Safety Darren Sharper really likes playing against golden-boy New York quarterbacks.
In 2007 with the Vikings, Sharper picked off a pass from Giants quarterback Eli Manning and returned it for a touchdown. The 41-17 loss, which featured three other picks from Peyton’s kid brother (two of which were returned for touchdowns), sparked widespread speculation that Eli might not be the quarterback of the future (product placement!).
And then Eli turned it around in a big way, leading the Giants to a Super Bowl win.
Nearly two years later, Sharper took a pass from Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez a whopping 99 yards for a score, pushing the home team’s first-half lead to 10-0.
During the return, we caught the first glimpse of how the 3-0 Jets might deal with adversity. And it wasn’t pretty.
While chasing Sharper in vain, Sanchez decided to take out the knees of Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma, for no apparent reason. Sanchez was flagged, and he should be fined.
Cue the comments calling Sanchez “dirty.”