“I was never able to convince anyone… that I was anything more than a crazy Jets fan stuck in the 1980s who wanted to make this movie.”
Some men dream of walking on the moon, building a Fortune 500 company or starring in a Hollywood blockbuster.
James Weiner had a more esoteric ambition: he wanted to direct a film about the famous New York Jets defensive line of the 1980s – ‘The New York Sack Exchange’.
Weiner is an award-winning senior producer for NFL Films whose credits include “The Brady 6” and “SEC Storied: Saturday Night Lights,” but grew up in the 1980s in Port Washington, New York, a 20-minute drive from Shea Stadium, his lifelong professional passion is directing a film about the Jets’ formidable defensive line of the 1980s, starring Marty Lyons, Abdul Salaam, Joe Klecko and Mark Gastineau.
“I’ve been trying to make this movie for at least 20 years,” Weiner said. “But I was never able to convince anyone.”
The dream was postponed, but not unrealized. Weiner and co-director Ken Rodgers (who has previously been profiled on this site and is the director of many great NFL documentaries, including ‘Belichick & Saban: The Art of Coaching’, ‘The Two Bills’ and ‘Four Falls of Buffalo’ ) have provided a light-hearted and engaging look at one of the most talked-about defensive units in NFL history.
“The New York Sack Exchange” premieres on December 13 at 8pm ET on ESPN and will be available for streaming on ESPN+ following the linear premiere. The film is narrated by musician, actor and lifelong Jets fan Method Man.
Weiner said he met with Gastineau and his family in 2013 to take the temperature of a film treatment at the Sack Exchange, but the meeting went nowhere. The project seemed dead until the fall of 2022, when Weiner took a bike ride to Rodgers’ house and discussed the two projects they always wanted to do. Rodgers encouragingly told Weiner that no good idea ever dies.
Then came a news catalyst: Klecko entered the Hall of Fame in 2023. Finally, a big break. Last year, Rodgers gave Marsha Cooke, the vice president and executive producer of ESPN Films and 30 for 30, a tour of NFL Films, and the two got to talking about Joe Namath. Cooke, who started in her current role in 2021, said she was a born and raised Jets fan from the Bronx. Rodgers pitched her about a documentary about the New York Sack Exchange during the tour, and Cooke loved it. The filmmakers later made a more formal pitch and ESPN Films eventually joined in.
“Joe Klecko’s induction into the Hall of Fame changed things,” Rodgers said. “Our first shoot with the collective group was at the Hall of Fame. We followed Joe behind the scenes and had them all hooked up during his speech and backstage. I’m not sure any of the four would necessarily have wanted to make a film about them alone. They wanted a movie about the Sack Exchange. I think Mark understood once Joe got into the Hall of Fame that this was some kind of validation for his own career, although as you see in the film he wonders if he will ever get in.
Once they got the green light from ESPN Films, they had to interview Salaam due to his declining health – he died in early October at the age of 71. The filmmakers knew they had to film the quartet at the New York Stock Exchange, replicating the famous photo of the foursome (seen at the top of this story) as they posed in uniform on the floor of the financial center. So, as part of making the film, in April 2024 they rented a private car to drive Salaam 10 hours from his home in Cincinnati to New York City.
Gastineau is the central figure of the documentary and remains an exhausting, yet compelling figure. To their credit, the filmmakers don’t sugar-coat Gastineau’s career, his decisions, and how infuriating his behavior was to his teammates. You’ll rarely see someone on film as fearless about a teammate as Lyon is about Gastineau. They also highlight where Gastineau was ahead of his time (his sack dance today is strange compared to some celebrations).
Mark Gastineau (99) of the New York Jets was known for his flamboyance after defensive plays. (TG Higgins/Getty Images)
“There is empathy for Mark’s arguments, if not for him,” Weiner said. “His arguments have real merit and have allowed us to present them as he argued them.”
(The AthleticsDan Pompei wrote a great profile of Gastineau last June that’s worth reading if you missed it.)
“I was always drawn to this project that James was so passionate about because of the differences that these four guys had together,” Rodgers said. “It used to be Klecko and Gastineau at odds, and now it’s more Lyons and Gastineau. I feel like the question the movie asks is, “Do you have to get along with others to be great together?” They were great together, there’s no doubt about that. But you can ask the question: if they had gotten along better, could they have reached even greater heights? I don’t know the answer to that. But ultimately the theme of the film is about forgiveness and acceptance.”
The film’s most notable moment — and it will likely go viral when it’s released — was footage that producers acquired from Gastineau last fall, of longtime NFL quarterback Brett Favre at a memorabilia show in Chicago and appearing in a bewildered-looking Favre lay. about the fact that New York Giants defense Michael Strahan broke Gastineau’s 1984 sack record of 22 in a single season (Strahan holds the current record with 22.5 on a gifted sack from Favre in 2001). The footage was never publicly broadcast.
“It’s the real-time moment of the movie and it’s never been seen before,” Rodgers said. “We found out they were going to sign autographs together at a card show in Chicago, but Abdul didn’t make it in the end. Our goal was to capture all three together. When we got there, Mark discussed with Klecko and Lyons the fact that Brett Favre was there and how he was finally going to talk to him since he never had the chance to confront him. We followed Mark and when it happened, and it’s as real as it seems. He expressed that pain 100 percent. I think Farve was 100 percent stunned by the reaction and the intensity of it.
“It got serious really quickly,” Rodgers continued. “Everyone in the room realized it was serious. I don’t know if there was a thought that they would clash, but there was real emotion. It actually still remains with Mark. He thinks it is an unfair breaking of his record. I guess if he had anyone to blame, he could blame the NFL for letting it happen second to Favre. I don’t want to speak for him, but I think he felt robbed at that moment.”
GO DEEPER
Mark Gastineau no longer needs your attention
(Top photo: Ronald C. Modra / Getty Images)