Anything Michael Strahan says on Good Morning America or posts to his social media accounts is usually positively received by his thousands of fans and followers, but such wasn't necessarily the case with his latest joint post with athlete Harry Kane.
The star faced quite some backlash from Harry's fans on Instagram, after the two re-sparked one of sports' longest-running debates, is it called football or soccer.
What Americans more commonly refer to as soccer was first created at the University of Cambridge in England in the eighth century as football, though following the Civil War in the US, it was introduced as soccer in the states after Princeton and Rutgers University engaged in the country's first intercollegiate match.
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Meanwhile, American football was first played in the US on November 29, 1894, and it has since become the most popular sport in the country.
While Canada, Australia and Ireland also call football soccer, fans of Michael and Harry seemed to agree far more with the rest of the world that calls it football, or futball, in the comments under their recent post.
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The post that sparked controversy came on Wednesday, which saw Michael posing next to English "soccer" star Harry, who plays as a striker for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and captains the England national team.
In the photo, Michael is proudly holding up Harry's number ten jersey, which has been signed by him. It's a joint post first shared and captioned by Harry himself, hence why fans were extra offended that he would call his own sport soccer when he captioned it with the words "soccer" and "football" with a shaking hands emoji in between them.
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"Always a pleasure chatting with stars from other sports," he graciously added, though it wasn't enough to stop fans of both Harry and Michael from calling them out on it.
© Getty"No it's just football," one fan declared, as others agreed, adding: "Please don't call it soccer," and: "Came to the comments looking for people yelling at each other, was not disappointed," as another fan questioned: "Did England's all time goal scorer just call football soccer," and others said: "Soccer ain't it bro, it's only football."
Though Michael is now known for his talk show hosting roles on both Good Morning America and what is now Live! with Kelly and Mark, he got his start playing for the NFL.
© GettyA native of Houston, Texas, the athlete started his football career his senior year of high school, which earned him a scholarship to Texas Southern University, graduating in 1993. Next, he signed with the New York Giants, remaining on that same team for his entire fifteen years on the field. His last-ever game was none other than the Super Bowl in 2008, when the Giants beat the previously undefeated New England Patriots, at the time helmed by Tom Brady, by three points.
From football, he moved to television, first hosting Fox NFL Sunday, before he replaced Regis Philbin on Live! With Regis and Kelly in 2012 alongside Kelly Ripa. After four years, he left the show for GMA, hosting alongside Robin and George, where he remains today.
© Getty
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