An ESPN documentary titled The New York Sack Exchange captures a tense moment between former New York Jets defensive end Mark Gastineau and Hall of Fame Packers legend Brett Favre.
In the tense video, Gastineau confronts Favre over the controversial play that allowed Michael Strahan to break the single-season sack record in 2001. He accused Favre of intentionally taking a dive to give Strahan the record, a claim that has lingered for over two decades.
The Green Bay legend has faced allegations of this nature before. To many, it seems strange that a man known for his willingness to die on the field took a little slide when confronted by Strahan. Not to mention the congratulations he offers his Giants opponent afterwards, a signal that he knew full well what had happened.
While NFL fans were somewhat disappointed in how things went down, Gastineau was outraged. Why? Because that sack allowed Strahan to break his own single-season sack record.
Michael Strahan breaking the sack record in 2002.
— Pardon My Take (@PardonMyTake) January 10, 2022
“No one is happier for Michael than Brett Favre” pic.twitter.com/Ipvp1wJK34
Mark Gastineau Confronts Brett Favre
New footage, which was recorded at a memorabilia show in Chicago last year, shows Mark Gastineau expressing his frustration directly to Brett Favre, accusing him of hurting his legacy.
In the footage, which is part of the ESPN 30 for 30 series, Favre acknowledges having met Gastineau before.
“Yeah, right — when you fell down for him,” Gastineau replies, alluding to Strahan. “I’m going to get my sack back. I’m going to get my sack back, dude.”
The animosity clearly took Favre by surprise.
“You probably would hurt me,” he countered.
“Well, I don’t care,” Gastineau said, pointing directly at the gunslinger. “You hurt me. You hurt me! You hear me?”
🚨🚨THIS IS WILD🚨🚨#Jets great Mark Gastineau WENT OFF ON Brett Favre last year for letting Michael Strahan break his sack record.
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) December 10, 2024
Mark: “I AM GONNA GET MY SACK BACK.”
Brett: “You’d probably hurt me”
Mark: “I DON’T CARE. You hurt me.”
CRAZY 😳😳😳
pic.twitter.com/T120kLjYDb
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Favre Responds
With the newly released footage going viral yesterday, Brett Favre took a moment to respond to the Mark Gastineau controversy. He explains that while the Jets player was the unfortunate victim of having his sack record broken, nothing about it was intentional.
“I was in no way trying to hurt Mark Gastineau,” Favre wrote on X. “I was trying to close out a game and squeeze the last bit of fun out of a hard-fought game.”
“In a different game or situation, I would have made a bigger effort to avoid the sack or TFL. But at no point was I thinking about hurting Gastineau,” Favre added. “Maybe it crossed my mind to help Strahan.”
Gastineau has blamed the former Packers great for not being in the Hall of Fame, something Favre seems to acknowledge.
“I see now how being the Sack King would elevate his value at card shows, strengthen his case for the Hall of Fame, increase his demand as a public speaker,” he wrote.
Favre later suggested he hoped to see Gastineau in the Hall of Fame with him one day because “he earned it.”
Gastineau was a five-time Pro Bowler, twice led the league in sacks, and received votes for NFL Defensive Player of the Year for four straight seasons.
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