Not Josh Allen, not Lamar Jackson, but it was Sam Darnold who went on to win the Super Bowl from the 2018 NFL Draft Class.

Many doubted the Seahawks quarterback before the 2025 season and even throughout it. Stephen A Smith was one of those doubters. But after the Super Bowl win, he confessed that he was wrong about the 28-year-old.

"What I said about Sam Darnold, all year long, I got to see it. And then when the AFC championship game showed up, I said, damn, he showed me because I didn't care about anything else."

In the 2025 NFC Championship game, the Seahawks QB completed 25 passes in 36 attempts for 346 yards with 3 touchdowns. The analyst said he knew Darnold was going to succeed with the Seahawks since he recorded 4,319 yards and 35 touchdowns as the Vikings went 14-3.

But he also added, "I needed to see him against his kryptonite, the Los Angeles Rams. And I picked the Rams to win that game. I thought that Sam Darnold would fold against Matthew Stafford when it really, really counted."

And he did not. The 28-year-old had a 127.8 passer rating in the game and also rushed for 9 yards on 3 carries. Thanks to his contribution, the Seahawks won that game 31-27. "And I had to give it to him...I had to stand down...I was wrong about Sam Donald," Stephen A Smith confessed.

Smith isn't the only one on the list of people apologizing to Darnold.

"I'm one of those people who's eating that crow because I went back to Stafford to beat the Seattle Seahawks. Given what we seen from Sam...That performance right there was like, man, somebody stop this man," Cam Newton said after the NFC Championship game.

Sam Darnold's Fairytale Journey to the Super Bowl

Like every young QB, Darnold also had big dreams when coming to the NFL from the 2018 draft class. He was taken up No. 3 overall by the New York Jets, where he recorded 8,097 yards, 45 touchdowns, and 39 interceptions in 38 games for three years. He then came to the Panthers.

Things did not work out here as well as the 28-year-old threw for 3,670 yards, 16 touchdowns, and 16 interceptions in 18 games. Then, in 2023, he came to the 49ers, where he was behind Brock Purdy for the starting QB position.

Darnold appeared in 10 games, started 1, and finished the regular season with 297 passing yards, 2 TDs, and 1 INT, a passer rating of around 85.1. It was a good run nonetheless, as the team finished 1st in the NFC West and 1st in the NFC. Though they fell to the Kansas City Chiefs, 25 to 22, in Super Bowl LVIII.

After that was over, Darnold went to the Vikings, and while he performed great, he did not want to stay with them as negotiations failed. The Seahawks saw the opportunity and talent and brought him to the team. 4,720 yards and 30 touchdowns later, he won Super Bowl LX.

Read more at the Cleveland Browns Community!

Written by

Reyansh Dubey

Edited by

Joyita Das