JETS FAN Relives The Butt Fumble | Sports Scar'd

On Thanksgiving night in 2012, millions watched one of the most infamous moments in NFL history: The Butt Fumble. For Jets fans, it wasn’t just a blooper—it was heartbreak broadcast live in front of the nation.

In this episode of Sports Scar’d, host Kevin Pearce sits down with lifelong Jets fan Avril Stephens, known online as Jetsgurl, to revisit the night everything fell apart. From the hope of the Rex Ryan years to the sting of Mark Sanchez running into his own lineman, Avril opens up about what it was like to witness a viral disaster that redefined her team’s identity.

Before the play, the Jets were still hanging onto belief. Two straight AFC Championship runs had fans dreaming of another shot. But by Thanksgiving 2012, frustration was building. The offense was sputtering, Sanchez was struggling, and the Patriots rivalry was already bitter. Then came that play.

Avril walks us through the exact moment she saw Sanchez collide with Brandon Moore, the stunned silence that followed, and how the replay looped endlessly before halftime. She recalls waking up the next morning to ESPN and social media replaying it again and again—turning one mistake into a meme that has lived on for more than a decade.

This episode dives into the emotional side of being a fan when your team becomes the joke. It’s about humiliation, loyalty, and the weird kind of pride that keeps you wearing green no matter what. For many, the Butt Fumble wasn’t just a loss—it was the moment the Jets’ heartbreak became part of pop culture.

Avril reflects on how her feelings toward Mark Sanchez have changed over time: once frustration, now empathy. Because every fan knows, deep down, that one play doesn’t define a player—but sometimes, it defines an era.

Watch, laugh, and maybe wince a little as we revisit the play that turned Thanksgiving into a nightmare.

🎥 Subscribe for more episodes of Sports Scar’d, where fans relive the moments that broke their hearts but never broke their loyalty.
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Transcript

