Michael Strahan played 15 seasons with the New York Giants. (US Presswire)

Michael Strahan spent 15 seasons in the NFL. He played in Super Bowls and was easily the toughest player I was ever around. One day, he might go into the Hall of Fame, and he has successfully transitioned into post-NFL life as a commentator and co-host of Live! With Kelly and Michael. A football and post-football life doesn’t get much more successful than Strahan’s.

Yet when Strahan heard the news that an examination of Junior Seau’s brain revealed the late linebacker had a degenerative brain disease linked to repeated head trauma, Strahan thought about his own past life. He lived in the trenches where he banged heads probably thousands of times, if not tens of thousands.

When asked if he is concerned about suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, Strahan told CBSSports.com: “Of course it [concerns me]. Personally I feel great but wonder if (one) day I wake up and that has changed. Just read about Seau’s results and (it’s) scary.”

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There are probably hundreds, if not thousands of current and former players having the same fear. ("I'm just telling you, this is not good for football -- at all," said former quarterback Boomer Esiason.) Has football changed their brain chemistry so much that it could one day alter how they reason, how they behave? Could they become more violent? Could they slip into a Seau-like fog and one day destroy themselves or people close to them?

Something is becoming drastically clear as science continues to prove almost beyond a doubt that football can destroy brains.

And that something is this: Players now have enough knowledge to make a decision. If they play football, it can lead to vast fame and wealth. The sport can set some up for life. But along with making that decision comes potentially a price and that price could be a normally functioning brain once their careers end.

"I don't think you have to make a choice," said Strahan. "Have yet to see anybody say they'd change a thing about playing. Loved every second but it's a crapshoot just like life."

CTE has now been linked to many football players and dozens of athletes. There can no longer be any excuse about not knowing. Now, it’s about a choice, for NFL players now, and parents weighing what sports they want their young children to play.

A choice.

In the meantime, there will be many Strahans waking up in the coming days, and wondering what the future holds.