When Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold was traded to the Carolina Panthers in 2021, his confidence was at an all-time low. The former number three pick had just been traded from the team that drafted him, the New York Jets, and was coming off a 2-14 season. Darnold needed a fresh start, and the Panthers provided that for him.
Darnold’s time in Carolina ultimately didn’t work out for him, compiling an 8-9 record and putting up pedestrian numbers: 16 passing touchdowns, seven rushing touchdowns, and 16 interceptions over two seasons.
It would be two years before Darnold would receive another starting opportunity after leaving Carolina, but the lessons he learned there have helped carry him to the spot he’s in today as the starting quarterback of back-to-back playoff teams.
Darnold Learned A lot About Himself
Part of Sam Darnold’s story is that the player he has become today has been forged through struggle and adversity, and his stop with the Panthers played a pivotal role in that journey.
John Boyle of Seahawks.com wrote in his December 26 article that Darnold feels his stop in Carolina was an essential part of his journey as a player and a person.
“The couple years in Carolina were huge for me,” Darnold said this week. “First of all, I think just being around really good players, being around really good guys in the locker room, those are moments that I remember forever. Some of those guys are still some of my best friends to this day. Then just learning football. I think that first year I learned a lot about myself, just going through adversity and learning that way, and then that second year battled through an injury throughout the first half of the season. Then came out on the other side and was able to play some pretty good football towards the end of that season. I feel like that kind of gave me momentum going into that next year. So I learned a lot of good football in that last year in Carolina especially.”
Darnold left a positive impact on the Panthers’ building as well, and former teammates still speak fondly of his time with the team.
Well Liked
During his short two-year stay with the Panthers, Sam Darnold left a larger impact in the locker room than he did on the field, and that is why, even a year removed from being teammates, those who remain from those teams still speak highly of Darnold.
Darin Gantt of Panthers.com, in his December 27 article, wrote about how Darnold left an impact on teammates such as long-time Panthers long snapper J.J. Jansen.
“Not only was he a great leader and teammate here, but he played really good football,” Jansen said of Darnold, and he’s seen all the quarterbacks here since Jake Delhomme to Cam Newton and beyond. “His two years here, where he had a couple of injuries, there was a lot of turnover, coaches fired, there was a lot going on. Which wasn’t all that different when he was in New York.”
Jansen also talked about Darnold finally having coaching that plays to his strengths, and he’s flourished.
“He’s big, he’s strong, he’s athletic. He’s a great student of the game. And, so when he went to San Francisco, goes to Minnesota, now in Seattle, he’s been around good coaching, guys that are really building him up, good systems for what he’s good at,” Jansen said.
Darnold will look to make more positive memories on the field on Sunday as the Seahawks look to move one step closer to being the number one seed in the NFC, while the Panthers look to win the NFC South.
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