NY Jets Mark Sanchez: Mission Viejo, CA roots

We had a busy but wonderful day getting to know some of the people who helped Mark Sanchez hone his athletic skills. Troy Roelen met me at Mission Viejo HS where Sanchez spent his junior and senior years. Roelen was Sanchez's basketball coach and AP English teacher. He walked us through the school and tells us some great stories about Sanchez. I felt like I got to know the rookie QB a bit better. His former football coach, Bob Johnson, also met up with us and gave us even more insight into this young man. Sanchez wears the #6 for his father, Nick Sr. Nick is a fire captain at Fire Station #6 in Irvine, CA. Sanchez has huge hands and can totally handle receiving the ball. Sanchez is extremely social and a uniter by nature. He is the one that will order a birthday cake at a restaurant even though it is not your birthday, then smile when you get embarrassed by the wait staff singing for you. He loves to play guitar and his down time in school was spent playing guitar in the courtyard. Watch the video after the jump....

Correction from tonight: I mistakenly left out the word "season" when I spoke about the last time the Chargers and Jets played in a playoff game. It's not 2004 but during the 2004 season. My bad...hope for the same result though. Jets won!