Mark Sanchez Called a 'Shaky' Chihuahua by Boomer Esiason

By Dennis Romero Thu., Jan. 5 2012 at 8:22 AM

Categories: NFL

Mark Sanchez when he was a big dog at USC.

Former USC quarterback Mark Sanchez has been the NFL's Great Brown Hope for a Latino nation not so used to seeing Hispanic surnames on Monday Night Football.

Frankly, Latinos come in 250-pound sizes, but rarely in the 6-foot range required by the hard-hitting league. So Sanchez (6 feet, 2 inches, 225 pounds), quarterback for the New York Jets, has been a rare shining light for a demographic of, well, compact and often rotund people.

But after a lackluster, 8-8 season, Jets fans are looking for a scapegoat, and the third-year pro with the $50 million contract presents a nice target:

Retired Jets QB Boomer Esiason expressed no confidence in the kid from Long Beach, who saw a whopping 26 turnovers this season.

In an interview with WEEI Sportsradio in Boston he seemed to say Sanchez's days as a New Yorker were numbered. And he did so in not-so-flattering terms:

I'm sure that the Jets will be sniffing around. Because that's what the Jets do. They're trying to find their Tom Brady. They're trying to find their Aaron Rodgers. And I don't think in their mind they think that they feel like they've found the kid. If you watched Mark Sanchez the last month of the season, he was like a chihuahua standing on Madison Avenue and 36th Street entering the Midtown Tunnel, eyes bigger than you-know-what, and just so shaky.

Ay, dios mio. Shaky like a chihuahua? Oh no he didn't. These ethnic references are insulting, Boomer.

(Well, some of us embrace them. L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa recently said, "I'm like a Chihuahua. I don't give up." What he really should have said was, I'm like a chihuahua. I like rich people, especially ones who hold me in their arms and donate to my favorite political causes.).

We think Sanchez is brave like a conquistador, nimble like a bullfighter, and unselfish like Latin lover.

And hey, with a $28 million guarantee, he can always come back home to L.A., live like a Kardashian, and find his true match.

We hear Paris Hilton loves chihuahuas.

famouschihuahua.com

[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]

Tags:

Boomer Esiason, football, Latino, Mark Sanchez, New York Jets, NFL, stereotypes, USC

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shag11

Never watched any of his acting because he just seemed so plastic. This now proves it.

Boomersmissingring?

Would Boomer call an african american qb a jittery chimp???? No.....well we all see where this is going.

Manny Miles

Boomer Esiason isn't the only NFL analyst overly critical of Mark Sanchez, there are plenty, and it seems to be a bit unfair considering Mark is the only quarterback in modern NFL history to have 30 or more wins his first 3 seasons. He led the Jets to the AFC Championship his first two seasons, and won his first 4 road playoff games, something no one else has done before. Any mistakes or slight shortcomings of Mark Sanchez are magnified more due to his ethnicity and Hispanic surname. You have to be twice as good when you go into a career or position where Latinos are not known to be in, and if you're not outstanding, then you have a lot of haters (racists) saying you failed. Sanchez doesn't have the benefit of having a non traditional surname like other previous quarterbacks of Mexican-American heritage (Jim Plunkett, Joe Kapp) nor does he have an identity that is white, or passes for white, like Tony Romo and Jeff Garcia, so Sanchez is the easiest target for bigots to throw shots at. If you're a Mexican in the NFL you're going to be remembered and known most for your failures and shortcomings, and not achievements. When coach Tom Flores of the Raiders won his first Super Bowl back in 1980-81 the NFL didn't even mention he was the first minority coach (Mexican-American) to win one, and when he won a 2nd Super Bowl, there was no mention again, but a few years ago when an African-American coach won a Super Bowl for the first time it was recognized by the NFL. The same can be said about Jim Plunkett being the first Mexican-American quarterback to win (not play in, Joe Kapp was the 1st) a Super Bowl (won 2) and the NFL not recognizing the achievement. It's like the NFL organization and the analysts don't want it to be known that Latinos have played and achieved in the sport. A lot of people that are NFL fans don't even know who Anthony Munoz is, and it's probably because he was so good. And back to the New York Jets, it wasn't Sanchez alone that made the team miss the playoffs, it was plenty of other stuff. #scapegoat

plnative

The only people who care that Sanchez has a Mexican heritage are others with Mexican hertiage. (or people who need to view everything through the prism of race) Everyone else (especially Jets fans) cares that he has been at best a mediocre NFL quarterback. Maybe he would be able to get away with that in Seattle or some other small market, but in New York City...no mames guey.

Boomer's simile was apt, if not bound to offend those who like to be offended.

Merlo

norman sucked as a qb and is pissed that his kid also sucked as an nfl qb. Is it racist? hell yeah it is. Most announcers would say "deer in the head lights", but not norman. He is one of the biggest jerks as far as announcers go and not the first time he has made under handed comments. Maybe he wants to get his son a try out.

Swag1

racist as fuck

Nat

his comment is no more offensive than you saying Latinos are "compact and often rotund people".

Tyler

I don't think he meant it racially, I think it's a pretty accurate description of his performance... I think he was just trying to think of a shaky, wimpy thing to compare him to, what's better than a chihuahua? Maybe a deer in headlights?