The Butt Fumble
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Overview
The Butt Fumble is an infamous play in Football history in which New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez ran into his own offensive lineman's rear end, fumbled the ball, and had it returned for a touchdown. The play instantly went viral and had a lasting legacy, being called one of the worst plays in the history of the game.
Background
On November 22nd, 2012, the New England Patriots were facing the New York Jets on Thanksgiving in a nationally televised game. Quarterback Mark Sanchez took the snap but there appeared to have been a miscommunication, and the play went awry. Attempting to salvage anything, Sanchez ran towards the line of scrimmage and tried to slide down. However, as he slid, he went straight into offensive lineman Brandon Moore's rear end, fumbling the ball. The ball was picked up by Patriots player Steve Gregory, who ran the other way for a touchdown.
Developments
The play was an instant hit in sports media. Sportscenter, which ran a "Worst of the Worst Not Top 10" segment every Friday, had the Butt Fumble at Number 1 for 40 straight weeks before retiring the play ahead of the next NFL season.[1] Anchor Kevin Neghandi said, "I won’t miss the ‘Butt Fumble’, but looking back, I will still marvel at its longevity and popularity. It really was an unstoppable force… years from now, when we see a really bad play, we’ll say, ‘But can it compare to the Butt Fumble?’ THAT is setting a legacy.” Prior to retirement, Neghandi called The Butt Fumble the "perfect storm" of a terrible play, due to the high profile quarterback and the other team scoring.[2] Sportscenter also ran a "Sports Science" segment on the play, looking at the physics that caused the play to happen (shown below).
In 2019, seven years after the Butt Fumble, Slate compared Sam Darnold's "Out Indefinitely" Graphic to the Butt Fumble. When Sanchez retired, The Ringer[3] brought up the Butt Fumble. SB Nation posted a video about the play and its legacy on July 23rd, 2018 (shown below). On November 22nd of that year, ESPN held an interview with former Jets head coach Rex Ryan to discuss the play (shown below, right).
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