Sam Darnold’s Journey Comes Full Circle Ahead of Super Bowl LX
Sam Darnold is headed to the biggest stage in football - and he’s bringing a calm confidence that feels worlds away from the quarterback we saw in his early NFL days.
Now 28 and preparing to face Mike Vrabel’s New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX, Darnold is showing the kind of mental growth that doesn’t always show up in a box score but makes all the difference on the field. And when he joined The Dan Patrick Show this week, he didn’t dodge questions about his past - he embraced them.
“The days in New York, the days in Carolina - those were part of my journey, and they’re part of my experience - and I loved every single part of it,” Darnold said.
That’s not just a polished media answer. It’s a reflection of a quarterback who’s been through the fire and come out the other side with perspective.
This is a guy who’s been labeled a bust, traded, benched, and written off more than once. But now, with a Super Bowl start in front of him, he’s talking about those early struggles with the kind of maturity that can only come from living it.
Darnold admitted that, earlier in his career, he let mistakes linger - mentally replaying bad reads, missed throws, and interceptions long after the whistle.
“I think I gave it a little more thought than I had to,” he said. “I paid a little more attention to it.
I guess I invested a little more thought into what happened in the past. ‘OK, I threw this pick against this coverage, back in 2019...
I’m not going to do that again.’”
Then he added something that every quarterback coach in the league preaches but not every player internalizes: “Sometimes mistakes happen.”
That shift - from overanalyzing to accepting - might be the most important development in Darnold’s game. And it didn’t happen by accident.
After tough stops in New York and Carolina, Darnold landed in San Francisco, where he got a crash course in quarterbacking from one of the best minds in football: Kyle Shanahan. Say what you will about Shanahan’s postseason record, but when it comes to quarterback development, he’s in rare air. He doesn’t just design plays - he teaches quarterbacks how to think, how to process, and maybe most importantly, how to let go of the last play and move on to the next.
That psychological side of the position is often overlooked, but it’s crucial. And Darnold’s growth in that area has been obvious.
He’s not playing scared. He’s not second-guessing.
He’s trusting his reads, trusting the system, and trusting himself.
It’s no coincidence that Darnold has found success under Klint Kubiak and Mike Macdonald - coaches who understand the importance of structure and simplicity for a quarterback. He’s not being asked to play hero ball.
He’s being asked to execute. And he’s doing it with poise.
For Jets fans, there’s a bittersweet element to all this. Darnold was once the face of the franchise - the third overall pick, the supposed savior.
But between coaching turnover, scheme changes, and a lack of stability, his time in New York never really had a fair shot. The talent was always there.
The support wasn’t.
Still, there’s no bitterness from Darnold. Just gratitude.
And now, with a Super Bowl start on deck and a chance to take down the Patriots - a team that tormented the Jets for two decades - you can bet plenty of fans in green will be pulling for him. Not out of spite, but out of respect. Because Sam Darnold’s journey has been anything but easy, and yet here he is, still standing, still slinging, and finally playing his best football when it matters most.
If the Jets can build a similar environment for their next quarterback - one that fosters mental freedom and growth instead of fear of failure - they might just find themselves back in the Super Bowl conversation sooner than later.
For now, though, all eyes are on Darnold. And whether you're a Jets fan, a Niners fan, or just a fan of redemption stories, it's hard not to root for the guy.