Sam Darnold was just 20 when the New York Jets drafted him third overall in the 2018 NFL Draft. After providing a whirlwind of offensive systems and clumsy maturation opportunities, the team gave up on him after three seasons. Regardless of how one may choose to describe those years, the quarterback believes it set the foundation for who he is today.

“I was taking it one day at a time,” he said during his latest interview with Jason Garrett on NFL on NBC. “That was my mindset, especially coming in, learning the system from Jeremy Bates, who was the offensive coordinator at the time in New York, and just learning as much as I could.

“I was very thankful. Very grateful to be with Josh McCown [QB], my rookie year, who was 40 at the time. He had a lot of experience in the NFL and playing football, and so, I learned. I learned a lot that year, even though we didn’t necessarily have the result that we wanted.”

That season, Darnold started 13 games, but the results were disappointing. The team went 4-12. The rookie was consistent and accurate in his throws that year, but there were other issues: 

1. His tendency towards negative plays hurt the team. His aggressiveness had led to turnovers and sacks at USC, and that pattern continued with the Jets.
2. While he was more careful with the ball in the final four games that season, he was still sacked at a high rate. Those weren’t self-inflicted sacks, though.

That said, the next two seasons were just as forgettable: the team went 7-9 in 2019 and 2-14 in 2020. The latter was the second-worst season in franchise history. Plus, the organization was facing turmoil. Darnold’s first HC, Todd Bowles, was fired after his rookie season. Adam Gase replaced Bowles, but the QB’s development under the new HC was initially criticized. 

“All three years playing in New York, we didn’t get the results we wanted, but I learned a lot about myself, the team,” Darnold confessed. It goes without saying that the years he spent with the Jets witnessed a lot of scrutiny. At times, the New York City media was simply unkind to him. 

For instance, think about the Week 7 game against the New England Patriots back in 2019. It was a 33-0 blowout loss for the Jets. But one of Darnold’s now-infamous lines from that game had gone viral: “I’m seeing ghosts.” 

The media was quick to pounce on that narrative, and many came up with headlines at the expense of their ghost-seeing quarterback. Of course, the QB still remembers those days and how loud it can get in New York City.

How did Sam Darnold handle all the criticism?

That was naturally the next question Jason Garrett put forth. But the answer to that all boiled down to Darnold’s support system. 

“My family and the circle of friends that I had growing up and in college, as well, I was able to lean on those people. Also had great teammates and a great coaching staff to be able to lean on in tough times,” the player shared.

“You got to find ways to just worry about what you’re doing because it is easy to kind of stray away from that, especially in New York City.”

He revealed how several newspapers and media outlets would condemn, leading to excessive noise, but the signal-caller understood that he had to focus on what was more important. He made sure not to lose perspective.

While those three years weren’t the best, he moved on to spend two seasons with the Carolina Panthers, followed by stops with the San Francisco 49ers, the Minnesota Vikings, and finally the Seattle Seahawks. Truth be told, the Seahawks are elated to have him. But it was the Vikings who first provided him a platform unlike any before.

So far, he has started all seven games for the Seahawks. They are 5-2 currently. And after a bye week, the team is scheduled to face the Washington Commanders in Week 9.