Sam Darnold was ridiculed at the New York Jets, but now he has won the Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks. The quarterback’s story shows that talent isn’t always everything in sport.

Sam Darnold looked up at the sky for a brief moment—behind him a shower of confetti, in front of him the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Of course, only he himself knows what was going through the Seattle Seahawks quarterback’s mind at that moment.

But perhaps he was thinking about the crazy stories that sport writes. That he, who was actually already considered a failure, now belongs to the exclusive circle of quarterbacks with a ring on their finger.

Perhaps he was also thinking back to the low point of his career, a Monday night game with the New York Jets against the New England Patriots on October 21, 2019. Darnold managed only 86 passing yards that evening and threw four interceptions. The Jets lost 0-33. But what is most memorable about that evening is a sentence Darnold said in the first half, which was picked up by his helmet microphone.
“I see ghosts!” said the desperate quarterback.

Even though the now 28-year-old later explained what he actually meant to his coaches, the phrase stuck to him like chewing gum. The Jets’ great hope, the third pick in the 2018 draft, was so overwhelmed on the field that he saw ghosts – Darnold couldn’t shake these demons, and from then on he was ridiculed.

The Jets brought in Zach Wilson as his successor, and Darnold became a “journeyman” in 2020. The grandson of Dick Hammer – the legendary cowboy from the Marlboro commercials – was then signed by the Carolina Panthers for two years.

Although he performed well at times with the Panthers, he was unable to establish himself as a starter in the long term. So the 6-foot-3 quarterback moved on to the San Francisco 49ers. As Brock Purdy’s backup, he made it to the Super Bowl, which the 49ers lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in February 2024.

Darnold showed his potential for the first time with the Minnesota Vikings

His next stop was the Minnesota Vikings, where he started the 2024 season after rookie J.J. McCarthy was injured and led the team to 14 wins. For the first time, he was able to truly realize his potential in the NFL. Nevertheless, the Vikings decided to put their future in the hands of McCarthy.

Once again, Darnold moved on. This time to Seattle, which in retrospect was a stroke of luck. In head coach Mike Macdonald, Darnold found a mentor who, together with general manager John Schneider, built a team around the quarterback.

For the first time, Darnold was not just a stopgap solution, but an important building block in a team structure. Macdonald backed him from the start, and the signal caller repaid the faith with strong performances. “Today, he silenced some people,” Macdonald said after Darnold led the Seahawks to victory over the Los Angeles Rams and Matthew Stafford with three touchdowns in the NFC Championship Game.

Darnold is a successful game manager

However, the role intended for Darnold is not that of a superstar who wins games single-handedly. He is more of a game manager. And he excelled in this role in the Super Bowl – 202 passing yards, one touchdown, no interceptions.

That’s not outstanding, but it’s perfectly adequate. The Seahawks’ rock-solid defense did the rest.

This shows once again that sport is not always just about talent. Especially in team sports, it’s also about being in the right place at the right time and having the right teammates and coaches.

“Some people called me crazy because I always believed in myself and continued to have great self-confidence. That’s because of my parents, because they always believed in me, so I was able to continue playing freely,” said an emotional Darnold after the Super Bowl victory.

Amidst the confetti rain in Santa Clara, Sam Darnold’s exorcism was complete, and the ghosts and demons from the beginning of his NFL career in New York have now been banished for good.