vince
09-12-2007, 07:32 PM
By Greg A. Bedard
Wednesday, Sep 12 2007, 04:38 PM
Green Bay - Everybody likely remembers that Giants defensive end Michael Strahan "sacked" Packers quarterback Brett Favre in the final game of the 2001 season to break Mark Gastineau's single-season sack record. Both players got a lot of flack at the time because Favre seemed to purposely fall right in front of Strahan.
Well, when the two teams face each other on Sunday, Strahan needs just a half sack to break Lawrence Taylor's franchise career sack record. Here's what Strahan had to say about it with reporters today:
What exactly happened on the Favre sack to give you the single-season sack record?
Strahan: Man, you know what, I thought about that today. I said, 'Here we go. We play that Packers. Lord forbid I get a sack and break LT's record and then it's going to be some other mess. So I don't know. I haven't asked Brett about that because, you know what, on the play I did my job, he did his job. If I would have just jumped over him and let somebody else tackle him, then it would have been some other mess. I never asked him because I never felt like I needed to justify it to anybody else what happened.
Kind of ironic, isn't it, that you're one away from the team career sack record and you're going against Favre again.
Strahan: Yeah, but you know what, he's probably one of the hardest guys to get. I watched the game last week in the hotel and I know the Eagles were frustrated because there were about three or four times they had him wrapped up and you swear he's going down and just flicks the ball for 18 yards or somehow gets rid of it. That's the magic of Brett. I have yet to see a quarterback since I've been in the league who competes and enjoys playing the way that he does. That's why he makes those plays. Forget just quarterbacks, just players who compete and play the way he does. And that's an inspiration to the rest of those guys in the league, especially us older cats who are trying to hang in there.
So you never sent him a fruit basket or a thank you note or anything?
Strahan: No need, my friend. I always tell people, for all the critcism and crap that was taken from that, trust me, that was worth it to get that 22nd-and-a-half. Twenty-one-and-a-half sacks in a season is phenomenal. I was very happy with that. My greatest thing was breaking LT's record the week before against the Eagles. Anytime you have sacks, man, in the 20s in 16 games, that's an absolutely phenomenal thing. I can't be upset about the way my career has gone, regardless of that sack or not. And it's a shame that you, right now, are harping on one sack when I've had 132.5. I mean, honestly, if you're going to be a journalist, and I'm not telling you how to do your job, then research my career not just one sack.
I mean, I know we're playing the Packers and it's going to be a hot topic, but it's old, man. What year was that, 2001? That's old. That's probably like me asking you about something that happened to you in high school, man. It's old, it's dead, it's boring. Be a little bit more creative and more interesting. Nobody wants to read about the old. Let's read about something that's interesting. We can rehash stories forever but that doesn't make anybody any better. It's stil the same old boring crap.
Wednesday, Sep 12 2007, 04:38 PM
Green Bay - Everybody likely remembers that Giants defensive end Michael Strahan "sacked" Packers quarterback Brett Favre in the final game of the 2001 season to break Mark Gastineau's single-season sack record. Both players got a lot of flack at the time because Favre seemed to purposely fall right in front of Strahan.
Well, when the two teams face each other on Sunday, Strahan needs just a half sack to break Lawrence Taylor's franchise career sack record. Here's what Strahan had to say about it with reporters today:
What exactly happened on the Favre sack to give you the single-season sack record?
Strahan: Man, you know what, I thought about that today. I said, 'Here we go. We play that Packers. Lord forbid I get a sack and break LT's record and then it's going to be some other mess. So I don't know. I haven't asked Brett about that because, you know what, on the play I did my job, he did his job. If I would have just jumped over him and let somebody else tackle him, then it would have been some other mess. I never asked him because I never felt like I needed to justify it to anybody else what happened.
Kind of ironic, isn't it, that you're one away from the team career sack record and you're going against Favre again.
Strahan: Yeah, but you know what, he's probably one of the hardest guys to get. I watched the game last week in the hotel and I know the Eagles were frustrated because there were about three or four times they had him wrapped up and you swear he's going down and just flicks the ball for 18 yards or somehow gets rid of it. That's the magic of Brett. I have yet to see a quarterback since I've been in the league who competes and enjoys playing the way that he does. That's why he makes those plays. Forget just quarterbacks, just players who compete and play the way he does. And that's an inspiration to the rest of those guys in the league, especially us older cats who are trying to hang in there.
So you never sent him a fruit basket or a thank you note or anything?
Strahan: No need, my friend. I always tell people, for all the critcism and crap that was taken from that, trust me, that was worth it to get that 22nd-and-a-half. Twenty-one-and-a-half sacks in a season is phenomenal. I was very happy with that. My greatest thing was breaking LT's record the week before against the Eagles. Anytime you have sacks, man, in the 20s in 16 games, that's an absolutely phenomenal thing. I can't be upset about the way my career has gone, regardless of that sack or not. And it's a shame that you, right now, are harping on one sack when I've had 132.5. I mean, honestly, if you're going to be a journalist, and I'm not telling you how to do your job, then research my career not just one sack.
I mean, I know we're playing the Packers and it's going to be a hot topic, but it's old, man. What year was that, 2001? That's old. That's probably like me asking you about something that happened to you in high school, man. It's old, it's dead, it's boring. Be a little bit more creative and more interesting. Nobody wants to read about the old. Let's read about something that's interesting. We can rehash stories forever but that doesn't make anybody any better. It's stil the same old boring crap.