The Sports Informant

Mark Sanchez, USC’s star quarterback, just declared for the NFL Draft live on ESPN. For some reason, this makes me sad. While I don’t like USC, he was a fun guy to watch play, he represented the West Coast well and, oh yeah, he’s got Mexican in his blood like I do.

Forget our similar backgrounds. Sanchez represented something special in college football. He was a four-year guy, someone whose primary goal was to get a degree and secondary goal was to play at the highest level, and that eventually included the NFL. Unfortunately for college football fans, he’s going to accomplish all of those goals, even though he’s got a year left of eligibility.

Sanchez is eligible for a fifth year of college football. He could have come back next season and possibly led the Trojans to a national championship. They’d have been one of the favorites, already in debates as to why they should have been named national champs this season and returning all of their stars next season. With Sanchez calling the shots, it would have been a very interesting year of college football for us West Coasters, and another good showing for the Pac-10.

Now, who knows. Sanchez could either get drafted by the Lions or Chiefs in the top five picks and become an NFL starter right away or he could go somewhere else and “develop” while he rides the bench for a few years. Either way, it’s not going to be easy, or fun, for us or him.

Currently, nothing pains me more than watching former Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn roam the sidelines because the Cleveland Browns gave Derek Anderson a huge contract the season after they drafted Quinn. When Quinn finally got to play, he played once his first season, sat the bench most of this season, then played well in a couple of showings before he suffered a season-ending injury. Needless to say, I’ve worn my Brady Quinn jersey, which was expensive and I waited forever to put on, three times.

Now Sanchez enters the scene. I’ll be rooting for the guy, I’ll probably buy his jersey, and hopefully, get to wear it. But his shot at a national title and college football glory are gone. Now he’s just another unproven NFL quarterback, one whose career could go the route of either of predecessors: If he’s Carson Palmer, he struggles, has a fantastic season and then sucks again; if he’s Matt Leinart, he’ll collect a hefty paycheck to sit on the bench and watch a guy like Kurt Warner possibly make a Super Bowl run. Either way, it might not turn out all that great. I hope I’m wrong.