Happy Tuesday! As a reminder, Full Court Press is using sports to remind us of what once was good, and what could be again. Even though the game wasn’t incredibly memorable, there’s a lot we can take away from Super Bowl LX. And I don’t just mean the commercials. Let’s dive in.
The Snap Count
the Boogeyman
teacups
post-bakemas slump?
Darnold Goes to Disneyland
Josh Allen. Lamar Jackson. Baker Mayfield.
None of these quarterbacks from the 2018 NFL Draft have made it to the Super Bowl.
Sam Darnold just won it.
For those unfamiliar, Darnold had a 20-4 record at Southern Cal and was drafted 3rd overall in the 2018 Draft by the New York Jets.
Even if you don’t know much about football, you know where this is headed…
Darnold and the Jets were horrible. He went 13-25 over three seasons and had 39 interceptions. Even worse, he was caught on a hot mic admitting he was “seeing ghosts” in a game against the Patriots.
Imagine if your CEO stepped out of a board meeting to use the restroom and tells you he just had a lil’ accident in there because he was so scared. I’d send my resume to a dozen other companies within 20 minutes! And the board would find it hilarious!
So much is made of the pressure-cooker that’s called being an NFL QB. In New York? As a rookie? It’s 10x that.
Darnold eventually was traded from New York, playing for Carolina and then backing up Brock Purdy in San Francisco.
When then-Niners quarterback coach Brian Griese called Darnold during the early 2023 offseason to recruit him for a reset season as Brock Purdy's backup, Griese asked Darnold how he viewed himself coming out of the tough times.
Griese said Darnold answered, "I like who I am."
"That really cemented for me that he was the right guy," Griese said. "New York was brutal. ... If I had sat down with him and talked with him and he didn't believe in himself, then I don't think we would have been interested in San Francisco. So, the fact that he went through what he did, and he came out on the other side with his emotional resilience intact, that gave him a chance.
If I were to look in the mirror and honestly tell myself “you’re going to be the QB of a perennial laughing stock and get called a bust”, I feel extremely confident that I’d crumble. But Darnold was looking for coaching and consistency; a situation where he could learn and develop with much less pressure.
After his brief step back, Darnold joined the Minnesota Vikings and lead them to 14 wins in 2024 - the unexpected story of the season. He found his groove.
But he lost the last two games of their season and immediately everyone questioned if he was the guy.
"Man, to win 14 games in the NFL and not know if you're good enough?" [then-Vikings backup QB] Nick Mullens said. "That's brutal. Like, what do you want, undefeated?"
Minnesota let him walk, unwilling to commit to Sam as their long-term answer at QB. In free agency, Darnold hiked all the way to the PNW and joined the Seahawks.
Now we’re all caught up - they win 14 games in the regular season and advance to the Super Bowl to defeat the Patriots. The same Patriots who played the role of the Darnold’s Boogeyman in 2019.
Did Darnold “win” the Super Bowl with an exceptional performance? No.
But he didn’t have to - he managed the game well, kept the chains moving enough to score once and get five field goals. A few exceptional defensive plays by the Patriots defensive backs were the only things keeping the game close early.
When I think about Darnold’s story, I immediately question my ability to face hardship. I’m admittedly terrified of failure and I’ve done nothing close to playing quarterback for the New York Jets. It’s a tall task for a top draft pick to go to a bottom-dweller organization - he was destined to fail. But, that was the path written for him.
I often think about how I want things to go. How I want to control the perception others have of me. How I want to avoid failure, as that’s a sign of weakness and not success. I want to win the metaphorical Super Bowl of life. Who wouldn’t?
The harder we run towards the finish line that we create in our own heads, the harder we fall.
Sam Darnold faced incredible shame and failure early in his career. Yet, he’s the lone quarterback from the 2018 NFL Draft that’s lifted the Lombardi trophy.
Questions to ponder: are there things you’re avoiding out of a fear of failure or shame? Are you trying to control when you win and avoid losing?
Proverbs 16:9
In their hearts humans plan their course,
but the Lord establishes their steps.
Here’s to having faith in the failures that pop up along the way and being able to respond to them with grace. Or by going to Disneyland to just blow off some steam.
On the other side of the field, Drake Maye faces a similar situation. While Year 2 of his career was brighter than Darnold’s first five, losing a Super Bowl (and having a pretty poor performance) can be devastating to a young player.
Here’s a question posed to me by a friend this week:
Does Drake Maye's Super Bowl LX loss define his career?
Personally, I’m rooting for him (and his offensive line) to come back strong next year. We’re writing about the human side of sports after all! Reply back if you have any thoughts on Drake and his future (or just a favorite Bakemas recipe to share).
Using Rookie of the Year moments as a scale, today's newsletter made me feel like...
Thanks for reading my newsletter! I didn’t use Claude or ChatGPT or anything else you’d consider AI to draft this out.
Reply with your feedback and I’ll get back to every response in my inbox. I hope you’d consider sharing it with a friend who enjoys one or more of the following:
Gatorade baths welcomed with open arms
Olympians who are married to each other
the phrase “pitchers report1 to Spring Training”
Padel
baseball managers wearing the full uniform
hating on basketball coaches wearing ¼ zips (yawn)
Blessings,
Brandon
1 as if it’s their duty or something!
