By Emmanuel Bobby
Sam Darnold’s NFL journey has been anything but straightforward. His first team traded him away after three seasons. His second moved on after just 17 starts. A third signed him strictly as a backup. A fourth enjoyed its best season in a quarter-century with Darnold as its starter—only to turn to an untested rookie after he stumbled in two high-pressure games.
Now, with his fifth NFL team, Darnold has rewritten his story in emphatic fashion.
Last spring, the Seattle Seahawks signed the 28-year-old quarterback as a free agent, a move that drew modest expectations and plenty of skepticism. Less than a year later, Darnold delivered one of the most impressive performances of his career, leading Seattle to a 31–27 victory over the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday and securing a Super Bowl berth.
Darnold threw for 346 yards and three touchdowns without a turnover, excelling on the biggest stage and silencing doubts that had followed him throughout his eight-year career. For a quarterback who had been repeatedly traded, released, or relegated to backup roles, it was a defining moment.
“You can’t talk about the game without talking about our quarterback,” Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald said. “He just shut a lot of people up tonight, so I’m really happy for him.”
In the 103rd game of his NFL career, Darnold reached the Super Bowl before any of the other quarterbacks selected in the first round of the 2018 draft, including MVP winners Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson. Former Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, who led Seattle to back-to-back Super Bowl appearances during the 2013 and 2014 seasons, praised Darnold’s resurgence in a post on X, calling it “one of the most inspirational things to watch.”
The Super Bowl, set for Feb. 8 in Santa Clara, California, will feature two teams that rebuilt quickly. New England rebounded from a 4–13 season after hiring Mike Vrabel as head coach, while Macdonald assembled what many analysts consider the league’s top defense in just his second year at the helm in Seattle.
On the other sideline will be New England quarterback Drake Maye, who at 23 years old will become the second-youngest quarterback ever to start a Super Bowl. The third overall pick in the 2024 draft, Maye will be making only his 34th career start. Darnold, by contrast, was also drafted third overall six years earlier, but his path to this moment was far more circuitous.
“For him to overcome what he had to overcome, I’m rolling with Sam all day,” wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba said after catching 10 passes for 153 yards and a touchdown. “We believe in him.”
Darnold said he has felt that belief throughout the Seahawks’ locker room. “Not only with words, but with how everyone treats each other in the building,” he said. “There’s a lot of respect that goes around. I’m just happy to be part of this team.”
His career began with the New York Jets, where he started 38 games on struggling rosters before being traded to Carolina. With the Panthers, Darnold started 17 games but lost a quarterback competition to Baker Mayfield amid injuries and mounting losses. He then spent a season in San Francisco as a backup, watching from the sidelines as the 49ers reached the Super Bowl.
His next opportunity came in Minnesota, where he stepped in after rookie J.J. McCarthy was injured during the preseason. Against expectations, Darnold led the Vikings to a 14–3 record and appeared to be playing his way into a lucrative free-agent contract. But the season unraveled late, with Minnesota losing its final two games and Darnold struggling under heavy pressure, including a Wild Card blowout loss to the Rams in which he was sacked nine times.
Minnesota ultimately decided McCarthy was its future and moved on. Seattle, too, hedged its bet. While Darnold’s contract was reported as three years and $100 million, it included an early exit option for the team after one season.
During the regular season, Darnold threw for 4,048 yards, posted a career-best completion percentage, and helped Seattle secure the NFC’s top seed. Still, questions lingered about his postseason readiness. He entered the playoffs with 14 interceptions, the third-most in the league, and had struggled mightily against the Rams earlier in the year.
Those concerns persisted even after Seattle’s dominant playoff-opening win over San Francisco, especially after Darnold suffered an oblique injury in practice and barely trained during the week leading up to the NFC title game. Macdonald said the quarterback had minimal practice reps, raising further doubts.
Darnold, however, trusted his preparation—and delivered.
“It should go down as one of the best performances in playoff history,” Macdonald said, considering the limited practice time.
The Rams again tried to overwhelm Darnold with pressure, just as they had earlier in the season. This time, he responded by throwing three touchdowns and committing no turnovers, extending his streak to three straight games without a giveaway.
Since a four-interception performance in a Week 11 loss to the Rams, Darnold has thrown 12 touchdowns against just four interceptions. Linebacker Ernest Jones IV recalled seeing Darnold arrive early at the team facility after that loss to begin studying the next opponent.
“Sam can just move forward,” Jones said. “He trusts his arm, he trusts his ability, and we trust Sam. Give him that encouragement, and he can lead us to a Super Bowl.”
That trust was on full display late Sunday. Protecting a four-point lead with under five minutes remaining, Seattle opted to put the ball in Darnold’s hands instead of running out the clock. On a key second-and-10 play, he rolled out and completed a first-down pass to Smith-Njigba. Two plays later, another pass attempt drew a defensive holding penalty, extending the drive.
“Courageous call,” broadcaster Tom Brady remarked during the broadcast.
The strategy worked. The Rams got the ball back with just 25 seconds left and failed to mount a final scoring drive.
In the Super Bowl, Darnold will face the same Patriots franchise that once rattled him so badly in his Jets days that cameras caught him saying he was “seeing ghosts.” This time, he will arrive with confidence, experience, and the trust of his team.
“I almost forgot about it,” Darnold said with a smile. “There was a lot I didn’t know back then. I’m just going to keep learning and growing. There’s still a lot I can be better at—even after today.”
Original article
Comments