Former NFL star Mark Gastineau went viral last year after a video surfaced of him confronting Brett Favre, and he is now suing ESPN over the clip.
Gastineau was featured in the ESPN “30 For 30: The New York Sack Exchange” that first aired in December. A few days before the documentary was released, ESPN shared a promotion on social media that showed Gastineau confronting Favre in 2023 at the Chicago Sports Spectacular.
In the video, Gastineau awkwardly scolded Favre for taking a dive and allowing Michael Strahan to sack the quarterback during the final game of the 2001 season. The sack gave Strahan 22.5, which broke the previous single-season record that Gastineau set with the Jets in 1984.
According to a lawsuit that was viewed by Christian Arnold of the New York Post, Gastineau is suing ESPN over the network’s promotion of Gastineau’s testy exchange with Favre. He is seeking $25 million in damages.
Gastineau said in the lawsuit that the portrayal of him was “maliciously false” in the clip. The 68-year-old says ESPN included the Favre video in the documentary without his consent and that his portrayal resulted in him being “attacked on social media with ridicule, scorn and contempt.”
The lawsuit also accuses ESPN of intentionally cutting out the end of the exchange, when Favre and Gastineau shook hands.
After the exchange went viral, Favre shared his side of the story in a thread on X. The Hall of Fame quarterback said he did not intentionally take a dive for Strahan and that he feels badly about the financial impact the sack had on Gastineau.
Gastineau played for the Jets for 10 seasons from 1979-1988. He had 107.5 sacks in 137 career games.
