Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold (14) at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minn., on Sunday, December 29, 2024. (Carlos Gonzalez/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
The Minnesota Star Tribune
January 10, 2025 at 08:00am
S
am Darnold’s time in Minnesota has served as a career reset. In a micro sense, that’s his same objective Monday night against the Rams after producing the worst performance of his otherwise magical season.
Darnold is looking to resume the good vibes that got extinguished in the regular-season finale in Detroit. The fate of the Vikings’ playoff future hinges on Darnold”s ability to regroup and not carry what happened against the Lions into his first postseason game.
Vikings coaches and teammates expressed confidence in their quarterback this week, but the playoff path is far more daunting as a wild-card entrant forced to hit the road.
Darnold isn’t one to delve too deep into big-picture ramifications in media interviews. He’s cordial but guarded in discussing football, his career and most other topics.
So we tried a different tactic. The Minnesota Star Tribune asked three dozen Vikings players and some of their coaches in recent weeks to share one morsel of information that helps explain Darnold as a person and teammate.
Darnold threw a pass at TCO Performance Center in Eagan, Minn. on Monday July 29, 2024. (Jerry Holt/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
The man of routine
We sit next to each other on the [team] plane. He’s to my left. Great game or game where he could have played better, he always has the same energy. That’s what I appreciate about him. He’s the same guy. There is a lot that goes into this business. And when you get a guy who has so much pressure on his head, it’s almost calming for me as a player to see him be able to go about his work like that.
Josh Metellus, safety
I’ve got to be careful sometimes. I’ll go down on a Monday or Tuesday [players’ day off] and he’s either getting a massage with his shirt off or he’s going in the sauna or he’s doing a stretch routine or coming out of the weight room. He’s very much present in this building a lot, and that routine does not change in how he goes about the week. You hear quarterbacks, especially some of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play, talk about their routine down to the minute throughout a game prep week. Sam has been no different.
Kevin O’Connell, head coach
We’re just very vocal with each other, just trying to be on the same page. Every single time that he sees something, he’s trying to make sure that I’m seeing it as well. Or he’s asking what I’m seeing out there on that field.
Justin Jefferson, wide receiver
He’s just a hard worker. He’s always here. Always. You can tell he takes his preparation serious. He’s just consistent with his routine. His routine is dialed in.
Trent Sherfield Sr., wide receiver
Every single week looks exactly the same. It’s down to a science. A cool thing we do as quarterbacks is we get to dinner a little bit early on Saturday nights. Sam likes to go over all the plays that aren’t on our wristband. So the ones that you have to call [without assistance].
Brett Rypien, quarterback
During pregame when we’re doing warmups, he goes up to all the guys and tells them just to be you. It eases people’s minds and gets them ready to be totally focused and locked in.
Jalen Nailor, wide receiver
Before practice or a walk-through when we’re reviewing our script, if I ever have a question, I reach for my iPad to get the right answer. He treats it like a game. He likes to know the inner workings of the tight end world. I’m like, “Oh, I’m going to pull this up,” and he’s like, “No, no, no. Ask me.” He wants to know the full scope.
Johnny Mundt, tight end
Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold (14) breaks the grasps of Houston Texans defensive end Will Anderson Jr. (51) during the third quarter as the Vikings take on the Houston Texans at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minn., on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (Liz Flores/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
The competitor
In New York my rookie year, it was his second year there. There was a play where Sam got smoked in his ribs. I don’t know if it was bruised ribs, cracked or fractured rib. But as a quarterback, that’s a very challenging injury to play through. I remember the training staff wanting to pull him. He was adamant on the sideline, “No, I’m going back in there and finishing this game.” As a rookie, to see that out of a young quarterback, it gave me a lot of respect for Sam Darnold and what he’s about.
Blake Cashman, linebacker
I played him a lot of times in college. He was elusive. He knew not to take sacks. He got the ball out fast. It might have been the fourth time we [Stanford] played USC in a two-year span in the Pac-12 championship in 2017. Sure enough, we ran a stunt, and I ended up getting a sack. While we were coming off the pile, I was like, “My gosh, I finally got you.” It ended up being a half sack. I split it with another guy. Sam’s initial response was something along the lines of, “You wouldn’t have got it if it wasn’t for number 96.” In the moment, he had a very witty answer that kind of put me in my place.
Harrison Phillips, nose tackle
We played 18 holes of golf in July. I went out to Orange County to throw some with him. He’s a pretty good golfer, and I’m pretty average. After the first nine holes, it was even or I was beating him by one stroke. His competitive edge showed up out of nowhere, and he smoked me on the back nine. He shot close to par.
Thayer Thomas, wide receiver
I’ve been going against him since high school through Southern California, through college with him at ‘SC and me at Cal. All of this is no surprise to me. I’ve known that he’s been like this forever. I faced him on the 7-on-7 circuit my junior year [of high school]. I know he’s been in some tough situations leading up to this [season], but as soon as he got here, I knew that Sam is going to go crazy.
Camryn Bynum, safety
Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson (18) hugs quarterback Sam Darnold (14) warms up during pregame in East Rutherford, NJ on Sunday September 8, 2024. (Jerry Holt/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
The comedian
When you look at him at practice or games, he’s so serious, always focused. Anybody on the outside wouldn’t think that he would crack a joke at all. But you put a secret camera in his locker or something, he makes some funny jokes. You just die laughing.
