Mark Gastineau, the former New York Jets defensive end, has held onto a deep-seated grudge against Brett Favre for over two decades. This longstanding feud takes center stage in an upcoming ESPN documentary about The New York Sack Exchange, the dominant defensive line of the 1980s that featured Gastineau alongside Marty Lyons, Joe Klecko, and the late Abdul Salaam.
Confrontation at a Sports Memorabilia Show
Gastineau's animosity toward Favre was on full display last year during a sports memorabilia event in Chicago. At the event, Gastineau confronted the Hall of Fame quarterback, accusing him of giving New York Giants pass rusher Michael Strahan an easy sack in 2002, which helped Strahan break Gastineau’s long-standing single-season sack record.
The tense exchange began when Gastineau remarked, "Yeah, right — when you fell down for [Strahan]. I'm going to get my sack back. I'm going to get my sack back, dude." A stunned Favre responded, "You probably would hurt me," to which Gastineau shot back, "Well, I don't care. You hurt me. You hurt me! You hear me?"
Favre, seemingly taken aback, nodded and said, "Yeah, I hear you." Gastineau didn’t let up, emphasizing, "You really hurt me. You really hurt me, Brett," as Favre was led away by one of his handlers.
Gastineau's Feelings About His Record
While Gastineau had initially appeared to take a sportsmanlike approach after Strahan broke his record in 2002—coming onto the field to congratulate Strahan—his feelings changed over the years. In February 2020, Gastineau admitted to ESPN’s Rich Cimini that he wasn’t pleased with what he perceived as Favre's deliberate action to let Strahan pass him.
"It's my record, and I want it to be known that it's my record," Gastineau stated at the time. "I'm not going to say, 'I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings.' It's my record. ... Being nice and being a good sport, that's good, but it's not real. In fact, I'm kind of a liar in a way. I feel like there's just something wrong."
When asked about the 2002 game, Favre denied the allegations, claiming, "We didn’t lay down for him." However, Gastineau continues to believe that Favre took a dive for Strahan. "Anybody will tell you that Brett Favre took a dive," he said in the documentary.
A Long Time Coming
In a more recent conversation with Cimini, Gastineau expressed that he had been waiting for years to confront Favre. "I wanted to let him know it was a trash sack," Gastineau confessed. "I've been wanting to do that for a long time—many, many years. I've only got one more guy to go to." The "one more guy" he refers to is Strahan himself, whom Gastineau seems to blame for the loss of his record.
The Record and Its Legacy
Since Strahan set the new benchmark with 22.5 sacks in 2002, Gastineau’s record has been tied by several other players, including T.J. Watt (2021), Jared Allen (2011), and Justin Houston (2014), all of whom recorded 22 sacks in a single season. However, Gastineau’s frustration seems to run deeper than just the loss of the record itself.
Despite his impressive career—including being named NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1982, a four-time First-Team All-Pro, a five-time Pro Bowler, and a two-time sack leader—Gastineau has never even made it to the semifinal stage of Hall of Fame voting. This, too, may be contributing to his frustration.
Gastineau finished his career with 107.5 sacks, and while he remains one of the most dominant defensive players of his era, the shadow of his lost sack record—and his ongoing grudge against Favre—continues to linger.
