SAN JOSE | There’s something people in San Francisco never expected to see in their city and on the facade of their stadium in Santa Clara: giant posters of Sam Darnold, the Seahawks quarterback.
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Darnold, after all, is part of the hometown team’s perennial division rivals, the 49ers. It was also the Seahawks who massacred the darlings of San Francisco in the second playoff round.
So it’s special to walk around the Bay Area and see Darnold’s face plastered in giant format in different places.
This is without mentioning the fact that originally, no one would have dared to imagine Darnold as the starting quarterback of a Super Bowl team, especially not at the start of his career in 2018 with the New York Jets.
In fact, Darnold will never say it, but after the turn of events during his first painful seasons, he himself is probably the most surprised in the world.
“I would have loved, after being drafted to New York, to have made it my home for the next 20 years. It didn’t work that way. It was the same thing in Carolina. I was able to relearn at a good place in San Francisco. Then, in Minnesota, with good players and a good coaching staff, I was able to prove to myself what I could do on the field.
“In Seattle, I immediately felt at home. I’m grateful that everyone believed in me, which allows me to focus on just being the best quarterback possible on every play,” said Darnold, a few days before facing the Patriots.
From admiration
Star defensive lineman Leonard Williams is in a good position to talk about Darnold’s unexpected development.
He had a difficult start alongside him with the Jets before finding him again, eight years later, this season in Seattle.
“I think inside he’s always been a good quarterback and that’s normal to grow through ups and downs. An important detail is that he learned to ignore the noise around him and avoid giving importance to his detractors. Before you excel at something, you have to learn to recover from failures,” he analyzed.
Ridiculed repeatedly until his improbable rebirth, Darnold represents a formidable story, which even arouses the admiration of his opposite number, Drake Maye.
“I’m a big fan of Sam. What a great adventure! He put up quite a battle and made the teams who dismissed him pay. It’s incredible to see,” he greeted with class.
IN BRIEF…
A game that doesn’t want to die
SAN JOSE | In their most recent appearance at the Super Bowl at the end of the 2014 season, the Seahawks became famous for the wrong reasons when they opted for a pass at the one-yard line in the final moments of the game and it was intercepted. All this, despite the presence of dominant carrier Marshawn Lynch. More than 10 years later, head coach Mike Macdonald, who wasn’t there at the time, was asked not once, not twice, but FOUR times if he would have chosen to run or pass. He was having fun until the fourth time, when he declared he was done answering that question. Finally!
No Kraft at the Temple
SAN JOSE | After the outcry caused by Bill Belichick being ignored in his first year of Hall of Fame eligibility, another Patriots pillar also sees that door remaining closed. Owner Robert Kraft, who has been eligible for several years now, did not receive the required positive votes, much to the chagrin of head coach Mike Vrabel. “It’s unfortunate. In my experience with Robert, both as a player and a coach, he is more than deserving. I am proud that he is still with us and that he continues to provide us with the resources to win and ultimately, his contribution will be recognized,” he commented.
Maye feels good
SAN JOSE | For Patriots fans who feared the apocalypse last week when the team revealed that quarterback Drake Maye was dealing with a shoulder injury that caused him to miss part of last Thursday and Friday’s practices, everything seems to be going well. “I feel good, I’m going to be okay. I threw the ball when I got here and I have no doubt that I will be 100% for the match,” assured the young man. Words that will allow the faithful to direct their prayers towards other players.
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