Brandon Powell, wide receiver
He’s always got a movie quote up his sleeve. And the range is so wide. All the comedy movies. He’s a big Will Ferrell guy.
Brett Rypien
It’s dry humor. [Defensive end] Jihad Ward is right here next to our lockers. He’ll crack a joke at Sam, and Sam will fire one right back at him. I remember the first time, everybody kind of paused and looked. They were laughing but kind of paused like, “Hold on, that came from you, Sam?”
Aaron Jones, running back
He’s hilarious. So dry, so subtle. But he’s really quick and smart with it. It’s one of those things where if you’re having a conversation with him, you need to be looking for it. It might go over some people’s heads. A lot of movie quotes, which has rubbed off on the O-line. He’s got a good catalog of movies. I feel like “Dodgeball” is the leading one in the clubhouse right now.
Blake Brandel, offensive guard
He’s one of those people who is funny without trying to be funny. He doesn’t even know he’s funny. He’ll just say something, and you’ll start laughing.
Pat Jones II, linebacker
He’s got this dry, sort of matter-of-fact sense of humor. That’s the kind of humor I like. Some people won’t really know if he’s joking or not, but he’s got this little smirk.
Andrew DePaola, long snapper
Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold looks to take the field ahead of a game against the Seahawks on Dec. 22 in Seattle. (Anthony Soufflé/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Fun facts
He knows a lot more [celebrity] people than you would think he would. He will set you up with a random comedian or some band. He’s always got somebody coming into town that he knows, and he’ll be like, “Hey, you want tickets?” Like, yeah, how do you know them? They’ll be at his house before their concert. It’s kind of funny. He’s done a few for me. We went to Whiskey Myers’ concert. He knew them.
T.J. Hockenson, tight end
He dressed as Justin Timberlake for the Halloween party. He looked identical. It was old-school Justin Timberlake. For me, being a young buck, I wasn’t into the old-school Justin Timberlake. Didn’t really see him too much. But when [offensive lineman] Dan Feeney told me it was Justin Timberlake, I looked up a picture of what he was trying to replicate, and man, it was unbelievable how close it was.
J.J. McCarthy, quarterback
When I first met him, I asked him, what does everybody else call you? He said his family and everybody calls him Darny. I feel like I’m one of the only people on the team that calls him Darny. I’ll be like, “What’s up, Darny? How you doing, Darny?” He’s cool with it.
Ed Ingram, offensive guard
There was a poll in the training room once day and it was: Who would be on our starting five of a basketball team for the Vikings if we had one? And Sam was a very, very popular answer. [Quarterbacks coach] Josh McCown was like, “Oh yeah, he can hoop.” I didn’t know that about him. I’ll have to have him pull some tape before I co-sign for him.
Brian O’Neill, offensive tackle
Sam actually played defensive end against my brother Scott in high school back in California. I always thought that was pretty cool. Sam Darnold the quarterback getting defensive end reps in high school.
David Quessenberry, offensive tackle
Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold (14) celebrates after a touchdown to Jordan Addison in the third quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium on Dec. 29. (Carlos Gonzalez/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
A beloved teammate
When he first got here, we showed up for OTAs in April. We’re a bunch of golf fiends in the O-line room. It was the first day we got back and said, let’s go golf. It was 30 degrees and hailing. We’re like, Sam, come on, we’re going golfing. Sam is like, OK.
We’re absolutely freezing our butts off. It hailed on us for a couple of holes. It was miserable. Sam was like, “Yeah, this is terrible. Why are we doing this?” He’s coming from Southern California. Well, this is Minnesota. But he was there. He showed up.
Garrett Bradbury, center
He’s just an offensive line type of guy. He’s going to go on the golf trips. He’s going to talk about getting grimy with the boys and getting down and dirty in the trenches. Sam doesn’t separate himself as that QB to a different echelon. He rolls with the boys.
Dalton Risner, offensive guard
He cares about everybody. When he talks to you, you can feel that he cares about you. He’s always checking on everybody. We volunteered when we first got here. We went to the children’s hospital during OTAs. Just to see how he interacted with the kids, the joy that he brought to them.
Aaron Jones
My perception of him coming in — not that I thought he was going to be mean or anything, but the way he even talks to rookies, he treats me like I’m a [valuable] person on this team. That I’m one of the guys.
Walter Rouse, offensive tackle
One night we went to the Polar Express [train experience in St. Paul]. It was pretty much an activity for all the guys with kids. Sam comes, and my son ends up sitting at the table on the Polar Express with Sam, looking out at the Grinch and all that stuff. He was just there hanging out with the guys, hanging out with my [3-year-old] son.
David Quessenberry
The cool thing about Sam is he was a top five pick. He comes here and is the starting quarterback and he’s playing great, but he’s still just a guy with us. He’s in the locker room, joking. We’re on the bus for away games, he’s joking with the guys. He doesn’t seclude himself. He surrounds himself with the guys.
Andrew DePaola
He’s just a good dude. He’s one of the guys. He’s a guy’s guy type of guy.
Wes Phillips, offensive coordinator
He’s just a cool dude. That’s the best way to put it.
Cam Akers, running back