Samuel Richard Darnold (born June 5, 1997)[1] is an American professional football quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the USC Trojans, winning the Archie Griffin award in 2016, and was selected third overall by the New York Jets in the 2018 NFL draft.Darnold was the Jets’ starter from 2018 to 2020 before being traded to the Carolina Panthers in 2021. Following two seasons with the Panthers, he joined the San Francisco 49ers for one season as a backup. He joined the Vikings in 2024, where he experienced a career resurgence after becoming their starter that year, leading them to a playoff appearance and earning Pro Bowl honors.
Darnold was born in Dana Point, California on June 5, 1997.[2]
Darnold attended San Clemente High School in San Clemente, California. After playing baseball in his freshman year, he played football and basketball. During his high school basketball career, Darnold excelled and was named South Coast League Most Valuable Player[2] twice, along with being named to the all-CIF team. Basketball coach Marc Popovich stated Darnold’s basketball skills helped translate into football, being the “only guy [I’ve] ever had who could get a defensive rebound and launch a 70-foot pass on target, pretty much in the same motion, to a guy breaking out in the fastbreak. It was almost Wes Unseld-like.” Popovich added that Darnold could have played college basketball in the Pac-12 Conference or the Mountain West Conference “at worst.
On the football team, Darnold played wide receiver and linebacker, though he played quarterback as a sophomore after the starting quarterback was injured in a game against Tesoro High School. He threw a touchdown pass and scored the game-winning two-point conversion, but returned to playing receiver and linebacker a week later.[2] When he legitimately became the school’s quarterback, Darnold broke the school record for the most touchdown passes in a game when he threw five on two occasions.[4] He missed much of his junior year with a foot injury.[2] In his senior year, San Clemente reached the CIF-Southern Section Southwest Division championship game, where they lost 44–37 to Trabuco Hills High School in a comeback upset after Sam was knocked out of the game with a concussion.[5] He ended his senior season with 3,000 passing yards and 39 touchdowns, along with 800 rushing yards and 13 rushing touchdowns.[4]
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