Fox’s Mark Sanchez praises CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore

Since 2021, Mark Sanchez has hosted NFL games for Fox. When he decided to mention CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore on Sunday, it led to a somewhat awkward moment with his broadcast partner Adam Amin.

On the call for the Week 16 game between the Minnesota Vikings and Seattle Seahawks, Amin and Sanchez discussed a moment in the second quarter where the officials pulled out the Chain Gang to see if a rush attempt by Vikings running back Aaron A first down was enough for Jones.

It was incredibly close, but ultimately enough for a first down. Amin and Sanchez discussed the call before Sanchez called out “Steratore,” which led to an awkward moment since, of course, the game was broadcast on Fox, which has its own NFL rules analysts Mike Pereira and Dean Blandino.

“Not much, maybe an index card,” Amin said. “That’s a first down.”

“Where is Gene Steratore when you need him?” Sanchez said.

“I’ll take Pereira and Blandino,” Amin replied.

“Oh yeah, sorry,” Sanchez said.

“We respect all networks here, you know that,” Amin added.

Unpleasant! Fox play-by-play announcer Adam Amin has to remind Mark Sanchez which network he’s calling the game for 😬😅 pic.twitter.com/9vOLNUeX2a

– Awful Announcement (@awfulanncreasing) December 22, 2024

It’s not exactly unusual for broadcasters to discuss other broadcasters on another station. But when you have your own rules analysts like Fox, things can get tricky if Sanchez calls Steratore instead of Pereira or Blandino.

However, there’s probably another factor at play here with Sanchez mentioning Steratore based on what Amin said.

What Amin may not have realized, which Sanchez was probably referring to based on Amin’s comment about the index card, was the fact that it was Gene Steratore who once measured how close a ball was to the first line of down with an index card during a game in the 2017 game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Oakland Raiders.

It’s entirely possible that Sanchez was just referring to Steratore’s flashcard moment. But either way, it made for an awkward broadcast moment.

(Terrible announcement on X)