Green Light with Chris Long - Sam Darnold’s Wild Journey to Super Bowl Champion

Episode Date: May 28, 2026

Sam Darnold and the Seattle Seahawks are the defending Super Bowl champions but still feel like they have a lot to prove. Darnold joins Chris and opens up about the tough start to his career with the New York Jets, the uncertainty that followed with the Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers, the growth and improvement with the Minnesota Vikings and the success seen in Seattle. Darnold tells Chris about how his mindset has changed over the course of his career and his understanding of the game and the NFL, and he states that he is only ready for more! (00:00) - Intro (01:07) - Sam Darnold! (05:41) - Career Journey (08:48) - Building Confidence (12:00) - Career Resurgence (16:00) - Building The Right Mindset (19:45) - Growth While Playing In San Francisco (22:20) - Diagnosing NFL Defensive Variations (26:20) - Camaraderie of 2026 Seahawks (33:10) - Rashid Shaheed (34:45) - Jaxon Smith-Njigba (38:00) - Seahawks Walk and Talk (39:45) - Mike Macdonald's Leadership Have some interesting takes, some codebreaks or just want to talk to the Green Light Crew? We want to hear from you. Call into the Green Light Hotline presented by Zone Nicotine and give us your hottest takes, your biggest gripes and general thoughts. Day and night, this hotline is open: ‪[phone]‬ With the return of the Layup Line, make sure to check out the playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1olmCMKGMEyWwOKaT1Aah3?si=YP1-ffQ3T_yUDRnJRhDtOw Check out Green Light's ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube Channel⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, where you can catch all the latest GL action: Green Light with Chris Long: Subscribe and enjoy weekly content including podcasts, documentaries, live chats, celebrity interviews and more including hot news items, trending discussions from the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, NCAA are just a small part of what we will be sharing with you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When I'm up and I feel like I'm on top of the world, maybe after the Super Bowl, like, my buddies from high school are there to, like, make a joke about how dumb I looked on the stage to bring me back down in real life. Yes, go, guys, go. Exactly. And then when I, you know, eat kind of like I did in New York, I, you know, I have my buddies to tell me that, you know, they still love me.

During the parade, like, to see where that energy, like, comes from and how many people, like, love this team and love not just this team, but, like, all sports teams in Seattle, like, People here are crazy about sports, and it just makes it so much more fun to go out there and play on game day. But I've just continued to learn. You know, just because we've won the whole thing last year doesn't mean I stopped learning. You know, I've made a couple of mistakes out there in practice today that I'm going to go look at after this and clean up. So that's what we love about not only football, but just sports in general, like in life, really, if you want to get deep.

But it's just you never stop growing and you always continue to improve yourself as a human being. being and as a player. And I think that's just the beauty of kind of taking it one day at a time, at which I've always done. This is great. We have a Super Bowl champion quarterback joining the show now. Guy, we've been rooting for for a long time. And I'm excited to have him on the show. Sam Darnel. What's up, man? What's up, man? Thanks for having me. Dude, the last time I saw you must have, I think I saw you at a jelly roll concert. That was at the Super Bowl or something like that. But this was a, it's a, it's a, it's a, year ago yeah new Orleans that's right yep um is it more tiring to go down and party as a player

or or go down and play in a super bowl dude i don't know that that week when you're not playing in it the week of like hanging out and going to even if you're not really partying or drinking as much like that that week can be a grind man like you know you're going to all the events you're doing whatever it is radio row and you got like four or five hours of media maybe you got an event with a specific company and you're doing something for four or five hours kind of you know hanging out with people which is all great you know we we love doing it as you know but and then you know you got maybe the night event as well that goes to around midnight or 1 a.m and then you got to get up at 6 a.m. and do some other stuff on radio row so it's just it's kind of a whirlwind when you're not playing in it

when you're playing in the super bowl it's you know it's just business as usual you know which which I loved I love that side of it obviously and but it was it had a its own, uh, it's had its own little kind of wrinkles when you're, when you're playing in it. Like Monday and Tuesday, as you know, can, can be kind of a grind, uh, to, to get through some of that media stuff. But once you're, once you're past Monday, Tuesday, you're, you're down the home stretch and back to, back to kind of normal, normal business preparing for, for, you know, for us, prepare for the paths. Yeah, I just never, I remember thinking like you, you,

you check in to your hotel room and you never feel alone. You, you never get a minute to yourself. I don't know if you felt that as the quarterback of a team playing in the Super Bowl, but it's like the normalcy is hard to come by. Yeah, a little bit. I think, I think for me, you know, at least for my family. And again, like just our media crew that works for the Seahawks and works with us as players, like they do a really good job of being able to like, okay, this is when you, when you got to be on and this when you have media, but when you have downtime, like, you have real downtime. And you're a lot, you know, we go to our room, hang out, you know, make our FaceTime calls,

