Sam Darnold, former third overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft to the New York Jets, is now a Super Bowl champion with the Seattle Seahawks. Darnold went from being known as one of the biggest draft disappointments in recent NFL history to, now, a world champion.
Early in his career, Darnold was a quarterback for New York and in his rookie season, he started 13 games, passing for 2,865 yards, 17 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions, finishing with a 4-9 record. Darnold had to miss some time that season due to an injury in his right foot. However, the next season did not turn out much better for Darnold and the Jets. During a week 7 matchup back in 2019 against the Patriots, Sam Darnold threw for 4 interceptions. At that point, the Jets were 1-4 and were losing in that game 33-0. Darnold was caught on a microphone saying that he was “seeing ghosts” out on the field. Darnold became a huge joke across social media, with many making fun of how poorly his career was turning out. This solidified that his career with the Jets was pretty much over, becoming an extreme disappointment to Jets fans.
In 2021, Darnold got traded to the Carolina Panthers. He was acquired to be a starter; however, he did not play that well and lost the QB battle, serving as a backup for two seasons. In 2023, Darnold signed with the San Francisco 49ers to be a backup quarterback. Sam did not get an opportunity to play for the 49ers, but with great coaching at practices, Darnold was seen to have some improvement under Head Coach Kyle Shanahan.
The 2024 season was a true turning point for Darnold. During the offseason, he signed with yet another team, the Minnesota Vikings, to be a backup quarterback. Darnold got his opportunity to be the starter when Quarterback J.J. McCarthy went down with an injury before the season started. Many thought this would be another waste of a season for the Vikings with Darnold as their quarterback, however, Darnold went on to prove everyone wrong. He led the Vikings to a 14-3 season, which was the second best record in the NFC. Sam was named to the Pro Bowl for the first time in his career, beating his expectations by a landslide. In the first round of the playoffs, the Vikings got embarrassed by the Los Angeles Rams 27-9, with Darnold having a poor showing. This brought up numerous questions across the league, asking if Darnold was able to play like his draft day expectations in big spots.
After that season, Darnold signed with the Seattle Seahawks on a 3-year $100.5M contract. Many people across social media said that this signing was a waste for Seattle, and that they would never be able to make it far into the postseason.
Darnold ended up leading the Seahawks to the first seed in the NFC. That automatically put them in the second round where they played the San Francisco 49ers. The Seahawks defense only let up one touchdown in the game as they won 41-6. In the NFC Championship, Darnold threw for 346 yards and 3 touchdowns to send Seattle to the Super Bowl, where they went against the New England Patriots in a highly anticipated match up. It was a highly defensive game for both teams. This was evident as there were no touchdowns in the first half. Throwing for 202 yards and one touchdown, Sam Darnold secured Seattle’s second Super Bowl of all-time and the first since 2014. From facing tons of adversity early on in his career to now being a Super Bowl champion, Darnold has truly turned his career around and proved everyone wrong.
