Sam Darnold

Samuel Richard Darnold (born June 5, 1997) is an American professional football quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the USC Trojans, becoming the first freshman to win the Archie Griffin Award.

Darnold was selected third overall in the first round of the 2018 NFL draft by the New York Jets, where he spent his first three seasons. After injuries and inconsistent play, Darnold was traded to the Carolina Panthers, alternating as a starter and backup for two seasons, and spent one season as a backup with the San Francisco 49ers. Darnold had a breakout year in 2024 with the Minnesota Vikings when he led them to the playoffs and earned Pro Bowl honors. He joined the Seahawks the following season, leading them to their conference's top seed and a victory in Super Bowl LX while earning a second Pro Bowl selection.

Darnold was widely considered a draft bust before signing with the Vikings, and his turnaround to Super Bowl-winning starting quarterback is regarded as one of the great comeback stories in NFL history.

Early life

Darnold was born in Dana Point, California, on June 5, 1997.

Darnold attended San Clemente High School in San Clemente, California. After playing baseball in his freshman year, Darnold played football and basketball. During his high school basketball career, Darnold excelled and was named South Coast League Most Valuable Player twice, along with being named to the all-CIF team. Basketball coach Marc Popovich stated Darnold's basketball skills helped translate into football, being the "only guy [I've] ever had who could get a defensive rebound and launch a 70-foot pass on target, pretty much in the same motion, to a guy breaking out in the fastbreak. It was almost Wes Unseld-like." Popovich added that Darnold could have played college basketball in the Pac-12 Conference or the Mountain West Conference "at worst".

On the football team, Darnold played wide receiver and linebacker, though he played quarterback as a sophomore after the starting quarterback was injured in a game against Tesoro High School. He threw a touchdown and scored the game-winning two-point conversion, but returned to playing receiver and linebacker a week later. When he became the school's regular quarterback, Darnold set the school record for the most touchdown passes in a game with five. He missed much of his junior year with a foot injury. In his senior year, San Clemente reached the CIF-Southern Section Southwest Division championship game, where they lost 44–37 to underdog Trabuco Hills High School after Darnold received a concussion. He ended his senior season with 3,000 passing yards and 39 touchdowns, along with 800 rushing yards and 13 rushing touchdowns.

Darnold was rated by Rivals.com as a four-star recruit and was ranked as the eighth best dual-threat quarterback in his class and 179th-best player overall. As he sought to be recruited by colleges, Darnold had little video footage of his performance at recruiting camps, so San Clemente head football coach Jaime Ortiz sent video of his basketball career to football coaches. Darnold received scholarship offers to play college football from Oregon, Utah, Northwestern, and Duke, but accepted the offer from USC, whose coaches Clay Helton and Steve Sarkisian had been were impressed by Darnold's performance at a football camp.

College career

2015 season

USC defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox, who recruited Darnold, wanted him to play linebacker, but he declined. In the 2015 season, Darnold redshirted for his freshman year as he was behind Cody Kessler and Max Browne on the depth chart.

2016 season

Entering the 2016 season as a redshirt freshman, Darnold was the second-string quarterback behind Max Browne. In three games as backup quarterback, Darnold saw limited action, completing 14 of 22 passes for two touchdowns and an interception. After a 1–2 start to the season, Browne was benched in favor of Darnold. In his first career start with USC against the Utah Utes, Darnold completed 18 of 26 passes for 253 yards and recorded a rushing touchdown as USC lost 31–27. After the loss, Darnold's Trojans did not lose a game for the remainder of the season, including a 26–13 upset win over the #4-ranked Washington Huskies. The USC offense recorded an average of 37 points and 518 yards per game, while Darnold set the school record for most passing touchdowns by a freshman with 26, ten more than the previous record set by Todd Marinovich in 1989. Against Arizona and California, Darnold became the first quarterback in school history to record five touchdown passes in consecutive games. He threw for multiple touchdowns in eight straight games, the first USC quarterback to do so since Matt Leinart in 2004. On the ground, Darnold recorded 230 rushing yards, the most by a USC quarterback since Reggie Perry's 254 yards in 1991. Darnold was named the 2016 Pac-12 Freshman Offensive Player of the Year in late November.

USC was invited to play in the 2017 Rose Bowl, their first appearance in the bowl in eight seasons. In the 52–49 victory over Penn State, Darnold completed 33 of 53 passes for 453 yards, while setting Rose Bowl records in passing touchdowns (5) and total yards (473). The 453 passing yards recorded ranked second in the bowl's history, trailing Danny O'Neil's 456 in 1995.

On January 4, 2017, Darnold received the Archie Griffin Award, given annually to college football's most valuable player, an award no freshman had won. Darnold was also named to the Football Writers Association of America's Freshman All-America team.

2017 season

Entering the 2017 season as a redshirt sophomore, Darnold became an early favorite for the Heisman Trophy, and eventually a first-round pick in the 2018 draft. The season did not start the way Darnold had expected. In six games, he had matched the number of interceptions that he had thrown the previous year. This was accredited to breaking in a new receiver group, numerous injuries, and questionable coaching decisions. Despite this, he led USC to a dominant victory over Stanford by a score of 42–24. He then led an overtime victory over the Texas Longhorns during which he drove the Trojans to a game-tying field goal in the final 39 seconds of regulation. Darnold guided USC to the Pac-12 Conference championship with a 31–28 victory over Stanford in the conference title game where he was named the game's MVP after throwing for over 300 yards and two touchdowns. The win earned USC a spot in the 2017 Cotton Bowl where, despite having 356 passing yards, the Trojans were defeated by the Ohio State Buckeyes, 24–7.

College statistics

Professional career

Pre-draft

On January 3, 2018, Darnold announced that he would enter the 2018 NFL draft.

New York Jets

2018 season

Darnold was selected by the New York Jets in the first round, with the third overall selection, of the 2018 NFL draft. On July 30, 2018, he signed a four-year deal worth $30.25 million fully guaranteed featuring a $20 million signing bonus with the Jets.

Darnold made his professional debut in the first preseason game against the Atlanta Falcons on August 10, where he finished with 96 passing yards and a touchdown as the Jets won 17–0. On August 29, the Jets named Darnold the starter for Week 1 of the season.

Darnold played his first regular season game on September 10, 2018, during Monday Night Football against the Detroit Lions. At 21 years, 97 days old, Darnold became the youngest opening-day starting quarterback since the 1970 AFL–NFL merger. His first pass resulted in an interception returned for a touchdown by Quandre Diggs. However, he responded well and finished with 198 passing yards and two touchdowns as the Jets won 48–17. During the Jets' home opener against the Miami Dolphins in Week 2, Darnold finished with 334 passing yards, a touchdown, and two interceptions as the Jets lost 20–12. During a Thursday Night Football game against the Cleveland Browns in Week 3, Darnold finished with 169 passing yards and two interceptions as the Jets lost 21–17. During Week 4 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Darnold finished with 167 passing yards and a touchdown as the Jets lost 31–12. During Week 5 against the Denver Broncos, Darnold finished with 198 passing yards, three touchdowns, and an interception, while the Jets combined for 323 rushing yards and won 34–16. During Week 6 against the Indianapolis Colts, Darnold finished with 280 passing yards, two touchdowns, and an interception as the Jets won 42–34. During Week 7 against the Minnesota Vikings, Darnold committed 4 turnovers, including 3 interceptions and a lost fumble. He finished with 206 passing yards and a touchdown as the Jets lost 37–17. During Week 8 against the Chicago Bears, Darnold finished with 153 passing yards and a touchdown as the Jets lost 24–10.