{"id":166818,"date":"2026-02-06T15:34:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T15:34:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/166818\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T15:34:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T15:34:16","slug":"how-sam-darnold-finally-broke-uscs-super-bowl-quarterback-curse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/166818\/","title":{"rendered":"How Sam Darnold finally broke USC’s Super Bowl quarterback curse"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SANTA CLARA\u00a0\u2014\u00a0USC<\/a> owns a long history in the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n

Going into this year, according to the school, 120 former Trojans were on Super Bowl rosters, with 48 winning one or more titles.<\/p>\n

Receiver Lynn Swann<\/a>, running back Marcus Allen<\/a> and linebacker Malcolm Smith<\/a> were Super Bowl most valuable players.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got our fingerprints all over that game,\u201d Allen said of USC players.<\/p>\n

Heisman Trophy winners Carson Palmer<\/a> and Matt Leinart<\/a> are among Trojans quarterbacks who played in the NFL. But USC never produced a starting quarterback in the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n

Until now.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, Sam Darnold<\/a> will lead the Seattle Seahawks<\/a> against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX<\/a> at Levi\u2019s Stadium.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so crazy,\u201d Darnold said. \u201cJust because I grew up idolizing a lot of those guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Darnold was the third overall pick in the 2018 draft by the woeful New York Jets. After three seasons, he was traded to the Carolina Panthers. In 2023, he was the backup for the San Francisco 49ers \u2014 losers to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII \u2014 a year that helped him reset before signing with the Minnesota Vikings.<\/p>\n

Darnold led the Vikings to 14 victories and a playoff appearance, but the team opted not to re-sign him, and the Seahawks gave him a three-year contract that included $55 million in guarantees.<\/p>\n

Under coach Mike Macdonald and offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, and with weapons such as receivers Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Cooper Kupp, Darnold passed for 25 touchdowns, with 14 interceptions, while leading the Seahawks to a 14-3 record and the No. 1 seed for the NFC playoffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always believed in myself, and I\u2019ve always had confidence in myself to do my job,\u201d Darnold said. \u201cAnd I learned. I learned a ton from mistakes I made early on in my career, and I feel like that kind of mindset has kind of got me to this point.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former USC quarterbacks are collectively celebrating Darnold, and the journey he endured to reach the NFL\u2019s biggest stage.<\/p>\n

\"Sam <\/p>\n

Sam Darnold walks on the practice field at San Jose State University on Wednesday ahead of Super Bowl LX.<\/p>\n

(Eakin Howard \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been turned down, cut, not believed in,\u201d said Palmer, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2003 draft. \u201cAll the doubt is tough to deal with. You keep a proud smile on your face as you\u2019re going through it, but it\u2019s just tough on anybody.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd so for him to finally get to the Super Bowl and have this opportunity, it\u2019s so well-deserved.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leinart, a backup for the Arizona Cardinals 2009 Super Bowl team, is similarly elated for Darnold.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor him to represent all of us, not just quarterbacks, but all the Trojan family,\u201d Leinart said, \u201cwe\u2019re fired up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Allen included.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there was a great example of a USC Trojan with that \u2018Fight On\u2019 attitude,\u201d Allen said, \u201cIt\u2019s been him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Five USC quarterbacks were on rosters, for all or part of a season, of teams that made the Super Bowl, but they did not play in the game, including Leinart, Rob Hertel with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1981, Rob Johnson (Tampa Bay, 2003), Rodney Peete (Carolina, 2004) and Matt Cassel (New England, 2008).<\/p>\n

Three USC quarterbacks \u2014 Willie Wood, Pete Beathard and Mike Rae \u2014 played in the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n

Wood played at USC from 1957 to 1959, and was the first black quarterback in what was then the Pacific Coast Conference. No NFL team drafted him, but the Green Bay Packers signed Wood and he became a Hall of Fame safety who intercepted a pass and returned it 50 yards in the Packers\u2019 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl I in 1967. Beathard, Len Dawson\u2019s backup, completed one of five passes for 17 yards for a team that featured Mike Garrett, the Trojans Heisman Trophy-winning running back.<\/p>\n

