Ten years into the reign of Tom Brady, the division rival New York Jets had just begun to gain some footing, becoming a respectable rival to the Patriots. The Jets had made the playoffs just eleven times, with no Super Bowl appearances since Broadway Joe Namath won Super Bowl III against the Baltimore Colts.
In 2009, the Jets believed themselves to have finally broken the curse through the play of Mark Sanchez, a rookie first-round quarterback out of USC who led the team to the playoffs in his first year.
The Jets would reach the AFC Championship game in two straight seasons, losing both games, first to Peyton Manning’s Colts, then Ben Roethlisberger’s Steelers. The Jets did not hesitate to make Sanchez the highest paid quarterback in the league the following offseason.
The optimism quickly faded, as the Jets failed to secure a playoff spot, going 8-8 in 2011. Since the AFC Championship in the 2010 season, the Jets are now on the longest active streak without making a playoff appearance.
As somewhat boring and borderline tragic as this may seem, as the Jets plummeted into the abyss at terminal velocity, they offered one shining moment to remember them by:
The Butt Fumble.
By the time the Patriots and Jets met in 2012, Tom Brady no longer feared the division upstart that had handed him a playoff loss in Foxborough just years before. Brady was back on top, and the Jets were nearing an early-season playoff elimination with a 4-6 record. With all of the bright lights and fanfare that come with a primetime Thanksgiving matchup, Mark Sanchez took the snap in the middle of the second quarter.
Already down 14-0, Sanchez went to hand the ball off, but a miscommunication with the running back led him to try and scramble (when a QB runs the football). In a moment that has probably played as many time in his head as it has one network television over the past decade, Sanchez tucked the ball in his arms and sprinted directly into the butt of one of his offensive lineman.
If Sanchez could have held on to the ball, we wouldn’t be discussing this moment. It very well may have disappeared into the fog of football frustration that would hover over the turf in Metlife Stadium for years to come.
He did not hold onto the football.
The impact with his own teammates rear end flung the football loose, and into the arms of a Patriot’s defender who ran to daylight, no one surrounding him but his own teammates on their way to what would prove to be an impenetrable 21-0 lead.
Sanchez turned his early retirement into a lucrative NFL analyst position with ESPN, where on occasion he will joke about the play. Laughing at yourself is healthy, and slightly easier to do with over $40 million in the bank.
Lol love this