From "seeing ghosts" to hoisting the Lombardi If you had told a football fan in 2020 that Sam Darnold would be the first USC quarterback to ever win a Super Bowl as a starter, they would have called you crazy. But as of February 19, 2026, Sam Darnold is the king of the world. After a winding journey through four different NFL teams, Darnold found his "forever home" in Seattle, leading the Seahawks to a dominant 29–13 victory over the Patriots in Super Bowl LX just eleven days ago. The "Darnold Renaissance" is the biggest story in sports right now. By winning the Super Bowl, he officially erased the "draft bust" label and achieved something that Heisman winners like Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart never could. But for USC fans, this isn't a surprise—it’s just a professional version of the "Rose Bowl Sam" we saw in 2017. He remains the only USC quarterback to win a major bowl game in the last 15 years... and he just did it twice in two different leagues. Is Sam Darnold’s NFL journey th...