00:00You know, I've been talking the Sam Darnold story for the last couple weekends,
00:04and I think it's one of the truly great testaments to a guy that believes in perseverance
00:09and what he's gone through in his entire career, and that is, without a doubt, Sam Darnold.
00:14We just talked with Brad Johnson and his journey.
00:16He went to multiple teams, and here you're looking at Sam Darnold here
00:20and what he's on the cusp of potentially doing, being a Super Bowl champion.
00:25You know, we brought it up with, you know, his stay with the Jets and what happened with him in New York.
00:32You know, it was horrible.
00:34He did get out to a tough start.
00:36Boomer Esiason was telling me the other day, and he was on the radio even saying that,
00:41hey, look, you know, for all the things that happened with Sam Darnold with the New York Jets,
00:45they were all—it was really bad, and it was a horrible beginning for him.
00:51And again, the organization wasn't prepared for a 20-year-old guy.
00:55So they moved on from him because they didn't show the patience.
00:58What does he do?
00:59He goes and he's moved to Carolina.
01:02He is a practice player, and I mean not an offensive quarterback practice player.
01:10They were using him as a defensive end for the scout team in Carolina.
01:18That's how much this player's value had dropped.
01:20Think of that.
01:21They weren't even looking at him potentially at being a guy who could carry their football team
01:26when he was with the Carolina Panthers.
01:28Another move.
01:30He ends up getting a divorce there.
01:32Goes to San Francisco.
01:33If you remember what Kyle Shanahan said about him, he even said, he goes,
01:39this kid can play.
01:40He just needs opportunity.
01:43How many quarterbacks have fallen through the cracks in NFL history like this?
01:47Hey, the greatest example of that is Kurt Warner.
01:50Kurt Warner was cut multiple times, and nobody gave him a chance until Dick Vermeule gave him
01:55that shot when Trent Green got hurt.
01:58And what would he do?
01:59He would go on to win a Super Bowl, an MVP.
02:02He would be a guy that would get a gold jacket eventually.
02:06Think of all the guys that have been on this Sam Darnold journey.
02:09It's incredible.
02:10And now, here he goes to Minnesota.
02:13Minnesota quits on him and goes with J.J. McCarthy and thinks that that's the future of their team.
02:20It ended up costing the analytics department their jobs and also their general manager.
02:25He goes to Seattle.
02:26Mike McDonald gets him, makes him into a NFC championship quarterback along with Clint Kubiak,
02:33and here he is 60 minutes away.
02:35He was asked by one of the media members this week, would you change anything and anything on your journey?
02:42Was there one moment in your journey that you would change?
02:46Sam Darnold said what a champion is supposed to say.
02:50He said the same thing that Tom Brady said.
02:52Brady was asked the question, if you ever had the chance, with nil being the way it is today, would you ever transfer from Michigan with all the things that happened to you at Michigan?
03:07Tom Brady said, no, because all the things that happened to me in Ann Arbor made me the football player that I became.
03:16The journey that I was on, it gave me the fortitude and the perseverance to keep chucking away and keep pounding that rock.
03:25Sam Darnold answered it the same way.
03:27I would never change anything of my journey because if anything in the journey that I learned, it's patience and never letting go.
03:36It's a Mike Tomlin line, never letting go of the rope.
03:40Sam Darnold is a testament that if you may not be the greatest talent on the planet,
03:45but if you believe and you keep yourself going and you keep going and you never let go of that rope, perseverance wins.
03:56I can't tell you how many times.
03:58I told people my story when I was at the University of Miami.
04:02Do you know how many talented football players that there were at UM when I showed up?
04:07All these like Gatorade, All-Americans, all of these guys.
04:10But I said, you know what, if I put the work in and I keep believing, I'm going to get to where I want to get to.
04:17And I ended up becoming the 56th player taken and drafted into the National Football League.
04:22I believe in perseverance.
04:23So the story that you hear with Sam Darnold for every single quarterback out there or every kid out there that's listening,
04:32that's the story.
04:33Never quit.
04:34That's the story.
04:37You're 60 minutes away from winning Super Bowl 60.
04:43Sky was not supposed to be in this position.
04:46Years ago, they'd be calling this guy a bust and they'd be writing him off.
04:52Well, guess what?
04:53He may be doing one of the most important things by the end of the night,
04:57and that is hoisting the Vince Lombardi trophy.
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