Has a Super Bowl-winning QB ever had a career like Sam Darnold?

The Seattle Seahawks' Sam Darnold has a chance as a former first-round QB to rise from the "draft bust" depths to lead a new team to a Super Bowl win.

BY MICHAEL STRITE

Jan 31, 2026, 9:34 AM

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Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold finds himself just one win from being a Super Bowl champion, and his path to the top would be one of the most unusual in the big game’s 60-year history.

If the Seahawks beat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 60, Darnold would arguably become the first QB considered a “draft bust” by his original team to win a championship in over 30 years.

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In the 59 Super Bowls so far, 36 starting quarterbacks have had the honor of lifting the Lombardi trophy, with 21 being first-round NFL Draft picks. A total of 14 of those first-rounders delivered a Super Bowl championship for the team that originally drafted them (most recently Patrick Mahomes, Joe Flacco, Ben Roethlisberger, Peyton Manning and Eli Manning). That leaves us with seven quarterbacks who failed to win a Super Bowl with the team that drafted them in the first round but later went on to win a championship with a new team.

Those QBs are:

• Len Dawson – Drafted fifth overall by the Steelers in 1957, won the Super Bowl in 1969 with the Chiefs.

• Earl Morrall – Drafted second overall by the 49ers in 1956, won the Super Bowl in 1970 with the Colts.

• Jim Plunkett – Drafted first overall by the Patriots in 1971, won the Super Bowl in 1980 and 1983 with the Raiders.

• Doug Williams – Drafted 17th overall by the Buccaneers in 1978, won the Super Bowl in 1987 with Washington.

• Steve Young – Drafted first overall by the Buccaneers in 1984, won the Super Bowl in 1994 with the 49ers.

• Trent Dilfer – Drafted sixth overall by the Buccaneers in 1994, won the Super Bowl in 2000 with the Ravens.

• Matthew Stafford – Drafted first overall by the Lions in 2009, won the Super Bowl in 2021 with the Rams.

Stafford could hardly have been considered a draft bust after 12 seasons with the Lions. I would guess that if given the opportunity to draft him again, the Lions would do it. That leaves us with three backup QBs who stepped up to lead the team midway through the season (Morrall, Williams and Dilfer), and three members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame (Dawson, Plunkett and Young).

Trent Dilfer spent six seasons with the Buccaneers, posting a 38-38 record and making a Pro Bowl in 1997 before they moved on from him after the 1999 season. In his first year with the Ravens, Dilfer was blessed with one of the greatest defenses in NFL history. As a result, he’s widely regarded as one of the worst quarterbacks to ever win the big game. He is also still the only Super Bowl-winning quarterback who started the next season with a new team, as he went to the Seahawks in 2001 while the Ravens hoped to upgrade at the position with Elvis Grbac.

That leaves us with Steve Young. After initially playing for the Los Angeles Express in the USFL, he went 3-16 in two seasons with the Buccaneers. The Bucs traded Young to the 49ers, where he spent four seasons as a trusted backup to Hall of Famer Joe Montana. At age 30, Young took over as the starting QB in 1991 and never looked back, posting a 91-33 record as the 49ers starter with two MVP awards.

Sound familiar?

The New York Jets moved on from Darnold after three seasons in which he posted a 13-25 record. Since then, the Jets have gone 26-59 over five seasons with nine different starting quarterbacks.

Darnold went 8-9 in two seasons with the Carolina Panthers before they moved on from him. In one season with San Francisco, Darnold was a backup to Brock Purdy in a 49ers Super Bowl loss. Then came his breakout 2024 season with the Minnesota Vikings, which saw a 14-3 record and 4,319 passing yards. Then in one of most pivotal moves of the last offseason, the Seahawks signed Darnold to replace Geno Smith. He rewarded their confidence with another 14-3 record and 4,048 passing yards.

Will a Hall of Fame nod await Darnold at the end of his career? Seahawks fans sure hope so. Despite being on his fifth team, Darnold is playing his best football at age 28. Aaron Rodgers, Philip Rivers and Stafford have proven that as a pocket passer in the modern NFL, he could remain one of the top quarterbacks in the league for another decade.

Only time will tell if Darnold will be remembered more like Steve Young, Trent Dilfer or somewhere in the large gap between the two. Darnold’s performance in the NFC Championship win over Stafford’s Rams was enough to silence the doubters. Now he finds himself one win away from a fairytale story of rags to riches that ends with a chance to say “I’m going to Disneyland!”