The New York Jets backside that became famous on Thanksgiving in 2012 was back in New York on Friday for a retirement celebration.
Brandon Moore, who played his entire career as an offensive lineman for the Jets from 2003-12, officially retired at the team's practice facility, the New York Daily News reported. Moore's claim to fame, however, was being part of the quarterback Mark Sanchez's embarrassing and infamous "butt fumble."
Moore was the offensive lineman that was taking on a New England Patriots defender in a Thanksgiving night matchup when Sanchez bumped into his rear and fumbled the football that Patriots defender Steve Gregory scooped up and returned for a touchdown.
"For a guy that was undrafted and came in through the back door to be escorted out the front door at the end of your career is a great accomplishment," the Daily News reported Moore as saying
Moore was signed by the Jets as an undrafted free agent in 2003. He played 144 games and made 142 career starts for the Jets. After becoming a free agent in the offseason, he signed with the Dallas Cowboys in August but quit a day later.
"In my opinion he'll go down as the best guard in the history of the Jet franchise," New York Jets coach Rex Ryan told the Daily News.
Moore, however, will be known forever for his involvement in Sanchez's fumble on Thanksgiving. With the Jets already trailing the Patriots, 14-0, in the second half, Mark Sanchez dropped back to pass, then started scrambling. He didn't get far, as he ran head-first into Moore's buttocks, fumbling the ball. Gregory picked it up and ran it in for a 32-yard score.
"It's amusing to me to me that people think it's so amusing," Moore told ESPN.com after the incident. "The way I look at it, I don't think it should have any link to my career. I don't think it stands for what I was as a player for 10 years. I really don't give it much thought."
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