Editors Note – This post is heavy sports talk – football stuff. If you want to skip to the surfing, scroll down to where you see the first surf shot.
The Seattle Seahawks just beat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 60 about a couple weeks ago. I watched a bit of the Big Game, not much, but I’ve had some thoughts since the football season ended – do you know Sam Darnold’s story?
Darnold was the 3rd overall draft pick in 2018, meaning he was a highly touted, highly sought after NFL prospect. He went to USC in college, and San Clemente High School before that. A side note – he’s got (vague) ties to surfing through Kolohe Andino and his time at SCHS.
After being drafted by the New York Jets 3rd overall, he has a tough rookie season. He threw an interception on the first pass of his NFL career. He played in 13 games and threw 15 interceptions, which is not good. His sophomore season at the helm (2019), Darnold had his second career game throwing for 4 interceptions, and went viral for a clip of him saying he is “seeing ghosts”. He started to gain a reputation of turning the ball over to the other team.
In total, he spent 3 seasons with the Jets before they drafted another Quarterback (Zach Wilson – who they have since also moved on from) and traded him to the Carolina Panthers. Not exactly what everyone was expecting when he was a top draft pick. Darnold spent 2 years in Carolina, struggling with injuries and more turnovers. After the 2022 season, he became a Free Agent.
In 2023 he played for the San Francisco 49ers as their backup QB, not seeing much playing time. Darnold credits SF’s Head Coach Kyle Shanahan, and QB coach Brian Griese for making him a better Quarterback that year. This is where the magic happened and something changed.
The following year, 2024, Sam Darnold is signed as a Free Agent by the Minnesota Vikings. He was viewed as a “bridge” starter, meaning he was bridging the gap between the old Quarterback and the new one. Minnesota had just let former Franchise QB Kirk Cousins walk in Free Agency because they had their eyes on University of Michigan’s Quarterback JJ McCarthy, who they drafted with the 10th overall pick in that years draft.
Darnold’s deal was 1 year for $10 million, and he led the Vikings to the playoffs with a 14-3 regular season record. He set the Team record for most wins by a QB in their first year with the team, he was the fifth 4,000 yard passer in Team history, and, he set the Team single game passer rating record at 157.9. All of that means he played really, really good, on a deep discount, without much backing.
Maybe it was the ugly first round playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams – maybe that’s why the Vikings let him walk (into Free Agency). Maybe they see something different (read: better) in JJ McCarthy. Maybe it was all part of the plan. Whatever happened, he moved on, again, to his 4th Team since 2021. Sam Darnold then signed a 3 year, $100 million contract with the Seattle Seahawks, with $50 million guaranteed.
That brings us to where we are now. Darnold as a Super Bowl champion, firmly established as a Top QB in the NFL, holding a ring and a trophy that nobody can ever take away from him. I know, I know – what does any of this have to do with anything? Well, us being surfers and all, I couldn’t help but wonder – who is surfing’s Sam Darnold? Immediately I think of any, and almost every surfer who suffered at the hands of the Mid Year Cut. What about surfers who were dropped from their sponsors, without any support on Tour? Who do you think – given a different situation and different surrounding environment – would have a chance to win a World Title? Who is the surprising Never Been, that you think is truly a Could Have? I’ll give you a few names I view as good examples.
Bobby Martinez – do you ever wonder what could have been? The best backhand in the game, maybe ever.
Cory Lopez – one of the best, most popular freesurfers of the early aughts.
Nate Yeomans – the Worlds Greatest Surf rep only spent half a year on Tour. Could he have garnered better results with more time and less pressure?
Dane Reynolds – obviously. What if he cared about contests?
Mitch Coleborn – surfed a few CT events, and now that Yago’s won the World Title, I think names like this deserve more credit. The stars of the early Kai Neville films are my heroes. Some of the greatest surfers in history.
Matt Banting – this kid was highly, highly touted. I remember seeing his name pop up around the same time as Noa Deane, and both of those kids had a tremendous future ahead of them (so I thought). Wonder what he’s up to now.
Jay Davies – I truly thought he was the next Jordy Smith.
Garret Parkes – remember this kid from the Young Guns movies?
Mikey Wright – Ah this is another name that is bunched in with the Bobby Martinez lot. Fan favorite, amazing style and as raw as Steak TarTare.
Jack Freestone – World Junior Champion who finished no higher than 14th on Tour.
Evan Geiselman – This was the East Coast’s answer for Kolohe Andino. Unfortunately, Evan never even made Tour.
Peterson Crisanto – This young Brazzo was coming up after Medina and ADS, and had some insane freesurf clips – similar to Noa Deane and Matt Banting. Maybe a little before. He did make Tour for 2 years, but never saw the success that he was hyped to have.
Ramzi Boukhiam – This is maybe the least shiny toy in the box, but he is a working class grinder. And he is getting another chance this season, so I wanted to put his name on the list. How do you figure Ramzi goes this year?
Dusty Payne – My personal favorite surfer ever. Dusty actually had a decent run on Tour as far as length of time – it was about 6 years total, but he was plagued by injuries. 2010, his rookie year, was the only year that he surfed every event. I don’t know if its still in his cards, but shit, Dusty had the best fuckin style in the game. His front hand pocket snaps, stylistically, were unmatched. And that blowtail thing he does – don’t get me started. Miss ya D.Payne.
Just think about this: Ethan Ewing, in his first year on Tour (2017) finished second-to-last. He was 34th out of 35th in the Rankings, after every event had been surfed. Really, he is lucky there was no cut on Tour. I guess all of us as fans are lucky – had Ewing been cut that year, we might not have been able to watch the Best Style On Tour that we’ve seen in years. The now perennial Title Threat would have been but a distant memory at this point.
The last World Junior Champion to ever Win a World Title was 2013 Junior Champ Gabriel Medina, so we’ve seen a lot of guys (and gals) we thought could have, should have been. Who do you think deserves another chance, if anyone? Sam Darnold did it.
Cheers,
hwilsin
Drew Stanfield