NFL fans may need a new punching bag
The internet loves to make fun of Sam Darnold. Does a Super Bowl ring change that?
Welcome back to Club Sportico, where we break down the intersection of sports and money—with an extra bit of humor and opinion. Today we’re talking about people being mean on the internet.
Last night Sam Darnold joined an exclusive list—Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks—that includes many of the NFL’s all-time greats. In the past two decades alone, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes and Drew Brees have all won rings.
But unlike all those names, the Seattle Seahawks QB is not a star. At least not yet. In fact, the 28-year-old’s career has been notable for all the wrong reasons. He’s played for five teams in eight years, and been the butt of the joke both when he’s on the field, and when he’s not. On a hypothetical depth chart of mocked NFL players, Sam Darnold is QB1.
Even last night, when his team was up 12-0 in the third quarter, the knives were out in my college group chat.
Darnold finished the game with 202 yards passing, one touchdown and—perhaps most importantly—no turnovers. A good performance, but not a great one. Was it enough to change the narrative of his career? I’ll ask you. When you hear the name Sam Darnold, is this now the first thing you think of?
Or is it still this?
That now-infamous clip is from a 2019 Monday Night Football game against the Patriots1. Darnold threw four interceptions that night, and at one point said on the sideline that he was “seeing ghosts” on the field. He happened to be wearing a broadcast microphone for the game and ESPN chose to air it, meaning millions of people saw the clip and heard the announcers teasing him for it. In a sport where vulnerability is poison, it instantly cast Darnold as unfit for service. It remains the most enduring thing ever caught in those mic’ed up segments.
The Jets were—rightfully in my opinion—furious that ESPN’s producers aired the clip. Darnold, it seemed, fell victim to his own reputation. Would ESPN have shown that clip if it were Brady or Manning? I don’t think they would. But Darnold was, by that time, a second-year player already considered a bit of a bust. The segment matched the narrative.
If the “ghosts” clip isn’t the most famous moment of Darnold’s early career, it occurred just a few weeks prior. Darnold missed a September game against the Browns due to mono, which ESPN inexplicably chose to highlight with this absurd animated graphic.
It lit up the internet immediately, and has remained in steady rotation for NFL fans of the meme generation.2 A post from last year on the r/nyjets subreddit called it “one of the funniest photos in sports history.” In the days after it happened, Deadspin (back when it was good), created a meme generator to let fans mock it in their own ways. Here’s my favorite:
In 2021, the Jets traded Darnold to the Carolina Panthers, where he played two very forgettable seasons as a semi-starter. From there he was signed by the San Francisco 49ers, where he completed just 28 passes in 10 games. He then signed with Minnesota, where he revived his career last season. Darnold threw 35 touchdown passes and earned his first Pro Bowl nod, but that wasn’t enough to stay with the Vikings.
In March, he signed a three-year deal with the Seahawks, and he was good again this season! The Seahawks were the NFC’s only 14-win team, and Darnold was fifth among NFL quarterbacks in passing yards. That said, he left just enough out there for the doubters. He ended the regular season with 20 turnovers (!), the highest total in the league. Many experts who picked the Patriots last night argued that at some point in the playoffs, the ‘old Sam Darnold’ would reemerge.
So where does that leave Darnold now? Many journalists in San Francisco have tried to get him to engage in this very topic over the last two weeks. He’s largely demurred, heaping praise on his coaches and his teammates. When he took the podium after last night’s win, it was asked again immediately.
“That’s a loaded question,” he said, before laughing. “That’s a good first question… I am taking it day by day throughout my entire career and it’s gotten me to this point. And that’s really all I can say about that.”
Later, a “former Jets fan” asked him what he would tell his rookie self. Again the answer is pretty tame.
Darnold is about to enter the second year of a three-year, $100.5 million deal. His base salary will more than double next year, and he’ll enter the 2026 season as an unquestioned franchise QB, a first in his nine-year career. Most NFL players are light on endorsement deals, and Darnold doesn’t seem like the type to seek more limelight even if it was offered. He’s already made $105 million, which until this season seemed more of a testament to his initial promise than to his actual success.
I’m not sure what’s harder: reversing your NFL career eight years in, or changing your reputation on the internet. I’d bet that right now, Darnold is quite happy to have accomplished at least one.
On a recent Sporticast episode, Scott and Eben spoke with 49ers CEO Al Guido about hosting the Super Bowl and the World Cup in the same year 👇
Club Sportico is a community organized by Sportico, a digital media company launched in 2020 to cover the business side of sports. You can read breaking news, smart analysis, and in-depth features from Eben, Jacob and their colleagues at Sportico.com, and listen to the Sporticast podcast wherever you get your audio. Contact us at club@sportico.com.
Irony!
Basically, ESPN screwed him twice, in rapid succession, in 2019.