Mark Gastineau

Marcus Gastineau is one of the greats of American football and a legend for the NY Jets. He was a remarkable pass rusher and has incredible sacks stats.

Early Accomplishments

As a child he suffered a horrendous leg break and was believed will never walk again. He overcame it and his father built him a rodeo ring, he began to participate in team roping shows by age 12.

After starting to play football just before college, he finally chose to play for ECU, Oklahoma and soon rose to prominence, becoming the school’s first ever NFL draft in 1979.

Best Known For

His 8-year career with the Jets has seen him rack up the club’s greatest ever sacks of 74.0 and become NFL’s 8th best pass rusher ever. 

With Jets, he played in the Pro Bowl for 5 consecutive years from 1981, winning the MVP in 1984.

He also had a 5-year boxing career from 1991 and retiring with a record of 15 wins & 2 losses in 18 matches which includes a no-contest.

Sexual Orientation

Mark is straight. He married his first wife, Lisa Gastineau in 1979 and were together until Mark’s infidelity with Brigitte Nielsen broke them up finally in 1991. He was engaged to Nielsen in 1988 but split up in 1990. 

He was briefly married to Patti Schorr in 1996 but they broke up after he was convicted of domestic abuse. 

He is now married to Joanne Voorhees since 2006.

Family

He is a child of Ernie and Lou Gastineau and he has 2 siblings who are brother Brett Gastineau and sister Kelli Rausch. 

He fathers Brittny Gastineau with Lisa and also has a son Killian with his ex-fiancée, Brigitte.

Religion

After his time in prison, he became a born-again Christian in 2001 and even joined the Times Square Church choir where he met his current spouse.

Worth To Know

In 2016, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and dementia. He explained how his conditions are because of football in a very tearful radio interview in 2018.

His middle name is Dell.