In a new edition of the ESPN 30 for 30 series, a scene is shown of Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre having a heated confrontation with New York Jets Legend Mark Gastineau — the former NFL sack leader.
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22 years after losing the NFL single-season sack record, Mark Gastineau confronted Brett Favre for ‘taking a dive’ on the record-breaking play.
Catch the latest @30for30, 'The New York Sack Exchange,' on ESPN and ESPN+ starting Dec. 13. pic.twitter.com/Oz5KRwVcy7
— ESPN (@espn) December 10, 2024
Brett Favre Break Silence on Gastineau Altercation
In the altercation, Gastineau details how Favre "hurt him," blaming the former Packers star for being the reason he no longer hold the NFL record. On December 10, Favre took to Twitter to respond to the recently resurfaced video.
"I want to clear the air on the footage released showing a small dustup between myself and Mark Gastineau, the former New York Jet, Back in 2002, when Michael Strahan sacked me at the end of a game that we had wrapped up, I was in no way trying to hurt Mark Gastineau," Favre wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
"There was no malice on my part. Mark was a great player. My understanding is he's a great guy and a fun teammate, a guy who played with the kind of joy and passion I tried to mimic. I understand his frustration, but I'm not his enemy."
Packers Legend Says He Never Had Malicious Intent
In the video, Gastineau accused Favre of sliding down on the last play of a regular season game between the Green Bay Packers and New York Jets in 2002. Favre's slide allowed New York Jets defensive lineman Michael Strahan to become the NFL's all-time leader in sacks.
Favre says that his slide was not about trying to give Strahan the record, but was more about protecting himself.
"I was trying to close out a game and squeeze the last bit of fun out of a hard-fought game. I booted out of a run thinking it would be wide open, saw Strahan standing there, and ducked down. The game was over. There was no need for me to do anything spectacular. It probably wasn't Michael's best sack or tackle for loss," Favre added.
"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. Maybe it crossed my mind to help Strahan. I didn't think it through. That wasn't my forte at the time. I just wanted to have fun and compete. In retrospect, I understand how Gastineau feels. We played a brutal game. Gastineau played during an era where guys didn't make generational wealth."
