On Sunday, February 1, 2015, the Seattle Seahawks, down 24-28, lined up on the one yard line on the New England Patriots’ side of the field in Super Bowl XLIX.
The Seahawks had driven 79 yards from their own 20 to set up a game winning touchdown with 26 seconds remaining. That game winning touchdown never came because when quarterback Russel Wilson passed to his intended receiver, Tyler Lockette, the pass was intercepted by cornerback Malcolm Butler at the goal line. From there, the Tom Brady-led Patriots were able to run out the remainder of the clock and come away with their first Super Bowl in ten years.
Since that 2015 game, the Patriots returned to the Super Bowl three times, winning two (Super Bowl LI and LIII). The Seahawks, while still making prolific appearances in the NFL Playoffs, wouldn’t reach the Super Bowl again until Super Bowl LX on Sunday, February 8, 2026, where they would match up against the Drake Maye-led New England Patriots. The Seahawks now had an opportunity to banish the ghost of Super Bowl XLIX, led by the one man that the entire NFL had written off as a failure, Sam Darnold.
Darnold, the third overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft, was considered a draft day bust following his lackluster performances in the time he played for the New York Jets and the Carolina Panthers. Even when he led the Minnesota Vikings to a 14-3 record during the 2024 NFL season, the Vikings administration let him walk to free up salary-cap space to build around second year quarterback J.J. McCarthy.
For the Seahawks and Darnold, the 2025 season was a run at redemption for past failures. And they definitely redeemed themselves. A 14-3 record and a Super Bowl win is what some NFL franchises can only dream of.
Eleven years ago, Seahawks fans were left wondering what if …
Seven years ago, Darnold stepped into a role where he would be considered a failure.
Neither the team nor the quarterback let their failures define them. Darnold himself recognized his failures as part of his experience—not as defining moments, but as part of his growth as a player and as a person when he appeared on the Dan Patrick Show. “The days in New York, the days in Carolina … those were part of my journey. Yeah, there were some lows that sucked, I’m not gonna lie to ya … but I learned so much from that.”
Teammate defensive lineman Leonard Williams, in an interview with ESPN’s Brady Henderson, credited Darnold’s mindset as the thing that brought the Seahawks back to the Super Bowl. “He’s had a lot of ups and downs, had a tremendous journey. I think one thing about him, he’s unwavering through it all. He’s never let one doubter skew his mindset, change who he is, and he’s just a tremendous leader, and he brought us to the Super Bowl and won the Super Bowl.”