Ex-Jets QB Sanchez leaves NFL for ESPN
The Sanchize has signed elsewhere.
Former Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez has decided to retire from the NFL for a college football analyst job with ABC and ESPN. The multiyear deal will put Sanchez on ABC’s studio team for all three college football Saturday shows, along with appearances on “College Football Live” and “Get Up!” on ESPN.
Sanchez will replace Mack Brown, who is returning to the sidelines. Brown is back for a second stint as head coach at North Carolina.
“Succeeding within a highpressure media market at USC, and then in the NFL, provided on-the-job training for the next chapter of Mark’s career, which we are thrilled will be with us at ESPN,” ESPN senior vice president of production Lee Fitting said in a press release Tuesday.
“That media experience, combined with his on the field success – playing inand-winning numerous high profile matchups including the 2009 Rose Bowl Game, adding to USC’s rich quarterback heritage, and leading an NFL team to multiple Conference Championships – is a recipe for success as an analyst.”
The Sanchize, as he was once known around these parts, spent eight seasons in the NFL — four with Gang Green. The Jets had traded up in the 2009 draft to select Sanchez at No. 5 overall.
Sanchez, thought to be the Jets’ quarterback of the future, was heralded as the Trojan’s hero of the Rose Bowl before he announced his decision to skip his senior season to pursue an NFL career.
Sanchez helped lead the defensive-minded Jets to two straight AFC Championship games in his first two seasons (the last time the Jets made the playoffs), losing to the Colts in ’09 and Steelers in ’10.
His captivating start to his NFL career, under the direction of Rex Ryan, fizzled out almost as quickly as it started. His career was marred by his sloppy play (69 interceptions in four seasons in the Big Apple) and one of the most bone-headed blunders in league history — the infamous Thanksgiving “butt fumble” play in 2012 against the rival Patriots.
In a final insult, Ryan had Sanchez playing in the fourth quarter of a preseason game in 2013 and the fallen star suffered a season-ending shoulder injury against the Giants.
He went on to start just 11 more games in the NFL spread over time with the Eagles, Cowboys and Washington.
The 32-year-old finished his 79-game career with 86 touchdowns, 1,314 completed passes (56.6 percent completion percentage), 15,357 passing yards, and 89 interceptions.