Two Paths After the Whistle: While Strahan Takes the Stage, Odrick Takes the Green Flag
May 28, 2025
When Michael Strahan rolled to the front of the 2025 Indy 500 grid in a 1,064-horsepower Corvette—aviators on, camera crews orbiting, FOX Sports in full cinematic overdrive—it made perfect sense. Here was a Hall of Famer turned morning show anchor turned honorary pace car driver, unveiled to the racing world in a promo so polished it practically smelled like cologne. It had AI narration, hero lighting, and the gravitational pull of someone who’s been at the center of the spotlight long enough to know exactly how to turn toward it.
And then there’s Jared Odrick.
On that same Memorial Day weekend, while Strahan was waving to a global audience from inside a billion-dollar spectacle, Odrick was buried somewhere in the misty green hills of Lime Rock Park, muscling a 550-horsepower TA2 machine around a soaked 1.5-mile circuit during the park’s annual Memorial Day Classic. A 100-mile sprint in unstable weather. No broadcast deal. No pace car. Just real racing in real conditions against real competition.
Two post-football lives. Two combustion engines. But more than that, two wholly different interpretations of what comes after the NFL whistle.
Strahan’s path—televised, polished, and camera-ready—leads to ceremonial laps and morning show monologues. And while that glossy facade suits Strahan perfectly—and good for him—it isn’t a path for everyone.
Odrick’s leads to the Trans Am CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series—a brutally analog battleground of pure, high-horsepower racing where nothing is scripted, nothing is softened, and every inch must be earned. It’s not just a racing series. It’s a symbol of the choice to pursue something raw, unforgiving, and real.
And here’s where it gets truly rich: we think he’s in on the joke. While the sports world continues its now-routine ritual—celebrity elevated, authenticity backgrounded—Odrick chooses this path. Willingly. Eagerly.
While others pivot to desk jobs and podcast sets, he’s chasing apexes through puddles at Lime Rock, trying to outbrake 19-year-old phenoms on slicks that stopped gripping three corners ago.
Among the TA2 series’ “Young Guns,” the highlighted drivers of the series, Odrick is the anomaly—an ex-defensive end with zero interest in being a brand and every intention of proving what Boomers used to call “grit.” The irony? He’s doing it in the most literal way possible: racing through the rain while the cameras are focused on a man doing 70 mph under yellow.
Beneath the surface, there’s a quiet, ongoing duel—a subtle contest for the crown of the authentic second act, the so-called “TRT Market” where sports heroes attempt their reinvention. Strahan’s polished studio charisma meets Odrick’s raw, rain-soaked fight for every inch, making this a story of parallel legends competing off the field as much as on the track.
At Lime Rock, that grit got stress-tested—hard. After a late-race restart on a soaked track, Odrick went three-wide down Paul Newman Straight, battling for position with two younger drivers fighting for their highlight reel. In the squeeze, the #00’s front left caught the wall—a small but punishing impact. The car limped across the finish line a lap down & in 15th place overall. Odrick, feeling the damage in his left wrist, made a post-race detour to Medical. He’s set to undergo imaging and coordinate a recovery plan at Hershey Medical Center, led by Dr. Aman Dhawan, professor of sports medicine.
Still, the fire’s far from out. Troy Benner, owner of TRB Autosport, the team Jared has partnered with, remains excited to keep building with Jared behind the wheel. “We’re just getting started,” he said. “He brings something real to the paddock. The hectic, changing conditions of Saturday’s race forced us into action and made TRB better as a team, ready to take on the ProAm championship.”
It’s not a tragedy. It’s a cosmic comedy.
Strahan, perfectly suited and press-released, was out front in a car he didn’t need to push, leading a field he wasn’t part of. Meanwhile, Odrick was in the trenches, soaked to the bone, throttle-steering a 2,830-pound muscle car through low visibility and high drama. The irony writes itself.
Jared Odrick’s post-NFL story is the beautiful irony of secondhand glory—too real for the spotlight, but too compelling to ignore. And the punchline? While Strahan’s story needs AI to sparkle, the guy covered in road grime at Lime Rock, wrist sore and headed to Hershey for scans, doesn’t need help generating a narrative—he’s living it for real.
While Strahan takes the stage, Odrick takes the green flag.
One rides at
the front of the parade.
The other fights for every inch of the race.
Written By Max Baer
Looking Ahead: Jared looks forward to fighting for the TA2 crown this season with CoolBoxx Iceless Cooling Systems on the #00 M1 Chevy Camaro, and BLK Underwear on his suit. By year’s end, the #00 will be seeking new title sponsorship—stay tuned.
