New York Jets QB Mark Sanchez returned to his Trojan glory days today on the field and in the classroom.
Sanchez filmed a PSA inside the Annenberg auditorium and outside on Howard Jones Field to raise awareness about the opportunities Latino families have to send their children to universities in conjunction with financial aid plans and the MAAA (Mexican-American Alumni Association).
"The message is about staying in school, counting on your family and the MAAA," Sanchez said.
The MAAA helped Nick Sanchez, Mark's brother, while he was at USC Law School.
"I feel so thankful to them (the MAAA) because now my brother represents me," said Sanchez, who really started to understand the power of his Mexican heritage when he saw how the fans responded to him at USC.
"I was going to college, starting to grow up and understanding the bigger picture of what was going on. I started to understand what kind of movement this could be, what kind of help I could give to these youngsters who see me on TV and playing football and I can give them hope."
According to the MAAA, Latino families fear that their kids won't be able to go to college because the cost can be prohibitive.
"In 1992, when I got to USC and faced all of those forms and financial aid information, the MAAA had been around for 19 years, since 1973, but I never heard word one about it," said the PSA's director Edgar Pablos, who graduated from USC in '95 with a BA in Cinematic Arts and Religion.
"Incoming students and their parents have to have this information. The MAAA was the friend I needed back then; I want to make sure that the people coming along after me know that the MAAA is here and that they have, as we say in the PSA, a big family with us at USC, right from the start," Pablos said.
The Sanchez family represents more than just football. Mark graduated from USC's Annenberg School with a BA in Communications, while Nick earned his undergraduate degree from Yale.
Sanchez is also being covered by ESPN's "E:60" crew as part of a feature story being reported by Rachel Nichols.
Here's a look at Mark having a catch on Howard Jones Field as part of the PSA:
Sanchez filmed a PSA inside the Annenberg auditorium and outside on Howard Jones Field to raise awareness about the opportunities Latino families have to send their children to universities in conjunction with financial aid plans and the MAAA (Mexican-American Alumni Association).
"The message is about staying in school, counting on your family and the MAAA," Sanchez said.
The MAAA helped Nick Sanchez, Mark's brother, while he was at USC Law School.
"I feel so thankful to them (the MAAA) because now my brother represents me," said Sanchez, who really started to understand the power of his Mexican heritage when he saw how the fans responded to him at USC.
"I was going to college, starting to grow up and understanding the bigger picture of what was going on. I started to understand what kind of movement this could be, what kind of help I could give to these youngsters who see me on TV and playing football and I can give them hope."
According to the MAAA, Latino families fear that their kids won't be able to go to college because the cost can be prohibitive.
"In 1992, when I got to USC and faced all of those forms and financial aid information, the MAAA had been around for 19 years, since 1973, but I never heard word one about it," said the PSA's director Edgar Pablos, who graduated from USC in '95 with a BA in Cinematic Arts and Religion.
"Incoming students and their parents have to have this information. The MAAA was the friend I needed back then; I want to make sure that the people coming along after me know that the MAAA is here and that they have, as we say in the PSA, a big family with us at USC, right from the start," Pablos said.
The Sanchez family represents more than just football. Mark graduated from USC's Annenberg School with a BA in Communications, while Nick earned his undergraduate degree from Yale.
Sanchez is also being covered by ESPN's "E:60" crew as part of a feature story being reported by Rachel Nichols.
Here's a look at Mark having a catch on Howard Jones Field as part of the PSA:
it's so weird to see him in a usc uniform for some reason..