Sam Darnold is set to step into the Super Bowl lights for the first time in his career. Even with that milestone ahead, it is his grandfather who is taking away a chunk of the spotlight from the Seahawks star.

“He [Sam] comes from a long line of successful people in his family. His grandfather was the Marlboro man, and his name was Dick Hammer. I’m not making that up,” Colleen Wolfe said on the Good Sports podcast.

Dick Hammer was Darnold’s maternal grandfather, a man with an impressive list of sports achievements. In 1954, he was a member of the University of Southern California Trojans’ Final Four basketball squad. He also represented the United States’ 1964 Olympic volleyball team.

Hammer also delivered record-breaking performances in javelin throw and decathlon while at Fullerton Junior College. The accomplishments don’t stop there. He worked as a firefighter at Universal Studios for a living.

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But beyond the court, field, and firehouse, it’s his face that truly captured America’s imagination.

What has caught the eye of many is the rugged figure on those massive billboards across California. There he stood, the iconic Marlboro Man, in his classic cowboy hat, exuding timeless swagger on the verge of lighting up a cigarette. It was exactly that image his wife, Betty Hammer, remembered fondly from those bygone days.

“They’d ring a bell for that Aunt Jemima commercial and the kids would rush into the room to see it,” Betty said in 2017. “When Dick [Hammer] was the Marlboro Man, he was on billboards and TV. I was driving on Sunset Boulevard one day, and that’s where they have the biggest billboard in the world, they say. Dick’s picture was on it and I looked up. I almost crashed.”

Darnold didn’t get to spend much time with his grandfather, though. Dick Hammer passed away when the quarterback was just two years old. Still, his grandson is ready to take on the big stage with the Seahawks, and he says it has a lot to do with his connection to Hammer.

Sam Darnold says: Dick Hammer was a ‘legend’

Sam Darnold comes from a long lineage of athleticism in the family. His father, Mike Darnold, was a football player. His mother, Chris Darnold, played volleyball at Long Beach City College. Even his sister, Franki Darnold, followed in her mother’s footsteps on the court.

Now Darnold is taking it to the next level as the Seahawks’ starting quarterback. Yet the talented passer credits Dick Hammer as the true star of the family.

“He’s such a legend in our family, he’s becoming a legend, even outside of our family now,” Darnold said a few days ago. “I’ve heard the stories that have gone around our family for years, you know? He’s just an all-time person. He had a ton of accolades.”

No doubt, Dick Hammer was a sensation back then. So much so that people still remember him after over five decades, standing true to his larger-than-life personality. From Olympic stages to billboard fame, Hammer’s story adds a captivating layer to Darnold’s journey.