In the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft, with the fifth overall pick, the New York Jets drafted USC quarterback Mark Sanchez, who would later play one season for the Cowboys.
The Jets’ head coach, Rex Ryan, was so thrilled he went out and got a tattoo of his wife wearing Sanchez’s jersey on his right arm. Follow the link to see what it looked like.
We do have some standards around here.
You might remember the 2009 Draft as being the year the Dallas Cowboys didn’t have a pick in the first two rounds.
When they did pick, their third round selection was tackle Robert Brewster. He played one NFL game.
Their fourth rounder was quarterback Stephen McGee, who played in all of three NFL games.
See Jets fans, someone was suffering more than you were that year.
Although as bad as the 2009 draft was, it still couldn’t top the disaster that was the 2004 draft for Dallas. There’s that at least.
But back to Sanchez for now.
The Butt Fumble
Sanchez was the Jets’ starter for four years and was 33-29 during that run. He led New York to two playoff appearances in his first two seasons.
He finished with a 4-2 mark in postseason play.
The Jets would lose to the Colts in the 2009 AFC title game and the Steelers in the 2010 conference championship game.
But his most notable game in New York would come on Thanksgiving night in 2012 at MetLife Stadium and in front of a national audience.
Sanchez managed to crash into the backside of his own offensive lineman, Brandon Moore, and fumbled the ball. New England’s Steve Gregory happily collected the scoop and score.
The Butt Fumble was born into legend.
The Aftermath
Sanchez would be out of football for the 2013 season before returning to play for the Eagles in 2014-15. He played in two games for the Cowboys in 2016.
He missed the entire 2017 season and played two games for the Redskins in 2018 before calling it a playing career.
In 2019, he joined ESPN’s college football coverage and in 2021 began covering NFL games as an analyst for Fox.
One Bad Night In Indianapolis
Then came last weekend. Sanchez was in Indianapolis preparing to call the Colts-Raiders game for Fox.
At some point after midnight, on Saturday morning, Sanchez got into an altercation with a 69-year-old truck driver.
The driver felt threatened enough to pull out a knife and stabbed Sanchez several times, sending the former Jet to the hospital.
And that’s when everything gets weird. Police have arrested Sanchez, but not the driver.
And Sanchez is now looking at felony charges at that.
The case will no doubt take some time to sort out, and Sanchez’s side of the story is not out yet either.
Was he drunk? Was he having some kind of medical episode?
That is all yet to be determined, and he remains innocent until proven guilty.
But Ryan is no doubt looking into tattoo removal services as we speak.
Not All Bad News
Some former Cowboys had a much better weekend for sure.
Starting with Rico Dowdle. The Cowboys starting running back in 2024 racked up an impressive 206 yards on 23 carries for Carolina on Sunday.
Dowdle also found the endzone on one carry and was instrumental in the Panther’s win over Miami.
Dallas’ starting running back in 2022 and 2023, Tony Pollard, had 14 carries for 67 yards and a touchdown, along with three catches for 11 yards in Tennessee’s 22-21 win over Arizona.
