Sanchez Brings California Gold Rush of Expectations

Forty years…four decades since Broadway Joe Namath led the Jets to a Super Bowl championship.

Richard Todd, Ken O’Brien, Browning Nagle, Boomer Esiason, Neil O’Donnell, Glenn Foley, Vinny Testaverde, Ray Lucas, Rick Mirer, Chad Pennington, Jay Fiedler, Kellen Clemens, Brett Favre.

Those are the Jets’ quarterbacks since Namath. It is a list that goes on, and on, and on. It is the song that never ends, the pain that never ends for Jets fans upon hearing those names that have marked a 40-year Super Bowl drought.

Now, a new name will be added to the list.

Mark Sanchez.

The golden boy from college football’s west coast behemoth moves over to the east coast and represents the one word Jets fans have feasted on for years: hope.

There have been trades for veterans at the tail end of their careers, future hall-of-famers and draft picks that have not come close to sniffing the jocks of future hall-of-famers (well, except maybe Kellen Clemens; he did backup Favre).

A position that is the pinnacle of championship success throughout NFL history has been a disastrous string of folly and forays to forget for this franchise.

Some have been good but not great. O’Brien and Pennington were good enough to lead the Jets to playoff appearances but never Super Bowl glory. First-round picks that never reached elite level.

For over 40 years, the Jets did not use the draft to take a leap of faith on the leader of the team, a face of the franchise. Those leaps can be pure disaster (i.e. Ryan Leaf, Akili Smith) but when they work (i.e. Peyton Manning, Troy Aikman), they are pure glory.

For over 40 years, the Jets have settled or taken risks on the wrong guys, guys past their prime (i.e. Brett Favre). Sanchez marks the Jets’ first top-five selection of a quarterback since Joe Namath was taken No.1 overall in the 1964 AFL Draft.

Forty-five years after that inaugural AFL Draft, the Jets finally took a leap of faith on a potential franchise quarterback. Not a quarterback that some other team didn’t want. Not a quarterback that wasn’t good enough to be selected in the top 10. It took 45 years.

Some teams get lucky and find Tom Brady in the sixth round of the draft. History has shown that the Jets are not one of those teams. Luck has been working against the Jets ever since Joe Willy Namath exited the field after coming through on his guarantee and defeating the Colts.

Yes, Mark Sanchez has never played an NFL down. He hasn’t even played that many collegiate downs. He is no sure thing. But he marks a change for this franchise that is much needed. He has the coifed look and eloquent speech. He has the moxie and star power. He brings an injection of hope.

But Jets fans know that hope is a word that only delivers from February to September. The trade up to the top 5 to select Sanchez was a bold step in the right direction. Now, it is up to Sanchez to make it worth it. To begin a new era and not be lumped into 40 years’ worth of quarterbacks that Jets fans have hoped would be ‘the one’ but were not. To follow in Broadway Joe's footsteps and reclaim Super Bowl glory.