For new Jets quarterback Sam Darnold, the goal is clear.
“I think winning a Super Bowl is everyone’s goal,” Darnold said Friday at his introductory press conference. “Entering a season, whether I’m a backup or I’m the starting quarterback, everyone on the team wants to win a Super Bowl. That’s the goal for everyone. Everything short of that is a failure and we’re aware of that. Whatever my role is I’m going to star in that role to work us toward that Super Bowl.”
This coming season is the 50th anniversary of Super Bowl III, the Jets’ only win and only trip to the big game. If Darnold can get the franchise another Lombardi Trophy, there will be streets named after him in New York and New Jersey.
“I’m very confident here that we’re going to win some games, and I think I’m going to be here for a long time,” the 20-year-old Darnold said.
The Jets picked Darnold with the No. 3 overall pick on Thursday night, a bit of a shock since he was expected to go No. 1 to the Browns until the days before the draft. But the quarterback out of USC made it to No. 3 and the Jets pounced on him. Now, they hope he can end the four-decade search for a franchise quarterback.
Darnold grew up in Capistrano Beach, Calif., about as far off Broadway as you can get. He did not grow up watching the Jets’ struggles, but he has heard about a frustrated fan base that is waiting for a quarterback to embrace.
“I’m aware of it,” Darnold said of the Jets’ history. “Not growing up a Jets fan I don’t understand it to quite that extent, but I’m going to come in here and do my job and be very confident in myself.”
Darnold comes from impressive athletic bloodlines. His grandfather, Dick Hammer, led the USC basketball team to the 1954 Final Four and was a member of the USA volleyball team in the 1964 Olympics. He later became an actor, portraying the Marlboro Man for a bit. Hammer died when Darnold was 2.
“My dad was the type of person who could pick up a game just by watching someone play,” Darnold’s mother Chris said. “Sam’s a lot like that.”
Chris played volleyball at Long Beach City College. Darnold’s father, Mike, was an offensive lineman at the Division III University of Redlands. Sam’s sister Franki played volleyball at Rhode Island. Sam’s athletic ability was clear at a young age. His mom recalled him turning a triple play at 7 years old. His family began calling him “The DNA.”
“He thinks beyond his age when it comes to athletics,” Chris said.
The rest of the world got to see Darnold’s acumen at USC, where he became a starter in his second season. When he led the Trojans to a dramatic win over Penn State in the Rose Bowl at the end of that season, the spotlight on Darnold grew slightly brighter than the sun. The preseason hype last year was non-stop.
“We knew there was no way he would be able to meet the expectations that were put in front of him with all the hype going into last season,” Mike Darnold said.
Sam Darnold said the pressure of last season was something that prepared him for what he will face now as the quarterback of the Jets.
“I think any situation that you’re in, any lessons that you might learn, especially from a loss or in my case if I turn the ball over or something bad happens, I learn from it,” Darnold said. “In my opinion, it’s not a loss, it’s a lesson. That’s how I look at everything.”
On Thursday night, he was at the draft in Arlington, Texas. He watched as the Browns picked Baker Mayfield and the Giants chose Saquon Barkley. Then his phone rang.
“Getting that phone call,” Darnold said, “it changed my life. I know it’s going to change my life.”