Nope, Seattle Seahawks fans, you aren’t seeing ghosts like your new quarterback once said he did during a game early in his NFL career. Sam Darnold, fitted in his new Seattle Seahawks threads, isn’t the ghost of Matt Hasselbeck. It’s the next quarterback tasked with leading this offense and keeping it competitive.
Day 1 for QB1. pic.twitter.com/UWngC11sZ7
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) May 27, 2025
I’m sure the comparisons are compelling, but there’s a new era of quarterback in Seattle and Darnold feels he earned every bit of his contract with the Seahawks, now he has to play like it. The Seahawks have had steady quarterback play for the last two decades between Hasselbeck, Russell Wilson and Geno Smith.
Darnold was the gamble they decided to take. He now has to carry on the legacy of somewhat successful quarterbacks that played in Seattle. Wilson was the only one to win a championship as a starter, but Darnold could very well add his name to that list.
Sam Darnold has to leave the ghostbuster’s myth in New York if he wants success in Seattle
Darnold said once upon a time that he was seeing ghosts during a game early in his career with the New York Jets. He’ll have to leave all of that behind if he wants to build on the success he had in one season with the Minnesota Vikings. He looks ready to lead a team on a deep playoff run, but he’ll need more than aura to accomplish that.
He was scrutinized for his late-season collapse that not just cost the Vikings a shot at the No. 1 seed in the NFC, but also an early playoff exit against the Los Angeles Rams the following week. That’s largely been the narrative around him is if he can elevate the Seahawks enough.
In Minnesota, he walked into a dream scenario. The Vikings were quite literally a quarterback away from being an NFC contender. Seattle probably feels they’re in a similar situation, though they’re probably a tier below last year’s Vikings team.
He won’t have DK Metcalf to throw to, who was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers. He will have Jaxon Njigba-Smith, but he’s not Metcalf and certainly not Justin Jefferson (yet anyway). So Darnold will have to find a way to prove everyone wrong who doubted him.
He’ll have to prove to Seahawks fans he was the right choice to lead the way. Maybe Seahawks fans see Hasselbeck in him because they see the potential. For Seattle’s sake, they better hope that’s the case.