Poor Mark Sanchez. It wasn’t too long ago that he was the poster boy for the future of the New York Jets. However after a couple of subpar years and a shoulder injury, he was relegated to backup quarterback. Sanchez was ultimately released by the team this offseason.
The former first-rounder out of USC reached two consecutive AFC Championship games in his first two years at the helm. That feat made Sanchez only the second player to ever accomplish such incredible initial success in the NFL. However, the Jets failed to make the playoffs the following two years.
Unfortunately for Sanchez, his on-field accomplishments will most likely be overshadowed by the events of November 22, 2012, a day that is known as the “Butt Fumble” day.
The infamous “Butt Fumble” is the embarrassing incident when Sanchez runs into the rear end of right guard Brandon Moore whose butt subsequently causes a fumble. The ball is recovered by Steve Gregory of the Patriots who runs it in for a touchdown.
The clip was played over and over again on highlight reels and took the top spot on ESPN Sports Center’s “Not Top 10: Worst of the Worst” for a record-setting 40 weeks straight. It was a blooper that made other bloopers jealous. It was even turned into a silent film.
Here’s another look:
“Butt Fumble” is trending today because of a heads up play by Jake Hendrickson. The longtime Jets fan saw that Sanchez’ No. 6 jersey from November 22, 2012 was up for auction last week. He thought the date looked familiar, did a little cross-referencing, and knew that he had to bid on the jersey.
“The second I realized what it was I knew I had to have it,” Hendrickson said. “Almost for macabre reasons; the amount of ridicule I have received from friends regarding that play and me being a diehard Jets fan out in California especially. There’s no way I could let it get in the hands of an anti-fan or something of that manner to be shoved in our face.”
Hendrickson prepared for the auction and took home the prize. “The auction itself had like five days left on it before it closed so basically I set an alarm on my calendar to remind me an hour before so I could be at my computer. I was prepared for an all-out bidding war. There were a couple other people I was bidding against but it being the offseason I don’t think there were many people looking for football memorabilia so it didn’t go nearly as high as I had anticipated. Plus every time someone would outbid me by $5 or $10 I was raising by a hundred bucks just to show I meant businesses.”
It only cost the “long suffering Jets fan” $820. And what does he plan to do with the jersey? “For now I’ll probably just frame it up real nice and put it on my wall. Until we win a Super Bowl or I can get together enough money to put it on a rocket ship and shoot it to outer space because I don’t think it belongs on this planet anymore.”
Mark Sanchez signed with the Philadelphia Eagles in the offseason. He will most likely serve as a backup quarterback to Nick Foles.
Image via Wikimedia Commons
