Fox Sports has made a quarterback announcer change.
Drew Brees is replacing Mark Sanchez on the network’s third NFL team, a Fox Sports spokesperson confirmed to Front Office Sports.
Fox formally announced the Brees hire Friday, and a spokesperson told FOS, “We can confirm that Mark Sanchez is no longer with the network. There will be no further comment at this time.”
The Athletic first reported that Brees was hired by Fox, and that the expectation was that this signaled the end of Sanchez’s time with the network.
Sanchez was arrested in Indianapolis last month in a bizarre incident in which he was accused of violently accosting a service worker who was tasked with removing grease from commercial kitchens at a nearby hotel. Sanchez had a dispute with the worker—apparently over where the man’s truck was parked—and was hospitalized after the worker stabbed him, allegedly in self-defense.
Sanchez’s charges from the incident include a felony charge of battery resulting in serious bodily injury.
“Right now, I’m just focused on my recovery, and I just want to thank the first responders, Eskenazi Hospital, Marion County Sheriff, and the Indianapolis Police Department, metro PD,” Sanchez told reporters in Indianapolis about a week after the incident. “But I’m focused on my recovery, and I just want to see my wife, I want to see my son, my two baby girls. There’ll be a day to answer all these questions, and unfortunately, today is not that day.”
While Brees is a Super Bowl champion and a Pro Football Hall of Famer, he is something of a reclamation project for Fox. He was previously a color commentator for NBC for Notre Dame games, but he did not succeed in the role. He will be working alongside play-by-play announcer Adam Amin for the rest of the season for Fox.
