Michael Strahans Sack Record

[Narcosys]

After reading this article:

http://espn.go.com/new-york/nfl/story/_/id/10366508/michael-strahan-responds-warren-sapp-criticism-hall-fame-candidacy

 

i decided to look at Strahans record setting sack on Brett Favre.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_C2W62HNNsc

 

Strahan, for the entire game, was shut down until the final seconds of the Packer win over the Giants.  All favre had to do was hand off or take a knee. 

 

Then there is this article.

 

http://espn.go.com/columns/kreidler/1307290.html

 

Where all evidence points to a called run play to the left away from strahan.  It is interesting, and many of you probably have already seen this.  But some may not.  What is the opinion around here.

 

Was Strahan 'gifted' the sack record?  My opinion....very suspicious.

[jvan1973]

absolutely, many packer players have said as much

[GoColts8818]

I haven't seen the play in a long time but when I did see it I saw Favre just kind of turn and see a DE coming off the edge and just go down.  That's no different than what Peyton would do when he realized the other team's pass rusher had him.  With that said I saw it once and didn't much attention to see if the Packers line tried to block him or not.  Frankly I remember seeing it and thinking Favre just wanted to avoid getting blasted. 

[Dustin]

Lol of course he was.

[IndyTrav]

Ya, I think it was a 'gift'. But in the end, to break a record there are always 'gimmie' plays. Sometimes its an easy sack, or an easy rushing td, or and easy passing td. Sometimes its the last one (like Strahan) sometimes its the one in the middle etc. It doesn't take away from the accomplishment.

[Narcosys]

Ya, I think it was a 'gift'. But in the end, to break a record there are always 'gimmie' plays. Sometimes its an easy sack, or an easy rushing td, or and easy passing td. Sometimes its the last one (like Strahan) sometimes its the one in the middle etc. It doesn't take away from the accomplishment.

Im not saying he didnt deserve to get it, but saying he may not have truly earned it.  But i dont think anyone gifted Gastineau a sack like Strahan had.  Theres a difference between a 'gimmie' play...and a literal handing of.  Especially if its the one you NEED to break the record.  Strahan couldnt get it done the entire game until that final play.  Favres whole line said it was a run play, thats why the TE was  run blocking.  Favre got up and gave the ball to him and laughed and shook his hand and all.  He joked before the game that he would give him the sack if the Packers were winning at the end.  It may have been a joke...but he actually did it.  Jared Allen also earned all 22 of his sacks.

 

If he truly did give it to him...its a disgrace to the game.

[Gabriel Alexander Morillo]

Looked to me that Favre didn't want to get a full frontal Blow by Strahan. 

[jvan1973]

Looked to me that Favre didn't want to get a full frontal Blow by Strahan.

his oline and receivers said he audibled to a running play to the left. He boot legged too the right. If you notice, no one goes out on a pattern to even receive a pass

[Narcosys]

Looked to me that Favre didn't want to get a full frontal Blow by Strahan. 

On top of what Jvan said...It was the end of the game...there was no reason to do anything BUT run or kneeldown.

[IndyTrav]

Im not saying he didnt deserve to get it, but saying he may not have truly earned it.  But i dont think anyone gifted Gastineau a sack like Strahan had.  Theres a difference between a 'gimmie' play...and a literal handing of.  Especially if its the one you NEED to break the record.  Strahan couldnt get it done the entire game until that final play.  Favres whole line said it was a run play, thats why the TE was  run blocking.  Favre got up and gave the ball to him and laughed and shook his hand and all.  He joked before the game that he would give him the sack if the Packers were winning at the end.  It may have been a joke...but he actually did it.  Jared Allen also earned all 22 of his sacks.

 

If he truly did give it to him...its a disgrace to the game.

 

Im not saying it wasn't gifted to him. It was. 

 

Im just sayin a few mistakes here and there go a long way to earning any sort of record. Whether the mistake was intentional or not, the results were the same. Im sure Allen and Gastinue had a few mistakes go there way as well. Were they intentional or as blatant as this one? Probably not...But if Allen/Gastinue had 6 'mistakes' given to them in a season and Strahan only had 4 'mistakes' given to him in a season, did Strahan not deserve it more? This is just a hypothetical of course. 

[Narcosys]

Im not saying it wasn't gifted to him. It was. 

 

Im just sayin a few mistakes here and there go a long way to earning any sort of record. Whether the mistake was intentional or not, the results were the same. Im sure Allen and Gastinue had a few mistakes go there way as well. Were they intentional or as blatant as this one? Probably not...But if Allen/Gastinue had 6 'mistakes' given to them in a season and Strahan only had 4 'mistakes' given to him in a season, did Strahan not deserve it more? This is just a hypothetical of course. 

Isnt every sack a mistake on someone?  Again, he deserved to get it...but he also should have earned it.

[Gabriel Alexander Morillo]

his oline and receivers said he audibled to a running play to the left. He boot legged too the right. If you notice, no one goes out on a pattern to even receive a pass

I still don't think Favre particularly wanted to stand up and take the full force sack

[Narcosys]

I still don't think Favre particularly wanted to stand up and take the full force sack

He wasnt going to...he intended to fall lol.  Strahan wasnt going full force at him.

[lollygagger8]

Favre didn't want to get knocked out of his Wranglers.  Of course he went down. 

[HtownColt]

I've seen a lot of sacks where the QB just runs out of bounds for a loss/no gain and the closest defender gets a sack on his stat sheet. Robert Mathis had like 2-3 of those this year. So the Strahan one doesn't bother me

[Dustin]

I've seen a lot of sacks where the QB just runs out of bounds for a loss/no gain and the closest defender gets a sack on his stat sheet. Robert Mathis had like 2-3 of those this year. So the Strahan one doesn't bother me

 

Not the same thing. I think people are more upset about Favre calling a pass play when one didn't need to be ran and falling down just to give him the record. He had no intention of throwing a pass. 

[Superman]

I think it's well documented that Favre gave it up for Strahan.

 

Not sure whether that matters, as it pertains to his HOF candidacy, and I'm not sure what Warren Sapp's problem is. Strahan was the real deal, one of the best of his generation, with or without that single season record. A half dozen double digit sack seasons, and if you take away the gifted sack, he's still half a sack behind the all time single season sacks record, which ain't too shabby. If your best argument against Strahan is that he was gifted the sacks record, then he should probably be in the HOF.

[HtownColt]

Not the same thing. I think people are more upset about Favre calling a pass play when one didn't need to be ran and falling down just to give him the record. He had no intention of throwing a pass.

Still a gimme sack either way

[Dustin]

Still a gimme sack either way

 

Well yeah, that's kind of what people are upset (for lack of a better word) about. He was gifted a record he shouldn't have earned.

 

Gimmie sacks happen all the time, but this play was ran for the sole purpose of giving him the record.