Fox Sports was forced to call an audible on Sunday, October 5, after broadcast color commentator Mark Sanchez was arrested for his alleged role in a stabbing altercation.
Sanchez, 38, was set to call Sunday afternoon’s game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Las Vegas Raiders, before he was involved in a physical altercation with a 69-year-old man in the early morning hours of Saturday, October 4. According to authorities, the altercation resulted in “one man receiving lacerations and the other sustaining injuries consistent with stab wounds.”
The former NFL quarterback was later arrested at the hospital for battery with injury, unlawful entry of a motor vehicle and public intoxication — all misdemeanors. According to a Saturday statement from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, Sanchez remains hospitalized as of Saturday and “has not been booked into the Adult Detention Center.”
According to a Saturday report from The Athletic, NFL analyst Brady Quinn will step in for Sanchez in his absence. It is not yet known what plans, if any, Fox Sports has for Sanchez following Sunday’s game.
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Shortly after news of the stabbing broke, Fox News Sports released a statement, saying that Sanchez “is currently recovering in the hospital in stable condition.”
“We are deeply grateful to the medical team for their exceptional care and support,” the statement continued. “Our thoughts and prayers are with Mark, and we ask that everyone please respect his and his family’s privacy during this time.”
Details of what allegedly occurred between Sanchez and the 69-year-old man have since emerged. According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by local media outlet FOX59, Sanchez approached the man — an employee at the Westin Hotel and the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown — and allegedly opened the driver’s side door of the man’s truck and climbed inside despite multiple requests for him to leave.
Eventually, according to the same affidavit, a struggle broke out. The 69-year-old man reportedly pepper sprayed Sanchez before he stabbed him multiple times in the upper torso in what he told authorities was self defense. The man, who has not been publicly identified, also claimed Sanchez appeared intoxicated and smelled of booze.
“What began as a disagreement between a 38-year-old former professional athlete and a 69-year-old man should not have escalated into violence or left anyone seriously injured,” Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said in a statement released early Sunday morning. “As with any case, we will follow the facts and the law wherever they lead.”
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Sanchez played in the NFL for eight seasons, most notably taking the New York Jets to back-to-back AFC Championship Games in his first two years in the league after he was drafted fifth overall in 2009. Sanchez also played for the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys and Washington Commanders before retiring from the league in 2019.
Prior to his time in the NFL, Sanchez was a star at the University of California, where he was no stranger to controversy. In 2006, the former quarterback was arrested after a fellow USC student accused him of sexual assault. Sanchez was released from jail the next day and suspended from school. On June 3, 2006, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office announced that no charges would be filed and he was promptly reinstated as a student athlete.
Off the field, he married his wife, Perry Mattfeld, in May 2023. The couple went on to welcome three children.