call family, call my wife, you know, do whatever I need to do to just kind of like get some downtime or even in, dude, even if that's just like sitting on my phone, you know, sometimes like you need to decompress that way. And, you know, I think that's always, that's always good to be able to get that time. And I think our team over here in Seattle, the organization, you know, the media team, everybody top, top down did a really good job of understanding that we needed that. players. So I thought we we kind of for me personally I thought I got some good downtime throughout the week, especially like Wednesday going into the game. Yeah, sometimes dudes got to

plop down on the bed and scroll, you know, no doubt. Just get it out, but you know what I'm saying? Over under on how many times I should say, have you seen a Jets fan this offseason and they said something like, hey, come back, come home? That type of thing. What do Jets fans see when they say you, when they see you, when they see you now. It's actually so crazy you say that. I was just in the training room getting work done and you know, one of the athletic trainers was saying how her family friends, she went back to Jersey where she's from and her family friends are Jets fans and they like tell, they're like, tell Sam we say hi. Like we said hi to him after a game one time and I was like, okay, cool. Like they didn't have anything, you know, mean to say, but I was like maybe they didn't just say hi when they were

in New York. Maybe they said some, you know, explicit words that maybe. can't be said but uh you know who knows but dude it's i loved the fans in new york um i really did like those fans are so loyal um for for you know just everything that you know at least when i was there like we didn't have the best record we we weren't winning a ton of games and for them to you know i felt like every home game it was you know still really really loud and they they showed up and uh they rooted us on man And, you know, it's kind of, you know, whatever it is right now. But it was just really awesome to be a part of that organization.

Really just the loyalty that I felt from the fan base was real. The reason I bring it up is because it's just such an incredible full circle story, as you know. Like, you've lived it. I think very few people know what it's like to be you. Really only one person. but, you know, like as far as the changing of scenery, the being left for dead, the expectations of being a high traffic, you know, it ain't easy. And I just, your story, you've heard this a million times, but it's so cool. And I also think what's cool about it is everywhere you've gone,

it seems like you've made great friends and people that really respect you. And, you know, whether it's, you know, Carolina or Minnesota or obviously Seattle, you're forever, you don't have to pay for anything in that city ever again. But it's like, it's cool. You've left a tram, man. I just paid for dinner the other night. That's a lie. That's bullshit. That's bullshit. Whatever. I don't know. The other thing is that's great about Seattle. There's a lot of, you know, people from different countries. There's a lot of foreign people here. And a lot of those people don't even know who I am, which is kind of, It's kind of nice. But no, man, it's been a crazy journey, obviously.

It's been well documented and being a high draft pick comes with its own pressures. But, you know, there's a lot of pressure that's built up through, like, the media and all these things that, you know, oh, you have to perform really well as a high draft pick. Like, I always, and I've told people this ever since my days in New York, and I still feel the same way. Like the amount of, not pressure, but expectations that I put on myself were higher than anyone's, expectations were of me. And I think I've always kind of set that bar high for myself. And, you know, that's just, it's easier for me to, and now don't get me wrong.

I feel like I was a little hard on myself when I was a young player. I felt like, you know, there were some bad plays that I would make and it would just kind of ruin me for like a series or two, you know, and that's something that I've definitely learned from and I've learned some like coping mechanisms to like kind of deal with like if something wrong goes on in a game, how to kind of get back. from that but um man it's uh yeah i just i learned a lot and but again i think just just you know owning it uh being like hey i messed up and you know i i i was wrong there and but but i think also learning from it and being like okay i messed up but i'm not going to continue to make

the same mistakes twice um and so i think i really learned that way my first three years and going into carolina and then obviously san francisco minnesota and now here in seattle it's been it's been awesome but I've just continued to learn you know just because we won the whole thing last year doesn't mean I I stop learning you know I've made a couple of mistakes out there in practice today that I'm going to go look at after this and clean up so it's that's what we love about not only football but just sports in general like in life really if you want to get deep but it's just you never stop growing and you always continue to to improve yourself as a human being and as a player and I think that's just the beauty of kind of taking it one day at a time at which I've always done.

