23 years ago, Michael Strahan broke the NFL’s single-season sack record with 22.5. It was not without controversy.
In the final minutes of the New York Giants’ season-ending loss to the Green Bay Packers, Brett Favre faked a handoff, rolled to his right and stared down a free-rushing Strahan without a blocker to help him out. Rather than take a big hit in what was effectively a meaningless game (the 12-4 Packers had no chance of catching the Chicago Bears for an NFC North title or playoff bye), Favre was resigned to his fate. He slid to the turf, allowing Strahan to set the record with the easiest sack of his season.
It was a play that fueled talk radio for a few weeks. But for New York Jets defensive end Mark Gastineau, the former single-season sack leader, it sparked a fire that has burned inside him for more than two decades.
22 years after losing the NFL single-season sack record, Mark Gastineau confronted Brett Favre for ‘taking a dive’ on the record-breaking play.
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“I’m gonna get my sack back,” Gastineau told an uncomfortable Favre at a memorabilia expo.
“You probably would hurt me,” Favre sighed.
“I don’t care,” continued Gastineau. “You hurt me. You hurt me. You hear me? You really hurt me.”
Officials then whisked Favre away to another obligation, ending a short, awkward confrontation.
This footage came out as part of a new ESPN 30 For 30 documentary on the vaunted Jets defenses of the 1980s — namely the New York Sack Exchange for which Gastineau was a star. Gastineau also reflected on the fact he’s not in the NFL Hall of Fame despite averaging more than 13 sacks per season. His unofficial 107.5 (Gastineau played part of his career before sacks were an official statistic) ranks 44th in NFL history, ahead of enshrined defenders like Warren Sapp, Charles Haley, Howie Long and Steve McMichael.
Would holding the single-season sack record an extra 25 years have changed that? Gastineau’s peak came and went quickly, lasting six seasons from 1980 to 1985. He also failed to generate the postseason success many of his gold-jacketed peers did; the Jets had only two playoff wins over that six-year stretch.
Ultimately, the Strahan sack was one of Favre’s more benign controversies. He was going to get hit anyway and Gastineau had several chances for Hall of Fame election before his record fell anyway. In the end, Favre was lucky to get off with an awkward exchange about falling down rather than, say, a robust discussion over allegedly funneling money meant for Mississippi’s poorest families into a volleyball facility for his daughter.
