Mark Gastineau

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Mark Gastineau
Date of birth	November 20, 1956 (age 50)
Place of birth	Ardmore, Oklahoma
Position(s)	Defensive end
College	Arizona State
NFL Draft	1979 / Round 2/ Pick 41
Career Highlights
Pro Bowls	5
Awards	Pro Bowl MVP, 1984
Stats
Statistics	Pro Football Reference DatabaseFootball
Team(s)
1979-1988 1990	New York Jets British Columbia Lions (CFL)

Marcus Dell Gastineau (born November 20, 1956) is a former American football player who played defensive end for the New York Jets from 1979 to 1988. A five-time Pro Bowler, he was considered one of the quickest and most-feared pass-rushers of his generation, with 100.5 quarterback sacks in only his first hundred starts in the NFL. In 1984, Gastineau set the record for most sacks in a single season (22) which stood for sixteen years until Michael Strahan controversially broke it in 2001.

Gastineau retired in the middle of the 1988 season to spend more time with actress Brigitte Nielsen but later admitted the real reason was his fear of failing another drug test and of the Jets learning he was using anabolic steroids. In 1990, Gastineau tried a comeback with the British Columbia Lions in the Canadian Football League but played in only four games. A year later, he began a career in boxing. Gastineau had several run-ins with the law, including drug-possession and domestic violence, and spent eleven months in prison for parole violatons in 1999.

In recent times, Gastineau has become a changed person and hopes to have put his turbulent past behind him.^[1]

1 Early life
2 College
3 NFL career
4 Retirement
5 Boxing
6 Current Activity
7 References
8 External links

[edit] Early life

Gastineau was born in Ardmore, Oklahoma. When he was seven his family moved to the town of Springerville, Arizona where he played high school football for the Round Valley Elks.

[edit] College

He played defensive end for Arizona State University then East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma where he had 27 quarterback sacks in his college career.^[2] He became that school's first-ever draft pick, selected in the second round by the New York Jets in the 1979 NFL Draft.

[edit] NFL career

In New York, Gastineau was part of the famed New York Sack Exchange, the Jets defensive line that included the equally formidable Joe Klecko. Gastineau made the Pro Bowl five straight seasons (1981-85) and finished his 10-year career with 107.5 sacks, the Jets all-time record. His best individual season was 1984, with 22 sacks, 69 tackles and one fumble recovery. He was also selected the MVP of that season's Pro Bowl.

Gastineau was nationally famous for doing his signature "Sack Dance" after sacking an opposing quarterback. However, he had to stop when the NFL declared it "unsportsmanlike taunting" in March 1984 and began fining players for it. The ban on the Sack Dance stemmed from a 1983 game against the Los Angeles Rams, when Gastineau and Rams Pro Football Hall of Fame offensive tackle Jackie Slater got into a fight following a Gastineau sack of Rams quarterback Vince Ferragamo.

[edit] Retirement

Gastineau seemed poised to return to his old self, leading the AFC in sacks seven weeks into the 1988 season. However, he shocked the football world by announcing his retirement to spend more time with Nielsen, to whom he had previously announced his engagement, even though he was still married to his first wife, Lisa Gastineau. He and Nielsen later had a son.

Gastineau tried a comeback, in the Canadian Football League in 1990. He signed a two-year contract with the British Columbia Lions, but got injured and was released after only four games.

[edit] Boxing

In 1991, Gastineau pursued a career in boxing. His first fight against Derrick Dukes produced a first-round knockout. Dukes, a professional wrestler, later admitted he took a dive. TV newsmagazine show 60 Minutes interviewed several others that fought Gastineau and were told to take dives to make Gastineau look good. His career ended in 1996 when he lost to another former football player, Alonzo Highsmith. His record in boxing was fifteen wins, two losses, and one no-contest. Gastineau has since ended his career as a boxer.^[3]

[edit] Current Activity

Lately he's maintained a low but not invisible profile around his former team and he participates in off-season and in-season fan events. Gastineau was a notable admirer of John Abraham a fellow sackmaster like himself who has since been traded to the Atlanta Falcons. Also Gastineau is known for strolling inconspiciously along the training camp sidelines in and around Giants Stadium in The Meadowlands during the times when the Jets are training during the year.