When do you think that stopped for you that being too hard on yourself? Because, you know, hey, hand up. I mean, definitely, I don't know if it's a thing where if you get picked in the top five, like, that's just the way you operate. There's a lot of expectations. I mean, you're a young guy, man. What, 20 years old when you're drafted? I mean, for a lot of people, it's kind of unthinkable and you're starting your first game at 21. So, like, when do you, was there any one stop or experience that you could attribute to, like, a changing of mindset? For sure. I think, well, first of all, I think being a high draft pick, like you mentioned, like, you make it that far and you make it to the first round or the first few picks in the draft because we're so hard on ourselves. I think that's, like, one of the reasons you also succeed, right?

is like you're so hard on yourself and you lift really hard and you you run after practice. You do all the things that are uncommon that people don't want to do, that normal people don't want to do. And you kind of separate yourself, right, early in your career, at least for me, like in high school, I was the same way, college to the NFL. But I think a sports psychologist that I met with actually before my season in Minnesota put it the best, you know, in the best terms, and I'm not sure if I've said this publicly before yet, but like, you get to this point, you make it so far in your career and as an athlete, by hammering away on that house. You know, you're building a house your entire career and

you're hammering nails, just building the house. And he was like, at this point in your career, like, you've developed such a great base and a great foundation for your house. He's like, it's time to start, you know, painting the house and using a brush. Like, you need to kind of tell yourself that you know you're you're really good and you deserve to be here and you know you start like patting yourself on the back a little bit more and that was kind of like a weird like I didn't know if it took like the analogy or what it what it took for me but that was kind of the weird unlock for me like okay like yeah I do deserve to be here like I've I've played really good football in the league you know I'll be it like not as consistent as I would have liked but you know I think just

like sometimes mistakes happen dude like mistakes are going to happen especially in this league and I think understanding that and still you know being able to like learn from that but also like I'm I've always been like super hard on myself and you just said like you you've always been hard on yourself like that is never going to like leave that's never going to leave my mindset and so I think being easier on myself and telling essentially like telling myself that I'm good that I'm a really a good player. You know, I think that's really helped me the last couple years to build confidence, but to also like just move on, be able to move on from mistakes or things that happen throughout games and even, you know, throughout the course of the season. That's so true. I mean,

it's, thanks for sharing that because I think, I think that sports psych stuff, I wish they had it when I played. You know, it's, um, in, in the mental side of playing quarterback, it's unimaginable. I, you know, another, another thing is, I think it's so cool that you have been able to get back up and change teams and improve, I think. I think it's an era now where, because of guys like yourself, it's not about necessarily finding the perfect match in the draft immediately or, you know, like quarterbacks, you can find them in free agency, you can find them, you can trade for a quarterback that can change the course of your franchise. you can, you know, people, a lot of people left you for dead in New York and, you know, a couple stops later, you're, you're one of the biggest reasons that Seattle's got their second Super Bowl. And I think it's cool that you're giving hope to other guys that are getting their second chance. And I don't know if you ever reflect on looking around a league and saying, hey, because of what I did

now, this could allow another guy in the door somewhere else and he might get his opportunity. Yeah, I think, I think that's fair. And I think, you know, people, and even outside of this, like, people will come up to me on the street, like, whatever it is, like a high school kid or a middle school kid or even a guy, like, working a nine to five will come up to me and say, oh, you've been an inspiration to be able to, like, keep me going. Like, just no matter what happens, like, to just keep on rolling. And, you know, that's awesome. And but I think there's, there's been examples of that. Like, you know, I think, you know, other guys have done it before me. even like, you know, before my time in Minnesota,

obviously Gino was the backup here for Russ, and then obviously Gino gets a chance to start, and he plays really well, earns himself a contract, and then, you know, he played really well for like three or four years, and he's still continuing to play at a really high level. So it's just like there's examples of that everywhere,

but I think it's just tough, right? Because, like, you get quarterbacks that get drafted really high, and I just, Sometimes I think people are really, really fast to, like, give up on them, especially in this, like, social media kind of culture, which I don't think is, I think it's just kind of the way things are, you know, and I'm not saying that's like a bad thing, you know, it's just kind of the way it is. You know, unfortunately or fortunately, like, it's just is what it is.

And it's this, we live in a time now of, like, where TikTok is kind of king and YouTube, like short clips, like these, like, 20-minute clips of, you know, guys sitting on get up or first take or whatever it is and they have an opinion about a young quarterback and it just kind of goes viral and sometimes like that gets back to a to a young kid or that young quarterback that could affect them later down the down the line and I think you know it's just it's really up to the player and up to the person to be able to and you kind of mentioned before about relationships like for me it was like having great relationships that that really saved my career and saved my outlook on just like who I was as a player because like I I made great friendships and great relationships

everywhere I went New York, Carolina, San Francisco, Minnesota and now here in Seattle. Like I have great relationships and friendships that will last a lifetime. I've kept my really great relationships that I've had with my high school buddies, my college buddies. Like I have a great relationship with my wife. Like it's those, my family obviously. Like it's just the relationship. that kind of keep you, that keep you going. And I've said it a million times, but like when I'm up and I feel like I'm on top of the world, you know, maybe after the Super Bowl, like, my buddies from high school are there to like make a joke about how dumb I looked on the stage to bring me back down to real life.

