One of the big talking points after the Packers won the Super Bowl was Aaron Rodgers slaying the Brett Favre dragon once and for all. In fact, winning the MVP meant that he accomplished something that Favre never did.
Thankfully for the Jets and their fans, Sanchez's big moment in the Deadspin sun didn't result in him surpassing Favre in the ranks of embarrassing behavior by a quarterback wearing a Jets uniform. On Friday, the website that outed Favre's texting habits posted a letter from a lawyer threatening them with legal action if they posted a story and photgraphs about his client and Sanchez. Deadspin promised that the story would still run on Tuesday and they made good on the promise.
It's just hard to understand exactly why they or the lawyer bothered getting so worked up.
Sanchez did meet a 17-year-old girl at a club in Manhattan on New Year's Eve. Said girl the website that they hooked up at his place in New Jersey and sent along pictures from the crib to corroborate his story. And that's it. Since the age of consent in Jersey is 16 and 17 in New York, there were no laws broken and nothing for Sanchez or anyone else to apologize about as a result of their behavior.
Deadspin never said there was anything to apologize about nor did they say there was anything illegal or improper. They did make a point of saying they asked the Jets for a comment, though, and, in the grand tradition of leaving you hanging for the big reveal, did do just enough hinting to make you think there was something bigger coming down the pike. That's what comes after outing Favre, Rex Ryan and the finances of Major League Baseball teams, but it definitely has a feeling of the boy who cried wolf to it.
The whole incident isn't without some positive takeaways, however. Sanchez's pad appears overly devoted to football, including a picture of the stadium over his bed and mini-helmets strewn here and there. The decorations wouldn't seem out of place in a 17-year-old's pad, in fact. He's also got what appears to be a blowup of a Daily News cover calling him "Broadway Schmo" after he threw five interceptions against the Bills in 2009.
Using that kind of thing as a daily motivational device is pretty likable, which wasn't really where we thought this whole thing was headed last week.
U.S. & World
Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City and is a contributor to FanHouse.com and ProFootballTalk.com in addition to his duties for NBCNewYork.com. You can follow him on Twitter.
