This story was first published online Nov. 22, 2017 and also appeared in ESPN The Magazine's Dec. 4, 2017 issue.
It's Nov. 22, 2012, a crisp, still Thanksgiving night inside MetLife Stadium. Surrounded by 79,088 fans, Mark Sanchez crouches confidently under center at the 31-yard line, his team down 14-0 with 9:10 to play in the second quarter. For a split second, while staring across at the Patriots' defense and waiting for the snap on first down, everything is still ...