Yes, go, guys, go. Exactly. And then when I, you know, eat shit kind of like I did in New York, I, you know, I have my buddies to tell me that, you know, they still love me. So there's a, there's a ton of ways to look at it. but I think nowadays it's just is what it is, man. Like people are just going to, they're going to tell you you suck,

and that's going to be the narrative for however long, you know. I'm not going to make you say it. I'll just say it before I move on to a Seahawks question. When you get drafted high, you're drafted high by a team in the top five. That team's there for a reason, you know, not to take shots of teams that, you know, drafted you. were, you know, it's going to be an uphill battle.

And I don't think people do a good enough job in football of contextualizing performance. And that's not the scapegoat. Maybe you didn't have your best year or a couple years in New York. But, you know, I think there's far too many people that see a player's stat line or even watch their performance and they don't take into account the ultimate team game that is football. And I think there's only like maybe three to five. percent of the league. And a lot of these guys are position players that I think could thrive in any system on any team. The rest of us are human beings, dude. You know, we're, you know, like Justin

Jefferson, for instance, you play with them or JSN or somebody like that. Sure. Most players, they need structure around them that, that helps them. And so, uh, I'm not going to make you co-sign that, but, but, uh, you know, I think it's important for people to realize. No, I think, I think it's definitely important. I think even today, like if a quarterback's struggling and even, let's just say I'm watching film of a certain defense and we're watching a game where a quarterback might have struggled against that defense. I personally like now just like understanding more football and this is all about like continuing

to gain experiences. Like I had no experience playing in the NFL obviously when I was in New York. And I think, you know, that experience is huge. And I think having that experience, like I look. I look at some of these games now, maybe where a quarterback doesn't play well, and I'm like, oh, like, he could have done this differently. You know, like, I'm more of a harsh critic now, whereas, like, when I was even a few years ago, you know, I might have been like, oh, you know, I've, I understand why he's struggling out there. And I still feel that way. But I think it also just comes with a little bit of experience of kind of being like, oh, there was always a way to get out of an issue.

if you have two to the running back, if you get like two blitzers to the running back and now you're hot as a quarterback, like just understanding like what your hot answer is. But it could also be a case where like the coach didn't necessarily coach that up the right way. And so I think I think a lot of people are quick to kind of point fingers that like, oh, the quarterback wasn't prepared for that look.

And it was like, well, it goes both ways, right? Like the receiver has to be on the same page. Like the receiver has to know that the quarterback's hot and he has to get his eyes around. And the coach has to be able to, you know, teach us like, hey, on this third down, we could get this pressure that can make us hot. And so the receiver knows to look,

and you're just going to hit him hot, and you're going to convert the first down. And if not, we're just going to be fourth and short. We could pun it or we can maybe go for it. So it's just like those little conversations, little details that, you know, I wish I would have covered a little bit more when I was a young player.

But I totally, you know, I feel like I understand both sides when people judge quarterbacks and when, you know, when a guy like myself gives them a little bit of the benefit of the doubt. From T shots to game winning goals and buzzer beating baskets, make every moment unforgettable with BetMGM. BetMGM gives you access to second chance promos, odds boost tokens, same game parlayes, and so much more. Check back every day for new promos and offers to take advantage of.

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is all I need. Every few days, whether I'm kicking back and watching ball floating the river with the crew or breaking down film ahead of a show, Zone easily gets me locked in with its smooth feel and a variety of flavor. Zone is always on our game day roster. Whether you like a fresh mint flavor or you're in a citrus flavor, check out their roster of options and use promo code GL20 at nicokeek.com slash zone for 20% off at checkout. Well, I can tell you, you know, Kubiak.

did a great job last year. You could tell, like, he just, what a great coach. And you've also gotten a chance to, you know, crosspass with KOC and Shanahan. And, you know, I've heard you talk about McAdo and, like, getting into the West Coast system in Carolina. But I found it interesting hearing you talk about Shanahan and forgive me if I'm butchering this, but like, he gave you a different kind of look at how to match concepts with coverages. that you didn't have before. And I kind of sitting there reading the quotes, I was like, well, you'd think somebody would teach this guy that,

like year one or year two, not to throw anybody under the bus, but like, can you speak to the differentiated coaching that you've gotten at different stops? Yeah, it wasn't, you know, it wasn't to, you know, I think I can just speak on what Kyle did for me. Yeah, exactly. That system.

