Nobody saw this coming. Not when the Jets dumped Sam Darnold. Not when Carolina gave up. Not when he spent a year holding a clipboard in San Francisco. And definitely not when he landed in Minnesota as a backup.
Videos by FanBuzz
Photo credit: Getty Images
But here we are. Darnold is in the Super Bowl.
The former No. 3 overall pick is now one win away from the ultimate plot twist. Darnold went from Jets flameout to Panthers bust to afterthought on the 49ers' depth chart. His NFL career was circling the drain until a brutal injury to J.J. McCarthy cracked the door open in Minnesota.
Darnold stepped in, the Vikings won 14 games, and it looked like the comeback was fully cooked. But then came a rough Week 18 and an early playoff exit. The whispers were back. Same old Sam.
Seattle didn't care.
The Seahawks signed him in free agency and gave him another shot. And after a rocky start, Darnold got hot when it mattered. He helped guide Seattle through the NFC and now has a date with the Patriots in Super Bowl LX.
Still, don't expect him to start calling out the doubters.
"It doesn't really come down to that for me," Darnold said. "It's always just been about putting in hard work, every single day."
That's fine. He can stay humble. The rest of us? We're watching a walking redemption story in real time. And if he's the one lifting the Lombardi on Sunday night, that sound you hear will be every old Jets take going up in flames.
