SANTA CLARA, Calif. — For years, Sam Darnold couldn’t escape the “ghosts.” They haunted him for three years with the New York Jets, followed him to Carolina for a couple more seasons, and hung in the background during his brief stay as a backup in San Francisco. He started to run them off in Minnesota last year, only to have them return during a late-season collapse. On Sunday, he chased them away for good.
Darnold, the 28-year-old quarterback so many believed was broken, completed a career 180, guiding the Seattle Seahawks to a Super Bowl 60 win over the New England Patriots. He, in many ways, became the antithesis of the NFL’s win-or-bust mentality that has led to quarterbacks, coaches and even executives being dismissed after early growing pains.
Consider Darnold exhibit A for patience, development and — more than anything — belief.
“Me and my dad don’t really cry very often, and I told my dad and my mom, ‘I’m here because of their belief in me,’” Darnold said after Seattle’s 29-13 win at Levi’s Stadium. “They believed in me throughout my entire career, and I think that’s why I was able to believe in myself almost ad nauseam.”
Darnold’s performance was the culmination of eight years of lessons learned during a winding journey. After putting on one of the finest performances of his life in the Seahawks’ NFC Championship win over the L.A. Rams, he became the quarterback Seattle needed on the biggest stage: a game manager.
Statistically, Darnold was mediocre on Sunday; he completed 19 of 38 passes for 202 yards, one touchdown (in the fourth quarter) and zero interceptions for a 74.7 passer rating. It was a showing he admitted could have been better. But numbers alone fail to tell the full story.
“I think it’s all about my journey,” he said. “The reason that I’m here is because of my journey, because of the ups and downs, especially the downs that I went through early on in my career. I learned so much about myself, about football.”
Darnold won the biggest game of his career against an opponent who once overwhelmed him. And he did it in a stadium where, despite never playing a meaningful game, he learned more than he did at any other stop.
The third overall pick in the 2018 draft, Darnold struggled for much of his first five seasons in the NFL. His first pass in the NFL was a pick-six, and his first four meetings with the Patriots all resulted in double-digit losses. He recorded more turnovers (68) than passing touchdowns (61) and posted a -0.08 offensive EPA per dropback during that span, the worst among quarterbacks with at least 30 games.
After three seasons with the Jets and two with the Panthers, he left the spotlight. Before the 2023 season, Darnold signed a one-year deal with the 49ers, as a backup to Brock Purdy. He spent his sixth season observing the meticulous preparation of Purdy and the 49ers who, under Kyle Shanahan, ensured no question remained unanswered going into a game.
It was a season for perspective. When he went to Minnesota in 2024, his growth was obvious. With rookie J.J. McCarthy out with a torn meniscus, Darnold was called upon to be the bridge starter — the guy to tide the Vikings over until the chosen quarterback was ready. Instead, he played like a franchise quarterback, finishing among the league’s top-six in passing yards (4,319), passing touchdowns (35) and passer rating (102.5).
Last March, Darnold signed a three-year deal with Seattle, a contract structured to give the team an out after Year 1.
“It’s like Sam doesn’t care about the obstacle,” Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said Sunday. “Like everyone’s made a narrative of this guy. They have tried to put a story and a label on who he is as a person, who he is as a quarterback. He does not care. He is the same guy every day since he showed up. He’s so steadfast.”
Darnold jokes that people thought he was “crazy” for believing in himself. He showed them why his belief never wavered on the Seahawks’ opening drive, when he tossed a 23-yard dime to Cooper Kupp on the left sideline to set up the game’s opening points. He showed them why many times over the course of the game when he escaped pressure to keep a play alive. He showed them why in the fourth quarter when he found tight end AJ Barner for the game’s first touchdown.
Super Bowl 60 was Darnold’s third straight postseason game without a turnover. He led an offense that moved the ball methodically, relying on the elusiveness of running back Kenneth Walker III (the game’s MVP had 135 rushing yards) while Seattle’s defense stifled the Patriots.
“To go through the things he’s had to go through in his first five years, to believe in himself, to overcome,” Kupp said, “everyone told him that he wasn’t that guy anymore. That he couldn’t be a starter, that he couldn’t be a productive quarterback to just come back to work and commit to his process. And then to go out there in the biggest moments this year and over and over and over again just show up. Stand in the pocket, make the tough throws, managing the game — it’s an unbelievable story. I’m so thankful I got to know Sam Darnold as a person because it explains everything in his career.”
Darnold didn’t try to play the hero on Sunday. He was himself, and that was more than enough.