New York Jets Find Their Face For the Next Decade

When you look around the league, who do you associate most with the Colts? Peyton Manning, right?

How about the Vikings? Adrian Peterson, anyone?

The Cowboys? Tony Romo, sound familiar?

The fact is almost every team in this league has a face for their franchise. The last time the Jets truly had that was when they had Chad Pennington take over for Vinny Testaverde in 2002 after a 1-3 start.

Pennington remained the face of this team for the next few years, but the injury bug hit him in 2003—forcing him to miss games every season from there on out.

He fell out of favor with the franchise and lost the confidence of the fans. The Jets were left without a face to lead this team once again.

When the Jets moved up to the top five of the draft this past weekend, they saw the opportunity to give their franchise a face once again. They selected University of Southern California quarterback Mark Sanchez with the fifth overall pick.

It takes many things to be a successful quarterback in New York. You have to have leadership, passion, character, hard-working ethic and most of all you have to win.

Ask any USC fan about Mark Sanchez and they'll tell you about the passion and leadership that he brings to the table.

When Sanchez made his rounds through the New York media, whether it be press conferences, TV interview or radio interviews, you could clearly tell he was comfortable and had a good understanding of what was to come.

He knows how to handle the pressure of playing in New York and has the character to make the fans and media love him.

Lastly, the most important thing (and the key to succeeding in New York) is just to simply win. That is all I can ask from Sanchez. Win...and you will be loved.