Sam Darnold announces new journey before 2025 NFL season

The Seattle Seahawks made several aggressive moves this offseason. Trading away Geno Smith and signing free agent QB Sam Darnold had to be the biggest moves of the bunch. Seattle's new quarterback announced a new life journey on Monday just weeks before NFL training camp.

Darnold and his longtime girlfriend Katie Hoofnagle announced their engagement on Instagram on Monday night.

“Huge!! Congrats to you both,” the Seahawks replied via their Instagram account.

Hoofnagle is also an athlete, as she formerly played club soccer at the University of South Carolina.

Darnold reportedly met Hoofnagle in 2023 during his one-year stint with the 49ers. Hoofnagle made her first public appearance in Darnold's life when wishing him a happy birthday in 2023. She has regularly appeared with Darnold in public and in social media posts ever since.

Darnold hosted a charity flag football event at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, California shortly after signing with the Seahawks. He took that opportunity to explain the huge impact Hoofnagle has had on him in an Us Weekly interview.

“The support [from] my girlfriend is unbelievable,” Darnold said. “You know, the fact that she just understands it. She's a former athlete herself, and just gets kind of the grind of everything. When I just want to chill, she's very up for that, especially during the season.”

Darnold did admit that the stress of moving from team to team over the past few seasons has been tough on them as a couple. Thankfully, Darnold has hopefully found a long-term home in Seattle.

“We have lives, we have families, we have everything just like everyone else,” Darnold said. “Whenever we are on a one-year deal, like, yeah, it's great. I understand playing in the NFL is awesome and I love every second of it. But when you have those one-year deals, which a lot of guys in the NFL are on, you're always in the back of your head thinking, ‘OK, where am I gonna play next?’”

Now Darnold can settle into the next chapter of his life in Seattle.

It will be exciting to see how Darnold looks in Seattle's offense during training camp and the preseason.