There was this King of
There was this King of the Hill episode, where Bill’s high school football rushing record was broken by a kid with a broken leg. The kid had come close to breaking the record before breaking his leg, so the opposing team let him hobble across the goal line in a cast so he could take the record.
I imagine Mark Gastineau, former New York Jets who held the single-season sack record of 22, felt a lot like Bill a few minutes ago, while he stood on the sideline watching Brett Favre, quarterback of the Green Bay Packers, sit down so that New York Giant’s defensive end Michael Strahan could get the sack that breaks Gastineau’s record.
It was clear to anyone watching todays Giants-Packers game that the Packer’s offensive line allowed Strahan to get past them and Favre, a quarterback known for his ability to scramble out of tight situations, clutched the ball and slid to the ground like a sissy. All Strahan had to do was tag him down. You can argue that the Packers had sealed the game, that Favre was just protecting the ball in an alread-won situation, etc. etc. But the commentary from the announcers and the post-game analysis made it clear that everyone thought Favre and the Packers had “generously” allowed Strahan to get the record by not putting up the fight they could.
Not me. Nothing generous in this. Strahan earned the 21.5 sacks up to this point in the season, but he didn’t earn the record — the Packers gave it to him. Favre and the Packers should be ashamed, Strahan should be disappointed that he had to be handed the record instead of earning it, and Gastineau should be irate.