And I think also a lot of what McAdoo did, like, just understanding, like, going back to this time, you know, what year was that? Shoot, 20, 23. You run together. You know, when I was in, yeah, around, around May in 2023 when I was in San Francisco with the Niners, like, being able to understand, like, okay, you know, just because we're running this concept doesn't mean that I'm like, I have to, you know, I read it like one to two to three and then I get to my back. Obviously, that's what it says on paper, but Kyle would do such a good job of, like, explaining, okay, like, just because it says one to two to three, like, you can maybe get to three a hitch earlier. And he wouldn't actually say this, but like, you would see him, okay, you could get to three a little bit early because you know the front side is going to be shut out based on the certain coverage that you're getting.

Like, those two throws aren't going to be good for you. So, like, just kind of having like an understanding of, like, what we're trying to attack. And it sounds so simple when you say it, but. I think it's also just being able to go through every single little detail with your coaches when you get to kind of the playbook and talking about certain defensive because like teams and defenses are so complex now, right, where they're trying to like hide different shells and bring different pressures that like when you're running the pure progression game, it almost becomes like, yeah, it's a pure progression, but you could be getting to three on your first hitch.

So it's really like understanding those different nuances that with, in the play that could help you as the play kind of unfolds. I was going to ask you, because you're almost 30 years old now. Not to remind you're like unk status, but like what are the trends you mentioned one defensively? But like I remember in year 10 for me, I was like the game has changed. A decade in a league like run schemes are different. The game's more horizontal, less gap scheme, power football.

Like, and things are cyclical too, right? Not to say this stuff is going to go away for good, but like what's changed? From a schematic standpoint, what trends have you noticed the most in your 10, just under 10 years in the league? Yeah. Yeah, I think the trends kind of go back and forth, right? When I was like my first few years in the league, and it's actually crazy. Cooper Cup does a really good job explaining this. There's a clip of him on YouTube somewhere.

It wasn't the clip, like, right after the game. I know a lot of people have seen that one. But it's like after a training camp practice, he goes through like the different, the different variations of defenses that have gone throughout his entire career. And I just want to shout out Koot because, like, he does such a good job of articulating that. And so, like, I would go and tell people to, like, YouTube that because he's going to say it way better than I am. I think I remember the one. Yeah.

But, yeah, it was like after a practice one day here in Seattle last year. But, no, it's just like, it goes in waves, right? I mean, you get, like, you know, you get the Belichette kind of style where, like, you're, playing, you know, on third downs, you're playing like more zero man coverage. And then you can also like disguise man coverage and go to like a cover two. And then you get a lot of the, the Fangio kind of like quarters cover, cover three kind of defenses. Yeah. Which is like, you know, kind of coming back for sure, or has been back now for a few years. But, you know, and then and then you got obviously the stuff that coach Mike and the guys are doing here, which is, which is great.

you know, it's, it just keeps us on our toes as quarterbacks, and it's so fun to, it's really honestly so fun during this time, during OTAs and training camp to be able to, like, try to dissect and just go through, like, continue to go through your progressions, but understand, like, what's going on and trying to see if you can see it before the snap even happens. And trying to see, like, all the different tricks, like, oh, is the nickel leverage a little different? Oh, where the backers lined up? Is the safety kind of, is there like a safety that I can maybe key a little bit more than the other one? or do the corners are one or both of the corners pressed.

If one of them's off and one of them's pressed, isn't going to be like a quarter push kind of in like three by one. So it's like those little fun things to kind of go through in your head throughout this time and the season, you know, going on for me like your nine. Like those are the things that are really fun. And that's where kind of the game and the chess match kind of comes in. And again, like our defense, dude, our players,

the guys that we have on defense are so good at understanding like what we're looking for as a quarterback like in terms of leverage and in all these different things so even today like they did such a good job of disguising some looks even in their I don't even know what install I don't know if they're like installing it the way that they normally would because they're in year three now but like we're running install one and two stuff and they're you know kind of messing around with different third down coverages and I'm like come on guys like give us give us an easy look you got a new coordinator but defenses I feel like in the summer are always ahead of offenses, you know, like even in camp. You know, and you guys are always getting reamed out,

like, what the fuck? The defense beating y'all again. We're like, yeah, well, we got less to install, man. For sure. And with a defensive head coach, too, it's, you know, he's always going to make sure. Makes it a little nicer because, like, if the defense does well, then, oh, guys, we had a great practice today. And sure enough, we go in there, we go in there. Hell yeah, dude. Flurry, flurries ripping our ass as an offense, you know. So it's like, oh, it wasn't as good as we thought. Yeah, you're like, man, what a shitty practice coach is like, we're going to the movies, you know, like, or whatever. So I want to ask about the Hawks, man, because I just enjoy talking about your whole career. But obviously your team right now is so fun to watch and had such a great year last year.

