The resurrection of Sam Darnold

"I'm seeing ghosts."

Through his first six years of his NFL career, Sam Darnold was known for one quote and that alone.

It wasn't from a post game presser or a pregame interview.

It was caught on a hot mic during his tenure with the New York Jets on Monday Night Football in a 33-0 loss to the New England Patriots. That night the Patriots only had one sack, coming from John Simmons but the Patriots were swarming the Jets backfield against Darnold.

Fast forward six years and five stops later, the only thing standing between Sam Darnold and the Lombardi trophy is the Ghosts of Seasons past.

Darnold came into the league in a very loaded draft class in 2018, having already produced 15 first team All-Pros. And Darnold was in elite company for the quarterback position.

Baker Mayfield was selected first by the Cleveland Browns, a team that always has been a quarterback away (among several other things) from a run. He brought them to the promise land of the postseason in his second year and has resurrected his own career in Tampa Bay.

Josh Allen was selected seventh by the Buffalo Bills and has won league MVP, is a two time All-Pro and a four time pro bowler. Lamar Jackson was the last player selected in the first round, heading to the Baltimore Ravens and has only been a two time MVP, three time All-Pro and four time Pro Bowler.

Oh and Josh Rosen was there too.

Darnold was also in a unique position by who was drafted just before and after him. The Meadowlands co-owners New York Giants selected Saquan Barkley, who has won a Super Bowl and Offensive Player of the Year while the Browns added Denzel Ward, one of the elite cornerbacks in the league with five pro bowls.

Darnold came out of USC with some high expectations, going 20-4 with 7,299 passing yards and 57 touchdowns with a 64.9 completion percentage at the helm for the Trojans.

His rookie year wasn't great by any stretch of the imagination, going 4-9 in 12 starts, missing three games with a foot injury. He was 239-414 with 2,865 yards with 17 touchdowns an 15 interceptions.

But rookies have time to learn and grow, make some mistakes and continue to improve.

His sophomore campaign got off to a solid start, pushing the Jets to a 16-0 lead over Buffalo but four turnovers did them in, 17-16. Before the following week could be played, Darnold was diagnosed with Mononucleosis and missed four weeks before returning against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 6 to lead the Jets to a 24-22 victory.

It seemed like the tide was starting to turn for Darnold. But then the spooks happened.

The infamous moment in Darnold's career came in Week seven of the 2019 season. The Jets struggle mightily against the Patriots, totaling a measly 154 yards through the entire game. Darnold threw four interceptions and a fumble to total five turnovers of his own in the shutout defeat.

The remainder of the 2019 season and the entirety of the 2020 season are ones that Darnold and fans don't recall. He struggled with injuries, mainly a shoulder, and missed several weeks of action. Darnold finished the 2020 season with more interceptions than touchdowns (11 to 9).

As his stint with the Jets came to an end, Darnold found himself as arguably the fifth best quarterback from his draft class, falling behind Mason Rudolph who was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third round.

Before the 2021 NFL Draft, Darnold was traded to Carolina for a sixth round pick that year and a second and fourth round pick in the 2022 season. After Cam Newton's tenure with the Panthers ended, the organization, especially under Matt Rhuel, was where quarterbacks careers came to die.

The Panthers picked up his fifth year option for the 2021 season and he was given the nod as the seasons starting quarterback. His campaign started with a win over his former team, throwing for 279 and two total touchdowns in a 19-14 win. He won his next two games over the Saints (26-7) and Texans (24-9), throwing for over 300 yards in each contest. Some wondered if Darnold had regained his confidence.

But it came to a crashing halt the following week, suffering a fractured scapula in a 24-6 loss against, guess who, the New England Patriots. He came back with three games left in the season, but the Panthers lost all three as he shared time with Newton.

Despite the fast start, Darnold recorded his second season in a row of more interceptions than touchdowns (13-9) and 2,527 passing yards.

2022 was an even worse one for Darnold, being named the back-up for a different quarterback that the Panthers traded for. One that Darnold has been linked to through his draft class, Baker Mayfield.

Darnold was once again injured, this time suffering a high ankle sprain against the Bills in the third preseason match-up and went on Injured Reserved. He was activated November 7th and named the starter for week 12 against the Denver Broncos.

Darnold showed flashes in the abbreviated stint of playing time, through six games going 4-2 with 1,143 yards, seven touchdowns and three interceptions with a 92.6 passer rating, his best in his career at that point.

