Ex-Jet Bust Mark Sanchez Retires From NFL

Mark Sanchez has retired.

The former New York Jets first round pick from 2009 who turned into a colossal bust with New York before bouncing around the league decided to call it a career, and will begin the next stage of his football life as a studio analyst for college football on ESPN. 

Sanchez will join fellow former Jet Jonathan Vilma on the ABC/ESPN studio set for Saturday afternoon pregame and halftime shows. 

It's a good move for Sanchez who was a successful college quarterback at the University of Southern California before coming out early in 2009. 

Sanchez saw a lot of ups and plenty of downs in his star-crossed NFL career.  He started out strong in his first two years working behind Rex Ryan's malicious defense and the strong running attack of Thomas Jones, Shonn Greene and LaDainian Tomlinson. The Jets went to back-to-back AFC Conference Title games during those two seasons. Sanchez's best season probably came in 2010, when he had three come-from-behind victories against the Lions, Browns and Texans in successive weeks in November of that season. 

He was under center for the Jets 28-21 victory over the Patriots in the AFC Divisional playoffs that season. 

Unfortunately his career took a turn for the worse in 2011 when the interceptions and inconsistent play became too prominent as the Jets spiraled out of control. In 2012 the Jets brought in Tim Tebow to compete with Sanchez, but instead it created the most bizarre and ridiculous quarterback competition in the NFL as the Jets had two bad quarterbacks in the room. 

Sanchez was a disaster in 2012, highlighted by his infamous "buttfumble" moment against the Patriots on Thanksgiving night. The following week he was benched in the midst of a meltdown against the Arizona Cardinals. 

His Jets career ended the following season when he was knocked out of a preseason game against the Giants when Head Coach Rex Ryan inserted Sanchez back into the game in the fourth quarter. Sanchez never played for the Jets again. Ryan lasted only two more seasons before he got the axe. 

Sanchez would spend the next five years bouncing around the league with the Eagles, Cowboys, Bears, and Redskins.