Was there a game that you knew like, hey, we're for real? Oh, man. It's easy to point to that Thursday night game, right? against L.A., the one we had up here with our crazy uniforms, which I love. I just think they're cool. So that was one. And then, dude, like, to be honest,

and people might think I'm crazy for this, but the first game against the Rams, I would say when we lost and I threw like four interceptions, there was no, there was no reason for us to really be in that game. And that was a game where the defense kind of kept us in it. And shoot, I mean, J.I. had a crazy field goal opportunity, you know, 60 plus yarder, but we still had an opportunity to win the game. And so I think for me, like, you want to talk about like painting the house, you know, using the, using the brush to paint the house.

Like I was like, dude, we got a really good, you know, I just turned the ball over, you know, four or five times and we still had a chance to win the game. And so like there's there's a lot of optimism that goes on there, you know, once that game's done. I'm so glad you said that because honestly, now in my career, watching. you guys play. Like I think I said after that game, I go, fucking Sam threw four picks. And they go to L.A. And they're about to beat these guys. And, you know, it's all correctable shit.

And you proved it in the next two meetings. And that's, I looked at the date of that game. November 16th or something, you haven't lost the football game since before Thanksgiving of last year. Just incredible. And also to beat that team twice down the stretch. because they're a hell of a football team just like y'all. I was like, that's a heavyweight fight.

What did you, is that what you all said on the plane ride back? Was it, you know, you're, because you know, after these bad losses, people are shuffling up the aisles and, you know, hyping each other up quietly, is a lot of what was said like, hey, man, like, we couldn't have planned any worse. And we almost beat them. Yeah, I think that was a lot of the conversation. To be honest, like, I think I kind of went into my own world when I was on the plane. You know, that's kind of, I,

I don't take losses too great, especially when they're, you know, whatever people want to say, but especially that one, that was one where I could have totally had some control in that outcome if I just had taken care of the ball a little bit better. But no, so that one I was kind of bummed about, especially on the plane. So I don't think I was going to let anyone talk to me unless it was the head coach. Only Mike. Yeah. I was like, yeah, I'm good.

I'm watching my show or pretending to watch my show. and I'm just staring at the screen thinking about the game. I know what you're talking about. I know what you're talking about. Yeah. So it's a dude, I really did think, though, that,

you know, that was a turning point for us. And then obviously to hear, you know, one of my teammates, EJ, talk about, you know,

our team and, and myself the way that he did kind of instill the confidence that we needed as a team. Like, that was huge going forward as well. I wanted to bring up the EJ thing because what he said about you,

that had to feel like, like that just makes my my hair stand on it and that's what being a teammate is that that's what gives you the confidence to press on and and say these guys got my back like how much did it mean to have not only that but i saw d law who's absolute dog incredible player texting guys preseason saying sam's going to get it done like the confidence that this locker room had in you not just in your worst moment but all year right not No, it's incredible, man. I don't think I've been around a team like that, you know, my whole life.

You know, it's a credit to the kind of leadership and the kind of dudes that we got in this locker room. I mean, you know, and I feel the same way about them, too. Like, if they need us to go score 40 points, like, we'll go out there and do our best to do that. So that's just kind of, that's really how we roll. And it makes it so fun to go out there and play ball with them every single, every single Sunday or whenever we strap it up. But, man, it's, dude, it's so fun. It's so fun to play football with these guys. and, you know, with this group that we have.

So it's, yeah, it made me want to just keep going. I don't know about you after the Super Bowl, but maybe not your body, but your mind. I was like, dude, I want to just keep on rolling. You know, that was the fun part about it. It was like what we did every single week. So. Well, it's the best feeling in the world. Why wouldn't you want to go do it again?

