Mark Gastineau is a former all-pro defensive end in the National Football League who played for the New York Jets from 1979 until ’88. A ferocious pass rusher, he accumulated 100.5 quarterback sacks in his first 100 starts in the league. In 1984, Gastineau set the record for most sacks in a single season (22), which stood for 16 years until the New York Giants’ Michael Strahan controversially broke it in 2001, as Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre seemingly allowed Strahan to sack him.
Gastineau retired from professional football and began a career in professional boxing. Those who managed his boxing career wanted to capitalize on his name and build an impressive record for him against hand-picked opponents. Their goal was to secure a huge payday against former heavyweight champion George Foreman. Because of his sheer size, brute strength and athletic ability, Mark would have won some professional boxing matches against the right opponents without any training.