for the “Fox NFL Sunday” Veterans event in San Diego last weekend. Day broadcast.

“I didn’t have my hand on my chest,” he recalled. “Everyone thought, ‘He’s protesting, he’s making a statement,’ which is far from the truth. I have nothing to protest. I have no explanation to make. The only statement that needs to be made and that I want to make is that I love the military. “I have always loved the military and I always will.”

Strahan reminded his followers that he comes from a military background and “grew up on a military base” with his father. His brother, sister and cousins ​​also served in the military.

“For someone to say I’m unpatriotic couldn’t be further from the truth, and if you want the truth, let me tell you this: The truth is, I was caught up in the moment,” he said.

“I look at all these young sailors standing there before the national anthem is played and I think to myself: ‘How incredible is that? ‘How incredible is it to be this young and know you want to do this?’ Like, it’s a huge commitment, but you’re willing to commit plain and simple to something that you know gives us our freedoms. “I sit there in amazement.”

The former NFL athlete said he didn’t know what the right thing to do was when he realized he was the only one who didn’t have his hand over his heart.

“I panicked a little bit and said, ‘Am I the fool who then puts his hand over his heart? Or will I stand here respectfully with my hands in front of me?’ “That’s what I did and that’s what happened,” he shared.

Strahan apologized “if he offended any of our military and veterans” because “it was never his intention.”

“I am a product of the military, a proud lover of the military, and a proud lover of all who have ever served and will serve in the future,” he concluded.

The former New York Giants linebacker shared the statement after fans called him out on social media for his “disrespectful” behavior during the broadcast.

The situation escalated further when a Daily Mail reporter asked him about the reaction outside his home, and Strahan responded by throwing the photographer’s phone into the bush.

“Don’t come to my house,” Strahan said repeatedly.