Mark Sanchez will never escape the shadow of the Butt Fumble.
No matter how many times he revisits that disastrous play — how Vince Wilfork bulldozed Brandon Moore into his path, how the unheralded but stalwart guard held his ground — the narrative will always get back to Sanchez.
And sure enough, it came back to haunt the former New York Jets quarterback on Thursday, courtesy of one of the best announcers of his current generation. There’s a reason the Baltimore Orioles broadcast earned the No. 4 spot in Awful Announcing’s 2024 rankings of local MLB announcers.
And there’s a reason why Kevin Brown can so effortlessly work a Butt Fumble reference into the ACC Tournament.
With Clemson trailing 39-38 in a game they’d go on to win 57-54, Jaeden Zackery tried to make a move in the paint. Instead, his only move was straight into the backside of his 7-foot-2 teammate, Christian Reeves.
“Zackery. Oh, he ran into Reeves’ back,” said Brown. “Looking like Mark Sanchez on Thanksgiving night.”
Like we said, effortlessly.
“Ah, the Butt Fumble,” analyst Jon Crispin quipped. “Never thought the Butt Fumble would make it into our broadcast.”
“Zackery. Oh, he ran into Reeves’ back. Looking like Mark Sanchez on Thanksgiving night.”
“Ah, the Butt Fumble. Never thought the Butt Fumble would make it into our broadcast.”
Kevin Brown and Jon Crispin do some reminiscing after a Clemson mistake. pic.twitter.com/WZpP765JSh
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 14, 2025
The last time a Butt Fumble made its way onto a broadcast? That was Al Michaels. This past NFL season, the voice of Amazon Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football mentioned the infamous play during a game a few years ago, noting how even unofficial Jets mascot Fireman Ed took a brief break from his duties after the debacle.
Sanchez might wish for a world where the Butt Fumble fades into oblivion, but as long as announcers like Brown have a sense of humor and a taste for nostalgia, it’ll continue to resurface.
The Butt Fumble will forever be a cultural touchstone, and leave it to the Kevin Browns of the world to keep it alive.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.