Sam Darnold has just completed a fairytale by winning a Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks. Super Bowl Champion Ryan Clark does not believe that he is better than many NFC QBs.

In an episode of First Take, he said, "I take Stafford, Hurts, Purdy, Mayfield, Love; they all win a Super Bowl with this Seattle Seahawks team right now. I take Williams, I take Daniels, Williams and Daniels more upside than Sam Darnold." He thought they could all win the Super Bowl with Seattle.

He added, "And most of these quarterbacks, if they're the starting quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks, they beat the New England Patriots worse than they won with Sam Darnold." He did praise Darnold, saying he had a phenomenal two years.

But he concluded, "If I'm drafting these quarterbacks in the NFC, I take all of them before I take him." Sports Journalist Dov Kleiman posted the clip on X and wrote, "First Take has truly become a joke…Darnold just won the Super Bowl 😭😭".

The Seahawks finished the 2025 regular season 14-3 and secured the No. 1 seed in the NFC with Darnold as their starter. The fans have rained down on Ryan Clark for this statement.

Fans Angry At Ryan Clark For Sam Darnold Statement

One fan said, "This guy is ridiculous I’ll never watch ESPN again network is terrible", while another said, "Like fr let the poor guy have this moment!! He just won the damn Super Bowl."

Sam Darnold does deserve his flower. After years of struggles moving from team to team, the QB has proved himself worthy of the Super Bowl that he won.

One user wrote, "My only focus next year is hearing this guy say Darnold is great, I’ll wait till next Super Bowl." That might not be as impossible as you think because Stephen A. Smith said on First Take that he was wrong about Darnold after the QB won the Super Bowl.

One user rained down saying, "@Realrclark25 you’ve lost it. Jalen hurts stunk this year. Jayden Daniel’s can’t stay healthy. Caleb can’t complete 58% of his passes. Baker mayfield never been to a Super Bowl. Cowboys only NFC team since 2011 years who hasn’t played in NFC Championship. This take is pathetic"

Hurts had 3,224 passing yards, 25 TDs, and 6 interceptions with a 98.5 passer rating over 16 games this season. These are solid numbers, but not elite for a top-tier QB.

Daniel suffered a dislocated left elbow this season. So are they better than Sam Darnold? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by

Reyansh Dubey

Edited by

Oajaswini Prabhu