Sam Darnold says he’s thankful for the chance to start his first Super Bowl this Sunday when the Seattle Seahawks face the New England Patriots at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. He admitted, though, that he’s a bit bummed he’ll miss Bad Bunny’s halftime performance.
“I love his music,” Darnold told reporters Monday at NFL Super Bowl LX media night. “It would’ve been awesome to see him, but I’ll be getting ready for the second half by then.”
This isn’t Darnold’s first trip to the Super Bowl area — he was previously on the San Francisco 49ers’ roster as Brock Purdy’s backup and did not play — and the 28-year-old says his time around the league has helped prepare him to chase his first Vince Lombardi Trophy. “I try to take every experience and learn from it,” he said, reflecting on being drafted by the Jets and how things didn’t pan out there the way he’d hoped.
New York picked Darnold third overall in 2018, but he was released in 2021 after 38 games and a 13-25 record. After stops with multiple teams over the following years, he says Seattle finally feels like home. Darnold said he wanted to make New York his long-term team, but when that didn’t happen he gained valuable lessons in Carolina and San Francisco. His time in Minnesota, he added, gave him an opportunity to prove what he can do on the field, and people noticed.
“Since I’ve been in Seattle it’s felt like home,” he said, thanking John and Mike for believing in him and praising his teammates. “As a quarterback, it’s a huge relief to just go out and do my job every play.” Off the field, Darnold calls himself a foodie who enjoys sampling Seattle’s restaurants, and he also likes to play golf.
The Seahawks and Patriots kick off Sunday at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Fan Take: Darnold’s journey — from a high draft pick to journeyman and now a Super Bowl starter — is a reminder that quarterback careers can be nonlinear, which gives fans hope and adds drama to roster decisions around the league. If he leads Seattle to a title, it could reshape how teams evaluate and rehabilitate struggling QBs in the future.
