Sam Darnold led the Seahawks to a 29–13 win in Calif. for Super Bowl LX

The right NFL stadium can test you in this league. It can also bless you.

On Sunday night, under a clear, blue Northern California sky at Levi’s Stadium, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold lifted the Lombardi Trophy beneath confetti — and history — after leading his team to a 29–13 victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX. 

But the moment landed heavier because of where it happened.

This wasn’t just another neutral Super Bowl site. It wasn’t just another ordinary win. This was the building where Darnold’s football life has looped back on itself again and again, each time leaving him a little more scarred, a little more stubborn, a little more certain he wasn’t finished.

Now, he’s a Super Bowl champion.

Darnold made NFL history by becoming the first starting quarterback to win a Super Bowl after playing for five or more teams, a distinction that feels less like trivia and more like a thesis on survival.

He also became the first quarterback from the loaded 2018 NFL Draft class to win a Super Bowl — a group that includes Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen and Baker Mayfield. For years, that class was debated, dissected, ranked and re-ranked. On Sunday, Darnold stood alone at the top of it.

“Some people called me crazy throughout my career for believing in myself so much and having so much confidence,” Darnold said postgame. “But, you know, it was because of my parents, because of the way that they believed in me throughout my entire career. It allowed me to go out there and play free and have a ton of confidence.”

There was more history layered into the night.

Darnold became the first quarterback from the University of Southern California to start — and win — a Super Bowl. That detail matters here, because Levi’s Stadium has long been a personal landmark for him, not just a pin on the NFL map.

His relationship with Levi’s Stadium began in December 2017, when the Southern California native led No. 10 USC to a 31–28 win over Stanford in the Pac-12 Championship Game. It was his first game at Levi’s Stadium. His first major title.

Drafted third overall by the New York Jets in 2018, Darnold arrived carrying franchise expectations, and left three seasons later feeling like wreckage. The low point became infamous: A Monday night in October 2019 against the Patriots, the Jets trailing 33–0, Darnold admitting on the sideline, “I’m seeing ghosts.” He finished that night 11 of 32 for 86 yards, with four interceptions and a fumble. The clip followed him everywhere. Reduced to rubble at the Meadowlands, labeled a bust before he could legally rent a car.

Carolina came next. More instability. More noise. When his rookie contract expired, Darnold took a quieter deal with the 49ers in 2023, a move widely interpreted as a career downshift.

Instead, it became a turning point.

He beat out Trey Lance for the backup job behind Brock Purdy, appeared in 10 games, and started the regular-season finale — at Levi’s Stadium.

That start mattered.

Coaches noticed. Executives remembered the arm, the poise, the stubborn confidence that made him highly scouted ahead of the NFL Draft. Minnesota gave him a chance to compete. Seattle gave him something bigger: Belief and control.

By 2025, Darnold was the Seahawks’ unquestioned starter.

In Week 18, with the NFC West on the line, he returned to Levi’s Stadium again and delivered a 13–3 win over the 49ers, clinching the division, a first-round bye, and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. It felt symbolic then. It reads prophetic now.

A month later, he was back on the same field, completing 19-of-38 passes for 202 yards and a touchdown in the Super Bowl. The scoreboard told part of the story. The setting told the rest.

With the victory, Darnold’s 2026 Super Bowl win completed a major, highly publicized career turnaround from a “bust” narrative to a champion in the same building where he revived his career and allowed him to exorcise those early ghosts.

When asked by the California Post about his long history with the stadium, Darnold didn’t deflect.

“It’s a special place. It’s a great place to play,” he said. “I was glad it was close to home. My parents and my grandma and grandpa were able to be here today. They don’t usually get to come to games, but because it was such a short flight they were able to be here today. That was so special for me.”

After the final whistle, Darnold lingered on the field, celebrating with teammates, including former USC brothers now wearing Seahawks blue. Eventually, he found his fiancée Katie Hoofnagle and his parents, Mike and Chris. The moment cracked him.

“It’s just, it’s special. I mean, you know, I shared a great moment with my parents and my fiancée Katie after the game. I think that’s what kind of got me a little bit,” Darnold said about the tears that followed.

Then came the line that summed up the whole journey.

“Me and my dad don’t really cry very often,” he said. “I told my dad — and my mom — I’m here because of their belief. And they believed in me throughout my entire career, and I think that’s why I was able to believe in myself.”

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