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there are bad plays and then there's this a play so ridiculous so perfectly disastrous it became bigger than the game itself the kind of mistake that doesn't just live in highlights it lives in history Thanksgiving night 2,012 a single moment that turned one franchise into more of a national punchline and left an entire fanbase asking the same question how did it get this bad to break it all down I'm joined by a long time Jets fan better known as the Jets Girl she lived this moment in real time the shock the frustration the laughter that hit way too close to home this is the story of the night that the Jets became a meme and the fans who never stop wearing green anyways don't forget to like comment subscribe follow on each and every one of the socials at K Pierce TV but most importantly please enjoy this week's episode of sports I was born into this my parents are New Yorkers my dad was a Jets fan and growing up in his household you like the Jets or you 1989 me and my dad watching the Jets and Dolphins in Orangeburg South Carolina we were eating pepperoni on a Sunday growing up I watched it with my dad but I wasn't into it as much as I am now now it's kind of like my persona it wasn't just I'm watching with my family it's this is who I am this is who I like this is my team my kids are actually Jets fans as well I have an 18 year old and I have a 14 year old and they are both Jets fans but I do feel bad for bringing my kids into this and I have told my kids multiple times they do not have to be Jets fans but they won't change so here we are in 2009 that long time Jets fandom was in for a shake up when one coach came in and turned the once impoverished franchise into a bonafide AFC contender enter Rex Ryan I come from New Yorkers we're loud we make a lot of noise you're gonna know we're there everything that I identified with from seeing my family and growing up with my family as oh that's just a New York thing you the biggest baddest toughest thing out there that's what he reminded me of so it made me feel at home that was the first time that I actually got excited about a head coach he made me excited to be a fan again it didn't set in until we got to our first AFC Championship because I still was kind of just holding my breath holding my breath like is this real is this real and then we got to the AFC Championship and I was like oh shit wait we might actually we we might actually be good wait we might actually be that team fortunately the Ryan Air started with two trips to the AFC Championship unfortunately those trips or where those journeys ended but his tenure continued from there and didn't reach those same heights again the second AFC Championship after we lost biggest concern was get Mark Sanchez help help as in a coach a quarterback whisper y'all have coaches in the league that are known for coming in and fixing quarterbacks after we lost that's what I wanted to happen I didn't want Rex Ryan gone I didn't want a change in quarterback I wanted to get him some help I didn't care who it was just somebody because we were so defensive minded yes we had other holes yes we had other things we need to fix but that was the one big thing that if we could just push him and get him over that plateau of hey I can make it to the AFC Championship but I can't win it that would have been better than anything well the Jets did make a move going into that 2012 season and uh let's just say our guest wasn't a huge fan of it 2012 is when Tebow got signed they should have never brought Tebow in when they brought in Tebow it shook his confidence fast forwarding from the start of the 2012 season with a controversial signing and moving on to a struggling Jets team on Thanksgiving Day we had already lost to the Patriots it's Thanksgiving we are in Met Life I had so much faith we had just beat the Rams it was a turning point and then kick off happened that was the first Thanksgiving game I watched with my dad in a couple years it was big for us this is the Jersey that I actually bought that season for Mark Sanchez and I was wearing this Jersey that Thanksgiving what a beautiful scene a loving family reunited and gathered to watch their favorite football team for the holidays surrounded by food but uh then what happened even our announcer didn't realize what happened until it happened no one realized that he fumbled the ball and everybody just kind of sat there for a second we were like wait what just happened hold on and then they replayed it because everybody was shocked we weren't thinking oh he ran into somebody we were thinking the ball just came out again and then you watch the replay and I just sat there speechless for a few minutes'cause how like let's let our guest breathe for a second and a half a real WUSA moment is needed here before we get to her full reaction to this devastating play I was still shocked I wasn't pissed at that point it was closer to half that I started to get pissed I want to say by half they had lost the ball four times by then that's when I started get mad and start cursing I'm laughing on the outside but I'm crying on the inside still in disbelief as to how it happened because when I went back and watched it I was like okay I'm anticipating it I'm anticipating it I'm anticipating it and it happens I'm like wait okay it did happen how I remembered none of us saw it coming it wasn't like some big play it was okay wait they're up then they're down wait what happened I love Mark Sanchez that was my baby I loved him I will never be mad at him I will continuously be mad at the coaches for not properly developing him especially in the New York market so I'm not mad at the game I just it's an error that I would like to forget so to me the butt fumble is not as big as a lot of people make it yes I know it's like one of the worst plays and it always makes the top 10 and it will forever go down in history as one of the worst things that ever happened but for me as someone who's an avid Jets fan like I I watch all the games I keep up with all the players like I'm very very into our team so as somebody like that the butt fumble isn't that big of an issue to me them signing Tim Tebow that was my issue I'm a Carolina fan and in the fact that he played at Florida I already didn't like him because of the Carolina but this was far from the last mistake the Jets made with QB development I wonder what her view is on what's gone wrong year after year after where do you want me to start whatever is on your spirit go for it so we don't develop quarterbacks um there are a couple teams in the league that are very very very bad at developing quarterbacks we are one of them Chicago Bears is the other and until they bring in someone to do that we are going to continuously have quarterback issues so we're either drafting rookies which it's pretty fine please let's go out and let's draft the best quarterback cool or a great quarterback but you have to have somebody to develop him we don't have anybody to develop him and then you have a defensive minded coach and I believe gays was the only one that was offensive minded that I can think of off the top of my head and even gays couldn't do it so with that being said you still have to have someone that comes in

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01 with your quarterback to develop them so yes do I still want us to draft a quarterback high yes but should we be playing them their very first game of the season after they were drafted no we should be sitting them for at minimum six weeks at minimum six weeks they should be sitting behind a veteran quarterback learning and then if that if the veteran quarterback is not doing what they're supposed to do then let them come in and take over otherwise let them sit the whole year I don't I don't mind drafting a quarterback and letting them sit for a whole year and learning and then the next season taking over that's what I would love for them to do will they ever do it I doubt it but do they need to do that yes thank you to our guest for coming on the show thank you for you for watching this far into the video leave a comment so I could thank you personally but I couldn't let our guest leave without asking one last question if Mark Sanchez was in front of us what would she say to him post credit scene go Mark Sanchez if you ever see this I do not hold you do not hold it against you I do not hold that season against you it was a lot going on you are still one of my favorite quarterbacks um I still loved your time with us I do not hold that game against you it that to me is not one of my worst memories of your 10 year with the Jets yes it was one of the worst plays in Jets history but are people making it out to be more than what it is yes let it go let it go just let it go I mean it's been how long let it go find something else unfortunately when Thanksgiving comes around this year I can almost guarantee that they are going to show that play again that is also why I think we have not had a Thanksgiving game since I don't think we've had Thanksgiving game since not that I can remember I don't think we'll get another Thanksgiving game um I think because of that game the only way we'll get another Thanksgiving game is if we ever make it to another Super Bowl I think that's the one thing that will put us back in the NFL scheduling God's favor to ever get another Thanksgiving game we would have to make it to the Super Bowl and probably win to ever get a Thanksgiving game I think but fumble ruined it for Thanksgiving for us