Strief played college football at Northwestern and was selected by the New Orleans Saints in the seventh round of the 2006 NFL draft.

[1] He earned consensus Second-team All-Big Ten honors twice and was named an All-American by the FWAA during his senior season, becoming the Wildcats' first offensive lineman to win national recognition since Chris Hinton.

[8] After backing up Jon Stinchcomb for five years, in the 2011 season he became the team's starting right tackle with Stinchcomb's retirement[1] and part of the Saints' offensive line that won the Madden Most Valuable Protectors Award as the best offensive line in the NFL.

On July 25, 2018, Strief was named as the play-by-play voice announcer for Saints radio broadcasts, replacing the retired Jim Henderson.

[1][19][20][21] Since moving to New Orleans, Strief has set up a foundation which organizes youth camps and aids Milford student-athletes.

This initiative provides groceries to COVID-19 survivors, meals for healthcare workers and for those in the artist communities who may be facing food insecurity as a result of the pandemic.