Like the parade? How good was the parade? Oh, dude, it was like more than a million people showed up. It was crazy. Have you seen the pictures are insane? I've never been a part of anything like that in my life. It was special. And obviously you see it when, you know,

Rashid returns the kickoff, you know, that first kickoff against the Niners. Like, you hear the crowd and you've always been able to hear the crowd. When I was on it, when I was a visiting team coming into Lumen Field, it was like,

okay, like we're going into Lumen. Like, we got to have our silent count ready. Oh. You understand how loud it is, but to actually like, during the parade, like to see where that energy like comes from and how many people like love this team and love not just

this team but like all sports teams in Seattle like the people here are crazy about sports and it just makes it so much more fun to go out there and play on game day yeah kind of I wonder if that creeps into the way you guys call games um it felt like to me this year I think about the new Orleans game and you know games like that where you just jump people um but also like looking at I think it was an NFC championship where you get a little man indicator with cup and then you throw that shot to Shaheed. It feels like when you got and it felt this way when I play y'all twice a year, if y'all fuck around and make one play early in the game, the top goes off the place and it becomes really hard to operate. For sure, for sure. And it's not going back on.

That tops is staying off and the fans get wild throughout the entire game. man, it's so, it's so cool to be a part of. And it's, like I said, dude, it's, it's an experience that you just, if you haven't experienced a game at Lumenfield, like, you know, that's, that's one that I would, you know, add to the bucket list because that's a special place. Yeah, definitely. I can co-s on that, even though I took about 15 L's there as a member of the Rams. I mean, we didn't beat him for eight years, Sam.

We beat him my last game, year eight. I was like, okay. You didn't beat him for eight years? Not there. Oh, my gosh. No. No, they had Marchan and Ditto line and all that shit, and L-O-B.

They were awesome. But you guys kind of, you guys kind of did the same thing. So, and we mentioned Shahid, what an, like, what was the element, obviously, besides just saying, hey, he was fast that he brought to y'all's offense? I mean, dude, he's a way better receiver than I think people realize, because everyone gives him credit for, like, how fast he is and his return, his return game. Like, you know, the punt returns, the kick. returns. Like he's so, he's so good that way. But when people see him run routes, like, it's,

uh, it's fun to watch, man, even like routes on air, you know, being able to watch him today. He's just like, he's, he's like one of the more smooth, like catch and tuck guys. Like, he just catches it and goes. You know, he doesn't have to like think, you know, sometimes you watch a receiver, like think, okay, now I have to catch it and now I have to tuck and go. Like, he's just very like, all right, catch boom, and he's up the field. And I think that's, that's a quality that can be overlooked sometimes when evaluating players. And I think she's got that in spades. And obviously he can take the top off of the defense as well, which helps.

You know, that's a crazy added bonus to a play caller when you got a guy with that speed that can take the top off. And we happen to have a couple of them as well. Man, it's nice to get him in the return game too. Changes everything. Yeah, when I'm out there on the sideline, especially fighting with the oblique thing going on, the visual game. and then all of a sudden he takes that one back. I was like, that's a good, good way to start.

Maybe I don't have to throw at all this game. It'll be fun. Yeah. Yeah. What about, what about JSN, man? Like, what's his superpower? I don't think people fully understand what makes him great. Because he's not the biggest guy.

He's not, he's pretty fast, but correct me if I'm wrong, he's not like a, he's not like Tyree Kill. No, I don't think a lot of people aren't like Tyreek though No, I know, I'm trying to think of the fastest fucking guy So what what's his what's his X factor dude? Yeah I think JSN man, he's the way that he runs routes And I've used this a ton but it looks like he's skating out there

And he doesn't really change levels So I think it you know he just runs routes at like the same level And he just kind of glides and I think it makes it really really hard on defenders to be able to cover him because they don't know whether he's about to put it down in the ground and change directions or whether if he's going to give him a hezzi and then keep going on that same line or if he's just going to run by him.

So I think there's so many different route combinations and again this is a great, you know, thing to kind of talk about too with coaching. Like our coaches, especially, you know, Clint last year and I've talked to Flurry about it already, but like being able to like, you know, keep guys, you know, keep guys on the same route. stems and keep defenses kind of guessing so that you're not just like oh if he stems at this

direction you know at the outside edge and the numbers he's always running this route it's like no he he can run five different routes off that same stem and you never know which he's coming based off a certain based off a certain play or a you know pattern so you can't like really pattern read the way that they used to coach that so it's uh he makes it really tough man long story short he's a he's a really good player and he's got incredible body awareness too i think that's the one thing i have to say about him too is is his body body awareness body control um when he goes up in the air to make a play he kind of he knows where he is on the field he knows when he can toe tap when he can kind of stay up and he's also really strong he's he's got a really strong lower body that i think a lot of

people don't realize that's the part that i notice the the base yeah like in the spatial awareness i mean it's and also you talked about getting in and out of the routes i mean jefferson same thing and dude you know it looks like he's slowing down but he ain't slowing down yeah yeah it's so it's kind of the same with both of them to be honest it's like they're they're both kind of running like it almost seems like both of them are running at like 85 90 percent um yeah and that way they can kind of like they can kind of accelerate and make a play um but it also allows them to kind of like you know, getting in and out of breaks a little bit faster. And that's, that's something that, you know,

