Mark Sanchez reflects on being teammates with Tim Tebow on New York Jets

Former NFL quarterback Mark Sanchez was put in the awkward position of sharing the QB room with Tim Tebow on the New York Jets back in 2012.

Coming off a year where Tebow-mania was at its highest in the NFL, and a playoff win for the former Denver Broncos quarterback, Tebow was traded to the Jets upon the signing of Peyton Manning. Sanchez, who just led the Jets to two AFC title games and then set career highs in yards and touchdowns in 2011, now had the circus, so-to-speak, coming to town.

But, Sanchez had no ill will towards Tebow and frankly loves the guy. The timing was just odd and awkward when the former Heisman Trophy winner came in as the backup.

“Stuff like that was, it just comes with everything that Tim is like, he’s a mega superstar and he has this huge following,” Sanchez said on Pardon My Take. “So you knew there was going to be some of that in the building and you kind of sign up for that if you signs a player like that. I think under any other circumstances, Tim and I would have been much closer because we do align on a lot of things. 

“He works really hard in the weight room. He works really hard at practice. He is a really good teammate, but it’s difficult in the quarterback room, because there can only be one. You have two, you have none. And it also sends messages to the team like, okay, we’re signing this other really good player. What’s the role? How do we define these roles for these two players? Who’s our guy? Who are we following? And so it can make life difficult (but) … I mean, he’s a hell of a dude.”

Sanchez, nor the Jets, had a great season in 2012 as he went 6-9 as a starter and it was the second straight year they missed the playoffs. But make no mistake, Sanchez did not blame Tebow for any struggles anywhere.

“He works his butt off, man,” Sanchez said. “I’ve never seen anybody go at it that hard. I mean, he loved playing ball, man. That’s all he wanted to do. And was productive at other positions. You know, he played special teams ,he played tight end, you know, like, I could never do that. You do your best with stuff like that and you hope it works out. 

“Him being on the team didn’t lead to our success or failure. You know, that wasn’t like the one piece that decided the season. We weren’t a good team when he showed up. I mean, I don’t care who was playing quarterback. We just weren’t a good team. We weren’t nearly the team we had my first two years.”

Once someone is relegated to a backup role, it can be difficult adjustment. But it has to be all about the team.

Sanchez would later understand Tebow’s situation since that was the former USC quarterback’s role with teams like the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, Chicago Bears and the then-Washington Redskins.

“The quarterback room is tricky,” Sanchez said. “You got to find the right mix of players and if it is somebody who has been a starter, it’s gotta be somebody who can kind of take a step back. You know, check their ego, check everything at the door and service the main starter because the whole thing has to go through the eyes of the quarterback. Everything has to be seen through the eyes of the quarterback, in my opinion, if you want to have success.”