Mark Gastineau has long blamed Brett Favre for helping cost him the NFL single-season sack record, and that old grudge resurfaced in a filmed confrontation that ESPN later used in a documentary.

What started it

The core issue goes back to a 2001 Packers game against the Giants, when Favre appeared to go down near the end of the game and Michael Strahan got the sack that moved him past Gastineau’s record. Gastineau has said for years that Favre “took a dive” and that the play felt unfair to him.

The confrontation

In footage from a 2023 memorabilia event, Gastineau confronted Favre face-to- face and accused him of hurting him by allowing the sack record to be broken. Favre responded calmly, said he was not trying to hurt Gastineau, and later described it as a “small dustup” and a private moment that should not have been released that way.

What happened next

The clip went viral, and Gastineau later sued ESPN over how the confrontation was shown in the documentary. In March 2026, a judge dismissed that lawsuit, ruling that Gastineau did not have the right to control how the documentary portrayed the scene.

The short version

  • Gastineau lost the sack record to Michael Strahan in 2002 after a controversial play involving Favre.
  • He has held that grudge for years and confronted Favre about it on camera.
  • Favre denied trying to help Strahan and said he was just trying to end the game.
  • Gastineau then sued ESPN over the footage, but the case was dismissed in 2026.

In plain terms, this is a long-running NFL record dispute that turned into an awkward public confrontation and then a legal fight over the documentary clip.