Justin, I think that's also, I mean, this is kind of a tangent, but I think that's also why a lot of, they say, like, a lot of NFL Hall of Fame receivers aren't like, they're running like four-fives at the combine. They're not necessarily running like four-two, four-threes, you know what I mean? So-JSN-4-48. Yeah. 4-48, yeah.

Which is still, you know, it's still fast. It's just bladed for me, dude. that guy's laughing me here but but but you know for an NFL receiver some of these tell me what tell me about a walk and talk with with Mike McDonnell tell me about a walk and talk what's that about dude it's it's funny man so we we started this thing last year around this time in OTAs where it would just be a random group it would be coaches included strengths that included like strength staff and other parts of the building training you know or not training no, not trainers.

It would just be like strength staff, coaches, and then players. But you would get in, like, random groups. So it would be, like, defensive guys talking to a random strength staff guy, and then, like, you know, a random coach. And then you got, like, a rookie with, like, a 10-year vet. So it's just, like, random groups. And you would just give a coach a bunch of questions. And, you know, you would ask some of the questions.

But a lot of the times we would, like, get to, like, tangents on certain things or what makes certain guys click. It would be as like, you know, as specific as like what it takes, like what kind of meals are you eating when you go home like throughout the week and what does your routine look like to also things like what does your off season look like? Like what are you doing for fun this off season? What do you guys like to do for fun? Like so it's it's just little conversations like that that we try to do like once every two or three weeks. But you would always mix the groups up and that would be like a 30 to 40 minute conversation. Just that group.

And it was a it was a great man. know I know some of the guys were a little, you know, I wasn't sure a lot of the guys were bought in at first with that. But I think a lot of the guys too just getting to know like some of the defensive guys. Because, you know, you've been in the locker room. Like there's so many, so many guys in an NFL locker room, especially at this time in the season. Like you get so many rookies and so many guys in the locker room. So like to be able to like spend that little bit of time to like get to know somebody that you otherwise wouldn't. I think it's really cool.

Yeah, absolutely. it is and I mean it's easy to be cynical about some of these kind of like team building exercises because a lot of them can kind of fall flat but it seems like Mike's got a pulse on you know he's got the the emotional IQ along with the you know the football IQ am I am I reading that right he's he's not um like what's his personality I ask you what jSN's X factor is every great coach has an X factor like in relating to the team like what's his deal he is unapologetically himself at all times yeah um so like he's just he'll like tell a random story and he'll like be telling this story for like five or six minutes which in a team meeting you know can feel like forever when a coach

is telling the same story for five minutes and then everyone's kind of like looking around a little bit like where is this going? And then he at that moment when everyone starts looking around is like, I promise you guys, I got a point at the end. Like I'm just, let me get through the story. Yeah. Because just knowing Mike and knowing his person. Yes. But he also like, he's also self aware enough to be like, I know I'm a little weird and awkward sometimes. So like that's the part that I think the players love and especially me like, you know, because I am a little weird and awkward too. Like in social settings or if I have to give like a public like speech, you know, know, that's not necessarily my forte, but like, you know, I think-

Marc-on's act asking you if you're a ginger, if you're black or white, dude. Yeah, yeah. Hey, y'all, it's Kelly Clarkson with Wayfair. Ever order furniture online and wonder what if? Like, what if it doesn't hold up? That sofa was four days old. You should have ordered from Wayfair. With Wayfair, there's no what-if.

Just style you love and quality you can trust. Visit Wayfair.com. Wayfair, every style, every home. So damn funny, dude. He was like, dude, I give you the card, man. You can say it. And I'm like, Marchaun, like, I'm not. know you're fucking around with me right now but i'm not saying that that's ridiculous hey what a great

podcast he's got too by the way oh he's a great dude but you're i think leadership you got to be yourself whether you're a quarterback or your coach if you fake it they don't buy it oh yeah you know you can't lie to a football locker room no no chance we're we're too we're too uh we're too uh we're too on the ball, dude. You know, so Sam, I appreciate you taking the time, dude. I know you got a lot going on and I'm super happy for you. Congratulations on everything. And thanks for coming on the show. Yeah, of course, Chris. I appreciate it, man. Thanks for having me.