Mark Sanchez really cannot catch a break. As Sanchez continues to struggle as a starting quarterback in the league, the backlash has been coming at him left and right. Jets fans are unhappy with his poor performance. The team is not happy with his performance. Now, other NFL players are throwing hate his way. While hosting a local Carolina radio show, Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith said that he is glad Sanchez is not throwing him the ball.
A player anonymously ripping on other players seems to no longer be the trend in 2013. Now, they just they just toss around their opinions no matter what. Smith certainly made no attempts to hide his feelings about Sanchez and his abilities.
"He sucks. I wouldn't let Mark Sanchez throw me a paper bag sandwich," Smith said on WFNZ 610-AM.
That was very blunt of Smith. The wide receiver has been known to bag on opponents from time to time but to hate on Sanchez seems out of the blue. Smith has certainly had to deal with worse quarterbacks than Sanchez throwing him the ball.
The former Southern Cal quarterback has yet to hear any kind of praise after delivering back-to-back disappointing seasons. He threw 18 interceptions in both 2011 and 2012.While he did deliver 26 touchdowns in 2011, he only produced 13 touchdowns in 2012. His completion percentage dropped from 56.7 percent to 54.3 percent.
To look at Smith's argument, last season Cam Newton threw for 3,869 yards and 19 touchdowns. He only had 12 interceptions and produced a completion percentage of 57.7 percent. He did throw 17 interceptions in his rookie season, but showed improvement in his sophomore year. Improvement is something that has yet to come from Sanchez.
He has been forced to constantly worry about job security. The Jets first brought in Tim Tebow, an experiment that failed miserably. Then Greg McElroy, the third string quarterback, started over Sanchez to finish out 2012. Now, the Jets have drafted Geno Smith to once again put Sanchez's future with the team in jeopardy. The team once again has a quarterback competition happening as they head into 2013.
While Smith is tossing hate at other players, former NFL defensive star Ronde Barber is paying the receiver a large compliment. After annoucning his reitrment from the league, Barber said Smith was the toughest receiver he has ever had to cover. He praised Smith for his gritty play and all-around talent on the field. Clearly, Smith feels no pressure to compliment someone else.
