Social media detective calls Michael Strahan's NFL sack record into question

January 6 is one of those days that many people can remember exactly where they were and what they were doing. Millions of Americans watched their televisions in horror as one of our nation's most hallowed institutions was violated in a way that none of us could have ever imagined. It truly was a day that would live in infamy. I'm speaking, of course, of January 6th, 2002, which is the day that Brett Favre took a dive to give Michael Strahan the NFL single-season sack record.

Mark Gastineau, a major part of the Jets' legendary New York Sack Exchange, had held the record of 22 sacks since 1984, a remarkable amount of time in a league that has placed more and more emphasis on the passing game as time has gone on. Strahan's sack of Favre in the final week of the 2002 regular season gave him the new record with 22.5, a number that has since been equaled just once, by TJ Watt of the Steelers in 2021, but never broken.

Michael Strahan had already put together a great career before the 2001-02 season even began. In eight seasons, the gap-toothed defensive end had been a First Team All-Pro twice and made the Pro Bowl three times. He had 62 career sacks at the time, and he would go on to play six more seasons after 2001-02, making three more All-Pro teams and winning one Super Bowl over the previously undefeated Patriots, after which he rode off into the sunset.

Strahan was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2014. He had his number 92 retired by the Giants in 2021, and he's gone on to an extremely successful media career that has included, among other things, co-hosting Live! with Kelly and Michael and Good Morning America. Still, the thing most football fans remember him for is breaking the sack record under sketchy circumstances. Take a look:

Michael Strahan's sack record has always had an asterisk attached to it

Anyone that has kids knows what it looks like when you let them win. My youngest is about to turn five, and rather than get him upset by saving his soccer shots in the driveway, I make a big show of trying to kick the ball, only to let it roll past me into the net. He's happy, I'm happy, everybody wins.

This is exactly what Favre did for Strahan. Up by two scores with under three minutes to go, the Packers had the game in hand already, so Favre let his friend enjoy a moment in the sun by inexplicably running right at him and then falling down. It would make a lot of sense if Favre was playing in the backyard with his son, but the fact that it altered the NFL record books has always left a sour taste in most fans' mouths. Now though, an internet sleuth has seemingly stumbled onto a clear piece of evidence that even with Favre's gift, Strahan should have never been credited with breaking the sack record in the first place.

X (formerly Twitter) user JaguarGator9 made the discovery on Wednesday, and it's impossible to argue against the veracity of his claim that Strahan's sack against the Cowboys in Week 8 shouldn't have counted, as Cowboys quarterback Clint Stoerner was clearly past the line of scrimmage when Strahan brought him down. He goes more in depth in this YouTube video.

This would mean that Gastineau still deserved to hold the sack record for all these years, and that Watt is now the sole holder of the record after breaking it in 2022. JaguarGator9 points out in his thread that it's not unprecedented for the record books to change years after the fact if new information comes to light, citing Packers receiver Don Hutson's 95-game catch streak being taken away decades later as one example.

Will the NFL actually drop Strahan's official sack total down to 21.5? It seems unlikely, but it probably all comes down to how much traction JaguarGator9's research gets. If it goes super viral and gets mentioned by anybody with a large enough platform, then it will be difficult for the NFL to remain silent about it. It still wouldn't change the fact that Strahan deservedly won Defensive Player of the Year in 2002, and it wouldn't take away any of his accomplishments since then. It also wouldn't change anything Brett Favre has done on January 6, but for Mark Gastineau and football fans everywhere, it would bring a much-needed sense of closure to the events of that day. God bless America.