Mark Sanchez is looking to play the field, in more ways than one.
With the Jets’ training camp in full swing, the quarterback decided to ditch his starlet girlfriend. Sanchez and actress Jamie-Lynn Sigler called it quits last week, reportedly because Sanchez wasn’t willing to commit, the New York Post reports.
Does this mean Sanchez intends to commit himself entirely to football, after the team’s heartbreaking loss in the AFC championship game last season? Without the distraction of a relationship, Sanchez surely can focus on the task at hand — winning a Super Bowl for the green and white.
Not so fast, New York.
Sanchez split with Sigler amidst rumors that he was flirting with multiple other women. Back in May, Sanchez was seen in the company of a blonde woman at a bar, and he reportedly has his eye on a chorus girl in the Broadway show "Memphis."
"He is 23 and determined to prove he's a hot commodity by playing the field," a source told the Post.
Without a serious relationship, it’s possible that Sanchez is not concentrating more on football, but actually creating more of a distraction for himself. Maybe monogamy would have been the way to go.
Jets icon and Hall of Famer Joe Namath knows something about distractions. A bona fide ladies man during his playing days, Namath was a pop-culture sex symbol. But Namath’s pleasure-seeking personal life was coupled with an enviable football career.
On the field, Namath’s shoes are big ones to fill, as he led the Jets to a stunning Super Bowl victory in 1968 against the Baltimore Colts. Sanchez came close last season, falling two wins shy of a championship and undoubtedly hopes to avoid a sophomore slump to lead his team deep into the playoffs again.
It’s unknown what Sanchez’ true motives are for wanting to be single — maybe to devote himself to the game, maybe to emulate "Joe Willie’s" philandering style.
The Jets want to see more than the likeness of Namath in the tabloids. They’re counting on seeing it on the field as well.
