Sam Darnold has finally arrived - not as a reclamation project or a backup option, but as a Super Bowl-winning quarterback. After years of bouncing around the league, Darnold found a home in Seattle, and more importantly, a coaching staff that believed in what he could become.
The Seahawks saw something in his 2024 stint with Minnesota and made the call: *We can win with this guy. *
And win they did. Under first-year head coach Mike Macdonald, the Seahawks went 17-3, including the postseason, and capped off the year with a Super Bowl victory. Darnold wasn’t just along for the ride - he was a key driver, especially in the NFC Championship Game against the Rams, where he delivered one of the best performances of his career.
But Darnold’s rise wasn’t overnight. This is a quarterback who’s been through the wringer - from the chaos of the New York Jets, to a rocky tenure in Carolina, to holding a clipboard in San Francisco.
Through it all, he picked up lessons that shaped him into the player he is now. Chief among them?
You don’t win in this league by trying to do it all yourself.
That evolution - from raw talent to composed field general - is something that caught the eye of Matt Hasselbeck, the former Seahawks and Titans quarterback who now serves as an NFL analyst. And it’s a transformation Hasselbeck believes another young quarterback can learn from: Tennessee’s Cam Ward.
Ward, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 draft, landed in a tough spot. The Titans were a struggling team with shaky leadership, and Ward was thrown into the fire early. But as the season wore on, he showed growth - flashes of what made him a top pick, even in less-than-ideal circumstances.
Hasselbeck, speaking recently while promoting Bud Light’s Super Bowl 60 commemorative packaging, offered a thoughtful breakdown of what Ward still needs to develop - and how Darnold’s journey is a blueprint.
“I think Cam has a lot of great tools to work with,” Hasselbeck said. “The danger is, when you come out of the NFL Draft, the things that get you drafted high nowadays are those creative off-platform throws.
But if you look at the great quarterbacks in the NFL, the guys who have long, successful careers, it’s the guys who find joy in perfecting the fundamentals. Find joy in the mundane and protect the team.”
That last part - protecting the team - was where Darnold truly turned a corner this season. In three playoff games, including the Super Bowl, the Seahawks didn’t turn the ball over once. Darnold wasn’t throwing for 400 yards a game, but he was doing exactly what Seattle needed: making smart decisions, staying within the offense, and keeping the ball out of harm’s way.
It wasn’t about gaudy stats - it was about mastering the fundamentals. And that’s what ultimately made the difference.
For a young quarterback like Cam Ward, that lesson is gold. The arm talent is there.
The athleticism is there. But the next step - the one that separates the highlight-reel passers from the franchise quarterbacks - is learning to win the right way.
Darnold’s path wasn’t easy, but it’s proof that with patience, coaching, and a commitment to the details, a quarterback can rewrite his story.
And in Seattle, Darnold just authored one of the best chapters yet.