Super Bowl win completes Sam Darnold redemption arc

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Never before had Sam Darnold and his dad cried together. "We don't do that," Darnold said. Then, on Sunday night, they let the tears flow — years' worth of them — as Super Bowl champions. How fitting that Darnold delivered the capstone of his topsy-turvy NFL career in the very same place where he recently revived it, and then celebrated afterward with those who supported him the most through it all: father Michael, mom Chris and fiancee Katie. "It's special. I shared a great moment with my parents and my fiancee Katie after the game and I think that's what kind of got me a little bit," Seattle's quarterback said of his rare display of emotion. "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. They believed in me throughout my entire career and I think that's why I was able to believe in myself almost ad nauseam. Some people called me crazy throughout my career for believing in myself so much and having so much confidence but it was because of my parents." On the sideline of Levi's Stadium two seasons ago, Darnold patiently paid his dues behind Brock Purdy as San Francisco's backup quarterback and soaked up every ounce of knowledge he could from the coaches. Back in the Bay Area on Sunday and beneath the bright lights, Darnold won a Super Bowl in his first year under center for the Seahawks — his fifth team in eight seasons. Seattle captured the franchise's second Lombardi Trophy with a dominant 29-13 victory over the New England Patriots. Darnold even dressed in the same locker room Sunday where he once roamed with the 49ers, then took the field and completed 19-of-38 passes for 202 yards and a touchdown. The 28-year-old Darnold now has an NFL title to his name, and that should be plenty to prove he belongs among the NFL's elite quarterbacks after a much-criticized beginning to his professional career. He hung tough for the Seahawks this season through the ups and downs, time and again. Just as he had done so many times before while facing the doubters who largely considered him a bust. "It's a unique story. I'm super blessed that that guy's my quarterback," linebacker Ernest Jones IV said. "He just models what everybody on that team's been through. We've all been rejected, we've all not been respected, and he's just a guy at the helm for us." That forgettable, four-interception game in a 21-19 Week 11 road loss to the Rams in mid-November seems so long ago now. Darnold's teammates stuck by him, and he used that day as fuel to be better: beating the Rams the next two meetings, rallying his team to a 38-37 overtime victory Dec. 18 before a 31-27 triumph in the NFC championship game last month. "Everyone in that locker room believes in me," Darnold said. "They've had my back from the jump and I have everyone's back as well. That's just kind of how we roll as a team. The journey and everything that comes with it and being able to win a Super Bowl, it hasn't really sunk in, even just saying it out loud. It's an awesome moment that I was able to share tonight with a lot of my teammates and coaches." Darnold credited that time with San Francisco playing in coach Kyle Shanahan's offense while learning from Purdy as crucial to reviving his career, then he produced a breakout year with Minnesota last season before heading off to the Pacific Northwest. Darnold started one game in 2023 for the 49ers and appeared in 10, throwing 46 total passes with 28 completions and a pair of touchdowns. He cherished the guidance he received from quarterbacks coach Brian Griese, an 11-year NFL veteran himself. It has been quite a path for Darnold to find his footing in the pros after being drafted third overall by the New York Jets in the first round of the 2018 draft out of USC. He had a 13-25 record and a 78.6 passer rating over his initial three seasons for the Jets — the second worst in the league among 43 quarterbacks with at least 15 starts from 2018-20. "It's all about my journey, the reason I'm up here is because of my journey, because of the ups and downs, especially the downs that I went through early on in my career," Darnold said. "I learned so much about myself, about football. It's funny how it works, I didn't play great football my first few years of my career and then I come here to San Francisco and I learn a ton." In Seattle, Darnold has thrived — still with some of those same San Francisco ties. Offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak directed the Niners' passing game in 2023. It filled general manager John Schneider with joy that Darnold led the way for Seattle and so beautifully navigated the highs and lows of an NFL season. "We're all rooting for people like that, right?" Schneider said in the Seahawks' cigar-smoke filled locker room. "He was the third pick of the draft for a reason. He's a resilient guy, and I think that's been a reflection of our team, too. ... He's a real person. He doesn't fake anything. He's like, 'I am who I am, deal with it.'"