East Rutherford, N.J. ? Michael Strahan is staying retired, although his agent said that the seven-time Pro Bowler seriously considered returning to the Super Bowl champion New York Giants.

“He was very close to returning, but the great part about Michael is that he takes his time to think about things and he is very thorough,” Tony Agnone said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday night. “You can get excited about coming back and running through the tunnel one more time.”

Agnone said that Strahan struggled deciding whether he could give 100 percent mentally.

“In the end, he felt he could not get back to where he was,” Agnone said.

The first report of the news was provided by FoxSports.com, which contacted Strahan in Greece where he was vacationing.

“This has been one of the toughest nights of my life,” Strahan told FoxSports.com. “But after long deliberation and throwing around a million scenarios in my head for the past day, I think it’s just best if I stay retired.”

Giants general manager Jerry Reese asked the 36-year-old Strahan to reconsider his retirement on Monday, just 48 hours after the Super Bowl champions lost Pro Bowl defensive end Osi Umenyiora for the season to a knee injury in the preseason game against the New York Jets.

Strahan needed just about a day to turn down an offer to return for a 16th season with what could have been an $8 million contract.

“I really love my life now,” Strahan said. “It’s great having nobody put a finger on me. You really put yourself through an awful lot in this league, more than people realize.

Agnone said money never was an issue.

“We know the parameters of the contract, and the Giants would have been generous,” Agnone said.

Reese did not seem surprised by the decision.

“We knew it was a long shot, but we owed it to ourselves to exhaust the possibility,” Reese said Tuesday.