After learning Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold lost money by playing the Super Bowl in California, Boomer Esiason believes NFL players should refuse to play the game there in future seasons.

Sam Darnold is a Super Bowl winning quarterback, but not without a cost. Due to the “jock tax” and state-income tax rate in California, paired with the somewhat nominal payouts made to Super Bowl players, Darnold and other high-paid athletes will end up receiving a higher tax bill than game check.  The “jock tax” taxes non-resident athletes and entertainers based on “duty days” spent working in the state, which for the Super Bowl, is a longer period of time than it would be for a regular season game. Additionally, the tax rate is based on a player’s salary, not the amount they will be making from the Super Bowl.

For Darnold, winning the Super Bowl earned him $178,000. But according to Esiason, Darnold’s tax bill for spending nearly a week working in the state amounts to $249,000 because it factors his regular salary. So, for winning the Super Bowl in the state of California, Darnold lost $71,000.

Sam Darnold lost money on Sunday?? Boomer says the NFLPA should shut down any future Super Bowls in California: pic.twitter.com/3Rki5K6HT4

— WFAN Sports Radio (@WFAN660) February 9, 2026

“Now if I’m the NFLPA, now you got to remember, it’s probably even more than that, because since he’s in Seattle, he’s playing against San Francisco 49ers, so, that’s another day he’s there. And he’s playing against the LA Rams, that’s another day he’s there,” Esiason added.

“So, he’s probably had like nine or 10 duty days or maybe even more than that in the state of California. So, if I’m the NFLPA, I’m like, ‘Hey, we’re not playing any more Super Bowls in California,’ we’re just not doing it…If I’m the NFL Players Association, I’m saying, ‘we’re never going back to California.’ This is ridiculous.”

Except they’ll be going back to California next season, when Super Bowl LXI is played in Los Angeles. It’s hard to expect the common fan to feel bad about any athlete making hundreds of millions of dollars having to pay a jock tax. And obviously, Darnold will find other ways of profiting off his Super Bowl win throughout the rest of his career and beyond, so he probably isn’t sweating the bill as much as Boomer Esiason appears to be. But it is a little jarring to learn Darnold will be left with a hefty $249,000 tax bill for his week spent at the Super Bowl.

California is not alone, however, with most states and even cities hitting non-resident professional athletes with a jock tax. California’s tax rate is just the highest. But if the NFLPA is going to bar California from hosting the Super Bowl, there is a long list of states and cities that should be included. Although most NFL players and even media probably wouldn’t mind if Miami became the permanent host of the Super Bowl by default.