All-Time Uncomfortable Clip Of Mark Gastineau Confronting Brett Favre About The Controversial Dive He Took 22 Years Ago To Gift Michael Strahan The Sack Record
Yeah, that's about as uncomfortable a clip as you'll find. Mark Gastineau, one of the greatest pass rushers of his time, took it upon himself to surprise Brett Favre at some kind of signing event as part of an ESPN 30 for 30 about the New York Jets iconic Sack Exchange. It's crawl out of your own skin awkward.
About a second or two into the clip I thought this was would be a friendly encounter. Two football greats just chopping it up and telling old tales about the gridiron. Boy was I wrong. The next 20 or so seconds were a car crash. It was like Borat ambushing Pam Anderson for a marriage proposal, except this wasn't staged and Gastineau wanted to hurt Favre.
Obviously the Favre encounter is fueled by Michael Strahan's 2001-2002 season when he broke Gastineau's all-time sack record. The Packers gunslinger pretty much took a dive to gift his buddy the record in the final minutes of the regular season.
Have to imagine Favre was pretty relieved THIS is what someone confronted him about and now his other scandals. Probably came away from that thinking it was a breeze considering what it could have been about.
Anyways, as the story goes, Favre called a running play in the huddle and proceeded to run a naked bootleg directly into the arms of Strahan. The week leading up to the game Favre joked about "working out a deal" with Strahan for the record. Turns out he had no qualms with getting his pal the record breaker. The Packers o-line was annoyed afterwards, as they worked hard in that game to deny the record being broken. They took on the challenge to deny him it, all to have Favre gift it away. It's definitely one of the weirder recording breaking moments in sports history.
What's weirder though is holding onto that moment for 22 years and confronting Favre about it. It's definitely more sad than weird. Gastineau has been battling Parkinson's and Alzheimer's for years with football likely being the major cause. He's practically on Pluto when he goes about his daily life and there's ESPN following him around with a camera. Who green lit this idea? That's the way you wanna go about content for your 30 for 30? While he obviously looks terrible in the clip, at the same time do you think he cares at all? By the looks of it he sits at home stewing about how to get even with Brett. That sack record is the only thing he clings to, even if T.J. Watt joined Strahan at the top with 22.5 sacks. What a bizarre moment all around. If Favre turns up murdered one of these days I'd put Gastineau at the top of the suspects list, next to of course all the poor folks who got screwed in his welfare scandal.