But for the third overall pick in the 2018 draft, Darnold hadn't proved that he was worth the pick yet and was on the course for earning the bust lable that nobody wants to have. He had gone 21-34 with 11,767 yards and 61 touchdowns to 55 interceptions.

He needed a change but what that answer was going to be was a challenge for anyone to figure out. In the 2023 offseason, Darnold signed a one year deal with the San Francisco 49ers. The team had lost Jimmy Garoppolo in free agency, along with backup Josh Johnson. The team did bing in Brandon Allen, while trading another former third overall pick in Trey Lance to Dallas.

Going into the season, the 49ers QB depth chart was Darnold, Allen, and a little known QB named Brock Purdy.

Purdy came on for a late injury to Garappolo the season prior and went 5-0 as the starter to secure the job for the 2023 season. Darnold was again denounced to the back-up role.

But in this role, Darnold was able to take a step back and re-assess his game. And there wasn't a better coach for him to learn from than Kyle Shanahan. Under his guidance and working with Purdy, Darnold started to figure things out. He got to start the season finale against the Los Angeles Rams with the top seed in the NFC locked up. The 49ers offense was humming with him in and he was the most efficient he had ever looked, going 16-26 with 189 yards and two total touchdowns.

In the 2024 offseason, Darnold took the chance and went to Minnesota to join the Vikings on a one year deal. While initially expected to be in a training camp battle with J.J. McCarthy, a torn meniscus pushed Darnold to the starter.

From there, he was off to the races. He started the season going 19-24 in a win against the Giants followed by four more wins before two losses, to the Detroit Lions and Los Angeles Rams. Through the first seven games of the season, Darnold threw for 1,610 yards with 14 touchdowns and just five interceptions.

But that was just the start.

With rejuvenated confidence and a support system around him of a strong offensive line and receivers that were able to create space for throws, Darnold went to work. The Vikings rattled off nine straight wins to and secured a wild card spot for the postseason, the first of Darnold's career.

While that game ended as a 27-9 loss to the Rams, it proved that Darnold could contend and had made the necessary adjustments to his game in order to be a starting quarterback in the NFL.

Now he had two options for the 2025 offseason. Return to the Vikings or bet on himself, one more time.

He took the latter and signed a three year deal with the Seattle Seahawks. It started slow with a 17-13 loss to San Francisco but things started well for Darnold, going 16-23 with 150 passing yards. He followed that up going 22-33 with 295 yards and a 31-17 win over Pittsburgh. The Seahawks fell to Tampa Bay 38-35 but Darnold was strong, going 28-34 with 341 yards and four touchdowns.

Darnold and the Seahawks just kept finding ways to get better and better on the offensive end. Whether it was the emergence of Jaxon Smith-Njigba as a star wide receiver, Kenneth Walker breaking the 1,000 yard mark or Zach Charbonnet becoming a second option in the backfield, Seattle kept churning out wins.

While they didn't lock up the top seed until the last week of the regular season, Darnold and Seattle weren't content with just making the playoffs. Seattle hadn't won a Super Bowl since 2013 with the Legion of Boom.

The Seahawks dominated against San Francisco in a 41-6 victory in the divisional round. All that stood between them and the fifth Super Bowl appearance was their conference rivals in the Rams. The Seahawks trailed for a total of 1:33 in the game, but they couldn't rest easy.

Los Angeles cut the lead to 24-20 in the middle of the third with Matthew Stafford finding Davante Adams from two yards out. Darnold responded with a connection with Cooper Kupp but Stafford struck back immediately, finding Puka Nacua that made it 31-27.

Darnold finished the game 25-36 for 346 yards and three touchdowns. But he needed the defense to stand up in the final frame.

Both defenses locked in through the fourth quarter, but Matthew Stafford had the ball with 25 seconds left. Stafford found Nacua for a 23 yard gain and still had 10 seconds left to make up the yardage for the lead.

Sam Daronld was a quarterback that had been rejected, forgotten, over looked and spit out by two teams. Someone who should never have been on the doorstep of the biggest game of the season. Darnold couldn't watch the final play.

Stafford found Nacua at the Seattle 49 but Devon Witherspoon tackled Nacua in bounds and the clock hits zero. Sam Darnold is now at the peak of the mountain top of the NFL.

All that stands before him and etching his name in league immortality is the same ghosts that have been haunting him for eight years. A Super Bowl win for Sam Darnold won't just be the cap to a story. It will be an exorcism of the journey and end of his trek to the top.