Like a fluttering pass that appears destined to end in disaster, Sam Darnold of the Seattle Seahawks had been on a painstaking journey through the National Football League.
Quarterbacks such as Darnold are more often chewed up in the system and spat out or relegated to backup roles for life. They don’t figure out a way to stay relevant in the league, much less guide teams to back-to-back 14-win seasons—just the second QB in NFL history to do so. And they rarely lead a squad to the Super Bowl.
But Darnold’s coming-of-age moment took place on Sunday in Seattle’s 31–27 victory over the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC championship game. It didn’t hurt that Seattle’s roster this season includes star wideout Jaxon Smith-Njigba, the receiving yards leader in the NFL who had 10 catches for 153 yards and a score in the victory.
Forget that Darnold had been tormented by the Rams and their defense over the past two seasons because, in this moment, he was flawless. And under the brightest of lights.
Darnold threw for 346 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions in the showdown against the Rams. And he did it by connecting on pass after pass against steady L.A. pressure.
“Those were great plays. All-time great plays—standing in there and trusting the timing of the play and letting it rip,” Seattle coach Mike Macdonald said about his QB on Monday in his media availability. “So it was pretty awesome.”
The road to success for the Seattle quarterback famously came with ghosts, picks, cuts, confusion, and criticism from every angle.
Darnold came out of USC with a reputation for being able to make throws with his 6-foot-3, 225-pound frame. The problem was that many of his passes went to opponents—22 interceptions in 27 career games as a Trojan. And he often fumbled the ball away as well.
Still, the scouts loved him and the New York Jets selected him with the third overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft, putting high hopes on a young quarterback in an organization that hasn’t won a Super Bowl since 1969.
But the uber-talented signal caller stumbled from the outset with the Jets. Darnold’s performance was mediocre from the start, particularly in quarterback rating—which went from 45.9 in Year 1 to 32.9 in his third and final campaign with the Jets—and interceptions (39 in 38 games).
However, things have been the complete opposite in Seattle, where the 28-year-old has turned his career all the way around. And he has been strong from the opening game, ending up fifth in the NFL in passing yards with 4,048.
But this is Darnold’s fifth team, one each the past three seasons.
He finally put together a season worthy of a top pick with the Vikings in the 2024–2025 campaign, but Minnesota decided to go with a younger option in J.J. McCarthy, forcing Darnold out.
The journeyman in the offseason caught on with the Seahawks, who took a chance that Darnold could put together another strong performance. And his success this season has brought the kind of public backing that creates a support system that can facilitate further winning.
Seattle linebacker Ernest Jones fired off an epic soundbite after the first meeting between the Rams and Seahawks on Nov. 17, a 21–19 victory for L.A. Darnold had thrown four interceptions and looked shaky in the role of leading man of a top NFL team.
Jones approached questions doubting Darnold’s viability as a frontline QB the same way he goes after players on the field: He hit hard.
“It’s football, man. He’s our quarterback. We’ve got his back,” Jones said in his postgame availability that day.
Darnold has been appreciative in turn.
“It’s great,” he said after the NFC championship game. “I feel that support not with only their words, but with how everyone treats each other in the building—there’s a lot of respect that goes around the building.
“Everyone respects the work we all put into this great game. I’m happy to be a part of this team, man.”
When asked about the younger Darnold who once said he saw “ghosts” as a member of the Jets, he made another good throw, tossing out a quip.
“I almost forgot about that. Thank you,” he said. “For me, there was a lot I didn’t know back then. And so, I’m just going to continue to grow in this great game. There’s a lot of stuff I can get better [at] from today, even.
“I feel like I missed some throws out there that I shouldn’t miss. There were some things offensively that I feel we can do better. So we’re always looking to get better.
“You win an NFC championship and you win games throughout the season, but there’s always ways that you can look to get better.”
And it doesn’t get much better than this when it comes to rags-to-riches stories.
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