Mark Sanchez out as Fox NFL analyst after arrest, Drew Brees hired

Mark Sanchez, a former first-round draft pick of the Jets, is out as a Fox Sports NFL analyst, the network confirmed Friday.

"We can confirm that Mark Sanchez is no longer with the network," a Fox Sports spokesperson told Newsday. "There will be no further comment at this time."

Fox announced Friday that Drew Brees, a former Super Bowl-winning quarterback for the Saints, will join the network as an NFL analyst. He'll debut Nov. 16 alongside Adam Amin in the booth and Kristina Pink reporting from the sidelines.

“I appreciate the opportunity FOX has given me in the booth and with their team,” said Brees. “I hope my passion for this game is reflected in the knowledge and insights I provide to the fans each Sunday."

Sanchez has been off the air since the Oct. 4 incident at the Westin Hotel in downtown Indianapolis. He was in town for the weekend's game between the Colts and the Las Vegas Raiders. Sanchez was stabbed in the chest and spent a week in a hospital. The trucker, who claims self-defense and has not been charged, is suing him and Fox Sports for unspecified damages.

Prosecutors charged Sanchez with a felony count of battery involving serious bodily injury, along with three misdemeanor charges, including public intoxication. He declined to address the allegations as he left the hospital with his arm in a sling Oct. 12.

“I’m just focused on my recovery and I just want to thank the first responders. ... 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," Sanchez told Indianapolis station Fox59. "There’ll be a day to answer all these questions, and unfortunately, today is not that day.”

Sanchez remains free on bond. The court allowed him to return home to California. A trial date was set for Dec. 11.

A detective's affidavit says the 38-year-old Sanchez accosted 69-year-old Perry Tole, who had backed his truck into the hotel’s loading dock. Tole, who drives for a cooking oil service company, told police that Sanchez smelled of alcohol and his speech was slurred. He said Sanchez entered his truck without permission, then physically blocked and shoved Tole, who then hit Sanchez with pepper spray.

When Sanchez advanced despite being sprayed, Tole told police, he pulled a knife to defend himself.

Security video shows Sanchez throwing Tole toward a wall on the hotel and to the ground, before running off, the affidavit says. Police found him at a restaurant on the same block.

“We are literally talking about people fighting over a parking space and — or a dispute about where people are parking, and it resulted in someone receiving just incredibly significant injures,” Marion County prosecutor Ryan Mears told reporters Oct. 6.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

By Neil Best

neil.best@newsday.com@sportswatch

Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.