Exclusive | Uplifting Michael Strahan visit needs to ignite Giants defense

SEATTLE — There were Super Bowls XLII and XLVI, when the predators of the Giants defense harassed and hounded Tom Brady enough to allow Eli Manning to Eli Manning when it was winning time.Before that, there were Jim Burt knocking out Joe Montana with a concussion in the 1986 playoffs and Leonard Marshall wrecking him four years later with a Super Bowl on the line.And long before that, there was Sam Huff eagerly welcoming the great Jim Brown into his violent world.And I haven’t even mentioned Lawrence Taylor, Harry Carson and Carl Banks.The Post learned that Michael Strahan, one of the Hall of Fame symbols of those proud Giants defenses of yesteryear, paid a timely and uplifting visit to the facility Thursday.“The legacy he’s left, it almost like blesses me with the opportunity to chase what he left behind,” Kayvon Thibodeaux told The Post.Strahan’s message resonated.It always does.Brian Burns: “Pretty much just blocking out the noise.

Focusing on people in this building, focusing on the team and just getting better every day.”Thibodeaux: “Just to have fun.Things get hard, but at the end of the day, we all chose to be here, and we just got to make the best of it.”Micah McFadden: “He’s just encouraging us.

Obviously, whenever you have somebody like text, he’s been on our shoes, but in this building for a long time, and did it at a very high level for a while.He has a lot of knowledge about it, and he knows what’s important, and he knows how to win, because he’s been on those teams.

Just passing down knowledge, just passing down mindset that he has and he carries with him every day.”And that mindset? “Focus on the goal and none of the outside noise,” McFadden said.And have fun.“He talked a lot about having fun,” McFadden said.“It’s definitely the most important part about it.

It’s easy to not have fun when you’re not getting the results you want.But at the end of the day, it’s a game, right? You got to approach it ...