Raiders remember Sanchez eating hot dog
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- Dustin Keller remembers seeing the rookie quarterback seated on the Jets' bench nearly two years ago, wolfing down a hot dog that would have made Oscar Mayer jealous.
With the 38-0 shellacking of the Raiders nearly complete, Mark Sanchez thought it was a good time to put something in his empty stomach. He was caught munching on camera, sparking a minor firestorm.
"I think he might've known in the back of his mind there was still a camera on him, but I don't blame him," Keller said. "As long as that hot dog was delicious, get another one, you know? He played well and we won that game, so have another.
"We might get him one in the first quarter [Sunday]."
Keller can joke about it now, poking fun at his good friend. At the time, though, Sanchez wasn't chuckling because his snack infuriated Rex Ryan. As an old-school type, Ryan was ticked off at Sanchez, thinking the incident overshadowed the good things the Jets did that October afternoon.
Sanchez tried his best to make amends, buying 500 hot dogs, 500 hamburgers and 1,000 buns and donating them to Community Soup Kitchen of Morristown, N.J. The situation taught him that eyes are on him at all times.
"It's just a good reminder of what playing quarterback in this league is like," Sanchez said. "I actually met the cameraman. He ended up saying sorry. He's like, 'Man, I feel bad. That thing turned into a big deal for you, huh?' I was like, 'You have no idea.'
"But you laugh about it now, and I knew we would at some point. But it wasn't very respectful to the game and other guys playing and that's not the way I wanted it to be, and that's not the kind of player I am. So it's a mistake you learn from."
Raiders coach Hue Jackson wasn't with Oakland when Sanchez was hot-doggin' it. But don't think he's not aware of it.
"I hope we can make it more interesting for him so he doesn't have to eat hot dogs," Jackson told reporters in Oakland. "Hopefully, we can take the mustard and the relish and the onions and all that and put it away and play a little football."
Jackson was coy when asked if he's going to use it to motivate his team.
"I can't let all my secrets out," Jackson said. "The guy had a hot dog. Was it Der Wiener schnitzel? I don't know. It looked to be pretty good the way he was eating it. So I'm sure we'll have some fun this week."
Apparently, the Raiders have seen a replay of Sanchez's meal.
"Coach showed that to us," defensive tackle Tommy Kelly said. "It was just a reminder. We're going to remind him of that during the game."
Jets linebacker Bart Scott shrugged off Jackson's ploy.
"It's two years ago," Scott said. "If you felt like showing a picture of Mark, 'Hey, this guy was relaxing, having a great day,' you could use it, you could spin it any way. 'He disrespected the game.' But you do whatever you have to do to get your troops riled up, and we understand that.
"We'll be up for the challenge."
