Play Like You Mean It by Rex Ryan

Author:Rex Ryan [Ryan, Rex]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-385-53445-1
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 2011-05-03T04:00:00+00:00

11. Mark Sanchez

Coming into my first year as head coach with the Jets, we knew there was a pretty good chance that Brett Favre was planning to leave. If we were going to be successful, the most important person that we had to draft was someone who could lead. It had to be someone who could take control of this franchise. For a quarterback, we set our sights on Mark Sanchez.

For the record, let me clarify that previous statement. Mike Tannenbaum and I set our sights on Mark Sanchez. Mike and I were determined to draft Sanchez. Of course, now that he’s become the first quarterback in NFL history to win four playoff games in his first two seasons, everyone in our organization says they wanted Mark!

Who wouldn’t want to be responsible for making Mark a Jet? There isn’t a single person in this franchise who doesn’t respect him as a person and as a player. Honestly, the kid is unbelievable. He’s not just a guy with GQ good looks and a good arm. He’s the real deal. He has all the intangibles: talent, charisma, intellect, and leadership abilities. I believe Mark’s going to be extraordinary in the NFL. I have believed that since I first met him. I refer to him as “my baby.” I know that may not be the most masculine way to put it, but it’s the truth, he is absolutely my baby. He wasn’t just my first draft pick as an NFL head coach; he was the first of many important decisions I was going to make for this franchise. He’s my guy, and I’m damn proud of it! I still have his draft card at home, tucked away in a drawer. I plan to get it framed one day.

Statistics say that if you are a rookie head coach and you use a first-round draft pick on a quarterback, you will not make it more than four years in that head coaching job. Those are the numbers. Frankly, I think that’s BS. You have to have a franchise quarterback. Look around—you can’t win in this league without one. So when the time came, the last thing I was going to do was let a few facts and figures keep me from going after Mark.

I’ll tell you this, though: We weren’t the only ones who were after Sanchez. Other teams liked him, too, and we sat relatively low—too low to draft Sanchez—with the 17th pick in the 2009 NFL Draft. Needless to say, finding a way to make that pick happen wasn’t easy. Mark’s coach at USC, Pete Carroll, wasn’t used to his quarterbacks leaving school early. Heisman Trophy winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart and John David Booty stayed for their senior seasons at USC. Carroll made it clear he thought Sanchez should do the same.

A fourth-year junior, Mark waited until the last day that players could announce their intention to enter the NFL Draft early to make his plans known. At the press conference

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