Mark Gastineau is a former American football player in the National Football League (NFL) who has an estimated net worth of $35 million. Born Marcus Dell Gastineau on November 20, 1956 in Ardmore, Oklahoma, he attended Round Valley High School and needed the urging of his father to play football. He entered Eastern Arizona Junior College in 1975 and earned an All-American honors in his first season. He transferred to Arizona State University but spent only one season playing defensive end. He then settled at East Central Oklahoma State University, now East Central University, in Ada, Oklahoma. In his college career, he had 27 quarterback sacks and earned Outstanding Defensive Lineman honors for the North in the 1979 Senior Bowl.

Gastineau became the university’s first-ever draft pick when the New York Jets selected him in the second round of the 1979 NFL Draft. He made the Pro Bowl five straight seasons (1981-1985) and finished his ten year career with 107 ½ sacks, the Jets all-time record. He was a First-team All-Pro from 1981 to 1985 and was consensus All-AFC in each of those years. He was a key part of the famed “New York Sack Exchange,” the Jets defensive line that also included Jeo Klecko, Marty Lyons and Abdul Salaam in the early 1980s.

Mark Gastineau began a career in boxing in 1991 and compiled a 15-2. His first fight was a first-round knockout against Derrick Dukes. He ended his career in 1996 after he lost to another football player Alonzo Highsmith. He has a record of fifteen wins, two losses, and one no-contest.