SAN JOSE — Sam Darnold deserves this night in the sun inside the San Jose Convention Center on Super Bowl Opening Night, engulfed by national media, just one more hill for him to climb to the top of Mount Lombardi.
There were people who had given up on Sam Darnold, and I recall one former Super Bowl quarterback who told me that he would never again be a starting quarterback.
Darnold all these years later is the face of the Seahawks in Super Bowl 2026, a compelling story of resilience and perseverance and self-belief and the power of the human spirit that deserves to stand as an example for everyone.
Darnold stared adversity in the face, and adversity blinked.