Sam Darnold gave his flowers to Brock Purdy.
Although he's had a bumpy start to his NFL career, the Seattle Seahawks signed Sam Darnold to a three-year contract, and he joined his fifth team through eight seasons. However, there was one stop along the way that jumpstarted his career, and that was when Darnold backed up Brock Purdy with the San Francisco 49ers in 2023. Playing behind Purdy for a season — after two failed attempts with the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers — helped him become a more nuanced quarterback, Darnold said in his press conference on Thursday.
“I really thank Brock a ton, Brock Purdy, for his style of play and how he kind of described his style,” Darnold said, per Akash Anavarathan on X. “We've got a ton of great playmakers on offense. My job is just to play point guard and get the ball in their hands and let them go do great things with the rock. When I started to change my thought process as a quarterback to just getting the ball in my guys' hands, that's kind of where it unlocked for me a little bit.”
For NFL fans who weren't around in 2018, Darnold was the No. 3 overall pick to the Jets behind only Baker Mayfield and Saquon Barkley.
However, Darnold's first stop in his NFL career didn't go as planned, as his combined record over his first three seasons with the Jets was 13-25.
Now, that's not all his fault, as he was alongside the commonly clowned-on head coach: Adam Gase.
Gase didn't really crack out in the NFL, as he would be fired after the 2020 season, ending his head coaching career.
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Darnold on the other hand continued working on his craft, spending two seasons with the Panthers alongside Cam Newton and Mayfield, the No. 1 overall pick in his draft class.
In those two seasons, Darnold didn't prove he was a starting quarterback yet. This caused him to take a backup spot with the 49ers under Purdy, leading to the former No. 3 overall pick in 2018 reviving his career as a 26-year-old.
He signed with the Minnesota Vikings in 2024 under head coach Kevin O'Connell, but there wasn't a strong belief that Darnold would play much.
However, after the Vikings' rookie quarterback suffered a season-ending injury in Minnesota's preseason finale, Darnold was called upon, and he delivered.
Leading the Vikings to a 14-3 record, the now Seahawks quarterback lit up the league, passing for over 4,000 yards for the first time in his NFL career.
Now, as Sam Darnold looks to lead the Seahawks similarly in 2025, he looks back on the teachings of Brock Purdy as a strong reason why he's able to succeed at the quarterback position once again.
