“You hurt me!” – Michael Strahan found himself embroiled in a bitter 20-year-old controversy when the Jets star accused Brett Favre of faking NFL history

Michael Strahan set a new NFL record more than two decades ago.

He’s still paying the price in 2024, even though he’s now part owner of the historic brand and 17 years have passed since Strahan played his last football game.

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Footage from an upcoming ESPN documentary has been teased showing Mark Gastineau angrily confronting Brett Favre at a remembrance show.

Favre, a Hall of Famer and Green Bay Packers legend, tries to greet Gastineau.

But instead, the former New York Jets defensive end confronts Favre and accuses him of colluding with Strahan to enable the then-New York Giants defensive end to break the NFL record for sacks in a season.

The situation quickly became chaotic and was further complicated by the fact that Gastineau was “captured by a camera crew with a microphone following him,” according to an ESPN report.

“You hurt me,” Gastineau says to Favre. “You hurt me!”

“I understand you,” Favre said.

“You really hurt me,” Gastineau said. “You really hurt me, Brett.”

Gastineau, who made five Pro Bowls while playing for the Jets from 1979 to 1988, set the NFL record with 22 sacks in 1984.

Strahan set a new record of 22.5 at the end of the 2021 season.

He had a clear shot at Favre as the giant was on the verge of breaking Gastineau’s mark.

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But when the QB went down early, some believed Favre had helped Strahan set the record.

Pittsburgh’s TJ Watt matched Strahan’s 22.5 mark in 2021.

Fans oscillated between sympathy and shock as they watched Gastineau’s confrontation with Favre, with many saying it was time to “let it go.”

“Strahan was about to eat Favre for lunch,” one fan tweeted. “He didn’t have time to throw.”

“22 years is a long time to hold on,” a second fan posted. “What in life did Mark miss out on by focusing so much on this?”

“This is the softest thing I’ve ever seen,” a third fan wrote.

“My god Mark he would have fired him anyway that’s why they’re counting these,” said a fourth fan.

To make the confrontation even stranger, Favre played for the Jets in 2008.

The Hall of Fame QB took to social media to explain his version of Strahan’s record.

“I would like to clear the air about the footage released showing a minor altercation between me and Mark Gastineau,” Favre tweeted.

“When Michael Strahan fired me in 2002 at the end of a game we were finishing, I didn’t mean to hurt Mark Gastineau.

“I was trying to finish a game and squeeze every last bit of fun out of a hard-fought game.”

“In a different game or situation, I would have made greater efforts to avoid the sack or TFL.”

“But at no point did I think about hurting Gastineau. Maybe it occurred to me to help Strahan. I didn’t think about it all the way through. That wasn’t my strength back then.”

“I have a lot of respect for Mark. I hope he joins me in the Hall of Fame one day.”

“He deserves it. Look at his numbers.”

“He topped 20 sacks twice and had 19 another year!”

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