Why Seahawks are all in on Super Bowl champ Sam Darnold: ‘He got us all to believe in him'

The NFL almost broke Sam Darnold. His time with the Jets framed him as a bust. Decked out in gear that deemed him a Super Bowl champion, Darnold tried to reflect on his long road to Sunday, and found himself back with the San Francisco 49ers in 2023.

It was a reset year. The former No. 3 overall draft pick backed up quarterback Brock Purdy, who alongside head coach Kyle Shanahan led the 49ers to Super Bowl LVIII. Darnold attempted less than 50 passes and made his lone start in Week 18, with the team having already clinched the No. 1 seed in the NFC. 

He entered the league with such high expectations. But in Santa Clara, his one job was to learn.

"It's funny how it works," Darnold said after he captained the Seahawks to a 29-13 win over the Patriots in Super Bowl LX. "I didn't play great football the first few years of my career, and then I come here to San Francisco and I learn a ton. … I played good football (in Minnesota). And I was able to come to Seattle and do the same."

Seahawks general manager John Schneider signed Darnold to a three-year contract worth over $100 million - $55 million guaranteed - in the offseason. Darnold had earned as much with 4,319 passing yards, 35 touchdowns and a 14-win season with the Vikings. His comeback was already in motion. Perhaps most importantly, he demonstrated an ability to win over a locker room immediately.

What makes him so easy to follow? Schneider remembered Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre from his time as a scout and front office executive in Green Bay. Darnold resembled Favre, according to Schneider, who mentioned nothing about how either played football.

"He's just a real person," Schneider said. "He doesn't fake anything. He's very similar to Brett Favre in that manner. He's like, ‘Hey, I am who I am. Deal with it.' "

Darnold barely completed half his throws Sunday with 202 passing yards and a lone touchdown, so he did not named the Super Bowl MVP. His running back, Kenneth Walker, got the nod. He probably preferred it that way.

"You won't hear him talk about himself at all," Rashid Shaheed told the Chronicle. "He just cares about how his guys are operating, how they're doing, and that's why he's our leader, that's why he's our captain, and that's why he has the success he has, because he cares about everybody else around him."

Darnold led the NFL in turnovers with 20 during the regular season. It became an easy talking point to detract from what he had already accomplished, especially after he petered out in his playoff debut with the Vikings a season ago. His latest run dispelled the questions. 

The Seahawks became the first team in NFL history to win a Super Bowl with zero turnovers in the playoffs, per Elias Sports Bureau. 

Darnold had vacated the 49ers home locker room, which the Seahawks occupied on Super Bowl Sunday, as he attended to his media obligations. But he was gone so long that backup quarterbacks Drew Lock and Jalen Milroe wondered where he went. Milroe said they all needed to take a picture with the Lombardi Trophy. 

It seemed a microcosm of how Darnold brought together the Seahawks, who were already well into their offseason around this time last year. 

His leadership was among the reasons why cigar shrapnel and shotgunned beers capped their first season with him at quarterback: "Dude, he relates to everybody," Lock said. "He's the guy to talk to. Loves football, works super hard, leads by example, and he produces when he goes out there on Sundays. … He got us all to believe in him."

Rookie guard Grey Zabel echoed as much, and then added: "I can't wait to kick his ass in golf this offseason."

Darnold did not get his old 49ers locker, the one that current Niners backup quarterback Mac Jones was assigned this past season. He joked about letting left tackle Charles Cross have it. But he was close enough, at the adjacent corner locker, splitting the pathway to the training room in between.

Mostly, Darnold was happy to be the person his teammates relied on for Levi's Stadium directions on the most chaotic day of the NFL calendar.

"I think honestly, it was just nice to know where everything was, walking in here today," Darnold said. "A lot of times in a visiting stadium, you don't really know where anything is. You're asking people where the tubs are, where the bathrooms are. … I had a lot of guys like Drew over there, coming up to me asking me where the bathrooms were."

This article originally published at Why Seahawks are all in on Super Bowl champ Sam Darnold: ‘He got us all to believe in him'.