Seahawks QB Sam Darnold details what helped ‘unlock’ career

With back-to-back Pro Bowl campaigns and a Super Bowl title, Sam Darnold has rewritten the narrative of his NFL career.

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Darnold went 14-3 each of the past two seasons – first during a breakout 2024 campaign with the Minnesota Vikings, and then again during a championship-winning 2025 campaign with the Seattle Seahawks.

He finished fifth in the NFL in passing yardage both years, while authoring a combined nine game-winning drives. He rose to the occasion with a standout NFC title game performance, throwing for 346 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in Seattle’s 31-27 win over the archrival Los Angeles Rams.

And of course, after their Super Bowl triumph in February, Darnold and his Seahawks teammates capped their rise to the NFL mountaintop by hoisting the Lombardi Trophy.

It’s been quite the turnaround for the 28-year-old Darnold, a former No. 3 overall draft pick who had an up-and-down first six seasons in the NFL.

Darnold reflected on his journey during a recent appearance on the “Green Light with Chris Long” – a podcast hosted by two-time Super Bowl-winning former NFL defensive end Chris Long.

In particular, Darnold described a conversation with a sports psychologist ahead of his 2024 season in Minnesota that helped “unlock” his career.

Darnold said he tends to be hard on himself, so the sports psychologist encouraged him to trust and believe in all the work he’d put in.

“A sports psychologist that I met with actually before my season in Minnesota put it the best: You get to this point and you make it so far in your career as an athlete by hammering away on that house. You’re building a house your entire career and you’re hammering nails just building the house,” Darnold said.

“And he was like, at this point in your career, you’ve developed such a great base and a great foundation for your house. He’s like, it’s time to start painting the house and using a brush. Like, you need to kind of tell yourself that you’re really good and you deserve to be here, and you need to start patting yourself on the back a little bit more.”

Darnold said that reframed his perspective.

“I didn’t know if it took the analogy or what, but that was kind of the weird unlock for me – like, OK, yeah, I do deserve to be here,” Darnold said. “Like, I’ve played really good football in the league – albeit not as consistent as I would have liked. But mistakes happen. Like, mistakes are gonna happen, especially in this league.

“I’ve been super hard on myself. Like, that is never gonna leave. That’s never gonna leave my mindset. And so I think being easier on myself and essentially telling myself that I’m good – that I’m a really good player – I think that’s really helped me the last couple years to build confidence, but to also be able to move on from mistakes or things that happen.”

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