Sam Darnold's problems have changed significantly over the years. He's gone from a player who faced the wrath of Jets fans and wondered whether he'd get another shot in the league to a player who can nitpick his performance in the Seahawks' Super Bowl victory.
"Not to be a friggin' douche," Darnold said on the with former NFL players Taylor Lewan and Will Compton, "but I didn't play great in the Super Bowl."
Darnold couldn't help but dwell on his mistakes, even as Seattle won and Darnold notched a career-changing victory in the process.
"I missed way too many throws," he said. "We still won. Our defense balled out. I didn't turn the ball over, which helped.
"But dude, to win the Super Bowl that way, I was kinda bummed. I want(ed) to score 40 points, you know what I mean? I want to go out there and ball out, and it's just, dang, I didn't play my best football in the Super Bowl? That sucks."
First-world problems, as they say.
But Darnold isn't lamenting his performance for self-serving reasons. He said he's trying to fold his perceived shortcomings into his 2026 goals for a Seahawks team that should be among the prime contenders again.
"I think the biggest thing is continuing to build off of my weaknesses, understanding what I wasn't great at this past year, which I think for me is continuing to hone in on the deep ball, understand how I can be better that way, quieting my feet in the pocket," Darnold said. "I feel like I'm a little twitchier -- sometimes that wants to creep in a little bit when I'm in the pocket -- so being able to calm my feet down, just going through my progressions."
Even with a turnover-free postseason, Darnold also pointed to his 20 regular-season turnovers (14 INTs and six fumbles lost) as an area he can improve.
"Another area to grow is the turnovers. I thought I had too many turnovers last year," he said. "So just continuing to -- kind of like I did in the playoffs -- continuing to have the right mindset on first and second down, keep the big boys happy and get the ball out of my hands."
It's still a far better place than Darnold has ever found himself in the NFL. He said he still regrets not being able to get the job done at the start of his career with the Jets.
"I think the dream for a player is you want to stay with the same franchise for your whole career," he said. "Maybe not; at least that's what I was kinda thinking. Even if we were trashing New York, I wanted to go and make it right. I wanted to go and win Super Bowls with the Jets. Obviously, that didn't happen, that wasn't in the stars for me, but it's what I wanted; that was the dream."
Darnold also talked about the long interim phase of his career prior to Seattle, going from the Jets to the Panthers to the 49ers to the Vikings before earning another shot at leading a team. He said his Minnesota experience was "amazing" but he also saw the writing on the wall following the Vikings' 14-3 season in 2024, with the club offering Darnold a "low" one-year deal as J.J. McCarthy waited in the wings.
"For me, I think having success in a place and getting to know the guys in the locker room, of course, you want to make that work," Darnold said. "But shortly into negotiations, it was like, alright, this isn't going to be a spot."
Darnold said he wasn't "spiteful" and understood former Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah's position.
"I get where the GM was coming from, I totally do," he said. "You see it with a lot of teams. … These rookie quarterbacks and their rookie deals, trying to strike hot while you have a rookie quarterback so that you can pay other guys around him to get the team really good. I get that part of it, and I get, also, drafting a guy in the first round and having a belief that he's the guy.
"So for me, I kind of had to put that hat where it's like, I understand. I totally get where they're coming from. Going back to the beginning, everything happens for a reason. There is a part of that, too, where it's like, OK, I'm just not supposed to be in Minnesota this next year, and that's OK with me."
His instincts served him right. Even with Darnold seemingly confirming during the interview that the Steelers were another option he had considered, the fit in Seattle ended up being right. He came up short of perfection, but Darnold's Super Bowl triumph made the trying process well worth it in the end.