Rae, the starting quarterback for USC\u2019s 1972 national championship team, backed up Kenny Stabler for the Oakland Raiders team that won Super Bowl XI in 1977. Rae scrambled twice near the end of the Raiders\u2019 32-14 victory over the Vikings at the Rose Bowl.<\/p>\n

Now, nearly a half-century later, Darnold will start for the Seahawks.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe started his career with a bad team \u2026 and now he\u2019s in the Super Bowl,\u201d Rae said. \u201cGosh darn, you\u2019ve got to slap him on the back.\u201d<\/p>\n

A few former Trojans quarterbacks came close to leading their teams to Super Bowls.<\/p>\n

Pat Haden started for the Rams in 1978 when they lost to the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC championship game. Late in the 1979 season, Haden suffered a broken finger on his throwing hand and Vince Ferragamo<\/a> \u2014 a former California and Nebraska quarterback \u2014 stepped in and led the Rams to Super Bowl XIV at the Rose Bowl, where they lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers.<\/p>\n

In 2015, the 12th of his 14 NFL seasons, Palmer led the Arizona Cardinals to the NFC championship game, where they lost to the Panthers.<\/p>\n

Mark Sanchez, the fifth pick in the 2009 draft, led the New York Jets to the AFC championship in his first two seasons but lost to the Indianapolis Colts and Steelers.<\/p>\n

Darnold got over the hump by passing for three touchdowns in a 31-27 victory over the Rams in the NFC championship game<\/a> at Lumen Field in Seattle. Darnold has not had a pass intercepted in his last three games, a streak that includes playoff victories over the 49ers and Rams.<\/p>\n

Patriots coach Mike Vrabel lauded Darnold\u2019s toughness, pointing to a sideline pass he completed to Kupp despite being \u201cnailed\u201d by the Rams in a Week 16 game.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe didn\u2019t shy away. He didn\u2019t duck. He didn\u2019t fade back,\u201d Vrabel said. \u201cHe stood there and faced the fire, which is what you have to do in this league if you\u2019re going to be an elite quarterback.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paul McDonald, the starter for USC\u2019s 1978 national championship team, said Darnold\u2019s talent has always been there. He finally found the right situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight team, right supporting cast, right coach that believes in you and a system that works for your strengths,\u201d said McDonald, who played seven NFL seasons. \u201cAll those things have to kind of fall into place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cassel saw it first hand.<\/p>\n

He backed up Palmer and Leinart at USC before playing 14 NFL seasons, including three as seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady\u2019s backup with the Patriots and one as the starter.<\/p>\n

For Darnold to find the right situation, lead his team to Sunday\u2019s game and become the first former Trojan to start is \u201cremarkable,\u201d Cassel said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s achieved something that nobody else has,\u201d Cassel said. \u201cThat\u2019s the cool part \u2014 it represents not only his story but the university.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Sunday, Darnold will be one of four former Trojans playing for the Seahawks, a group that includes defensive linemen Leonard Williams and Brandon Pili and linebacker Uchenna Nwosu.<\/p>\n

If Darnold leads them to victory over the Patriots he will make more history as the first former Trojans quarterback to win a Super Bowl as a starter.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just an honor,\u201d Darnold said, \u201can honor to be playing this game, to be representing the university.\u201d<\/p>\n

And all the Trojans quarterbacks that came before him.<\/p>\n

Staff writer Sam Farmer contributed to this report<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SANTA CLARA\u00a0\u2014\u00a0USC owns a long history in the Super Bowl. Going into this year, according to the school,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":166819,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[7652,39148,80388,423,48,52,51,47,50,49,80389,61632,80387,772,54021,278,6427,77758,427,3533,8934],"class_list":["post-166818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-backup","tag-carson-palmer","tag-former-trojans","tag-game","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-marcus-allen","tag-matt-leinart","tag-mike-rae","tag-pass","tag-sam-darnold","tag-season","tag-seattle-seahawks","tag-super-bowl-history","tag-team","tag-usc","tag-victory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166818"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166818\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}