Fox Sports has cut ties with NFL analyst Mark Sanchez and hired Drew Brees in his place. Sanchez has been off the air since police said he was stabbed during a fight with a truck driver outside an Indianapolis hotel on Oct. 4. He was in Indianapolis for Fox's coverage of the Oct. 5 Colts game. Sanchez faces a felony battery charge and several misdemeanor charges, the AP reports, for what prosecutors have said was a fight over parking. Sanchez and Fox Sports also face a civil lawsuit filed by the driver, 69-year-old Perry Tole.
A judge scheduled Sanchez's trial to begin on Dec. 11. A police affidavit alleges that Sanchez, smelling of alcohol, accosted Tole, who doused Sanchez with pepper spray. When Sanchez advanced after being sprayed, Tole pulled a knife to defend himself, authorities said. Sanchez was hospitalized with stab wounds to his upper right torso, according to the affidavit. Sanchez had a 10-year NFL career before retiring in 2019. He appeared on ABC and ESPN for two years before joining Fox Sports as a game analyst in 2021.
Brees will replace Sanchez on Fox's No. 4 NFL crew and team with play-by-play announcer Adam Amin and sideline reporter Kristina Pink. His first game will be Nov. 16. Brees retired from the NFL following the 2020 season after a 20-year career with the San Diego Chargers and New Orleans, leading the Saints to their only Super Bowl title after the 2009 season. He joined NBC in 2021 as an analyst for Notre Dame games and was in the studio most Sundays for Football Night in America. Brees called a wild-card game between the Las Vegas Raiders and Cincinnati Bengals but noticeably struggled, and NBC and Brees parted ways a couple of months later.
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
