It’s been a painful couple of weeks for everyone involved in the Jets organization with the deaths of former players Joe McKnight and Konrad Reuland. But perhaps no one has been affected more than the team’s former quarterback, Mark Sanchez.
Sanchez, now a third-stringer for the Cowboys, was a pallbearer at McKnight’s funeral on Monday, and later that night Ravens coach John Harbaugh announced Reuland had died of a brain aneurysm. Sanchez said goodbye to Reuland in an Instagram post that revealed how far back the relationship between the two went.
“I don’t know where to begin…,” Sanchez wrote alongside what appears to be a photo of the two as teammates at Mission Viejo High School. “Losing you is like losing a brother. Our friendship started when we were kids playing travel basketball for the Piranhas with our dads coaching us. We worked together and realized our dream of being professional athletes.
“And there we were, suiting up as teammates for the NY Jets in the NFL!!! It really was something unique and special to share together. You will always be in my heart. Rest easy my friend, until I see you again.”
Sanchez was teammates with McKnight, who was killed in a New Orleans road rage incident, at USC before reuniting on the Jets.
“Anytime he touched the ball he could take it the distance and that was exciting about Joe,” Sanchez told reporters at the funeral. “But we all remember him joking around all the time, and the warm heart he had.”