Best of the Bus: Sam Darnold Opens Up About Jets, Panthers, & What It's Like Playing With Cam Newton

Summary

Bussin' With The Boys – Sam Darnold Opens Up About the Jets, Panthers, & Cam Newton

Podcast: Bussin’ With The Boys
Episode Title: Best of the Bus: Sam Darnold Opens Up About Jets, Panthers, & What It's Like Playing With Cam Newton
Original Date: February 7, 2026
Hosts: Taylor Lewan & Will Compton (Will not present for this episode)
Guest: Sam Darnold (NFL Quarterback)

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Episode Overview

This episode features NFL quarterback Sam Darnold in a candid, wide-ranging interview with Taylor Lewan. The discussion traverses Sam’s journey from his early athletic roots and college days at USC to the turbulence of his time with the New York Jets, his transition to the Carolina Panthers, and the dynamic of sharing a locker room with Cam Newton. The conversation is authentic, insight-laden, and peppered with playful jabs, revealing Sam’s mindset, approach to criticism, and resilience in the face of professional adversity.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Early Life, Multi-Sport Talent & Athletic Roots

• Basketball as First Love:
  • Sam recounts growing up as a Lakers fan, idolizing Kobe Bryant, and initially loving basketball more than football.
    • “I would say basketball is probably my first love. Watching Kobe growing up – the man.” – Sam Darnold [06:41]
  • Played football, basketball, and baseball through childhood, only focusing on football seriously by junior year of high school.
• USC Recruitment & Athlete Journey:
  • Started high school as a linebacker and receiver. Coaches’ recognition of his athleticism led to a late transition to quarterback.
  • Sam was lightly recruited, with his first scholarship offer coming "almost by surprise" from Utah after only two games at QB, highlighting how under-the-radar he was early on.
    • Story gives an inside look at how many paths to college and pro ball are unorthodox and filled with uncertainty.

The Recruiting Process & Love for USC

• Dreaming of USC:
  • USC was always his dream school. Despite offers from schools like Duke and Northwestern (which tempted him for their coaching legacies), the Trojans’ late offer was a no-brainer.
    • “Once I made the pros and cons list… for SC, the pros were there and there were no cons.” – Sam Darnold [18:45]
• Commitment and Loyalty:
  • Turned down interest from Jim Harbaugh at Michigan after already committing to USC.
    • “I made a commitment to go to SC. I appreciate you reaching out, but…” – [16:09]

College Career at USC: Competition & Mindset

• Redshirt Year & Steady Rise:
  • Chose to enjoy his senior year, prom, and high school sports before heading to college. Redshirted behind Cody Kessler and then entered a quarterback competition with Max Browne.
  • Details the awkwardness of competing against friends while maintaining professionalism.
    • “We were boys… hanging out, then all of a sudden it’s like, alright, I guess that’s over.” – Sam Darnold [31:31]
• Handling Disappointment:
  • Was disappointed when told he wouldn’t start, but handled it maturely:
    • “Coach said, ‘we gotta do what’s best for the team’… Do I disagree? Yes, obviously. But that wasn’t for me to say. I just took it.” – [29:18]

2018 NFL Draft & Quarterback Landscape

• Jet Setting: NYC Challenges
  • Drafted 3rd overall by the Jets. Experienced coaching turnover with Todd Bowles' firing, the arrival of Adam Gase, and then new management–leading to instability.
  • Addresses the infamous “seeing ghosts” game against the Patriots, owning the moment and its lasting meme status:
    • “That was the worst game by far I’ve ever played in my life. I own up to it.” – Sam Darnold [39:12]
• Media and Market Pressure:
  • On NYC: the turbulence, scrutiny, and passionate fans, likening them to Philly Eagles supporters in intensity.
• Draft Class Reflections:
  • Contrasts his approach with the more outspoken Baker Mayfield and Josh Rosen, emphasizing his preference for quiet resilience over media drama.

Moving to the Panthers & Playing With Cam Newton

• Trade Experience & Letting Go

  • Describes learning of his trade from agent and then Jets GM, and his immediate, pragmatic mindset:
    • “At the end of the day, it’s not my call. If they don’t think I’m the guy… it is what it is.” – [62:01]

• Adapting to Carolina

  • Transitioned quickly: flew to Carolina, met players and staff, started on learning a new system.
  • On living in California and renovations/time away from football.

• Injury, Cam Newton’s Return & QB Room Atmosphere

  • When injured midseason, Cam Newton rejoined the Panthers:
    • “Cam is the best... Great guy to have in the QB room, great guy to have around. His energy is unmatched.” – [67:33]
  • Describes Cam as a leader with genuine charisma, who’s “just a normal dude” day-to-day but knows how to rally a team.

Mental Health, Modern NFL, & Social Media

• Mental Health in the NFL
  • Mentions starting meditation and working with someone for mindset, and notes how the landscape’s changed thanks to social media and increased openness.
    • “You have such more of a – you’re just a fly on the wall in anyone’s life now.” – [42:55]
  • Respects Dak Prescott for being candid about mental struggles, making mental health talk “great for the NFL.”
• Coping with Criticism
  • Acknowledges difficulties of being a QB: “Franchise lives and dies with the quarterback.”
  • Frames pressure as part of the job, especially considering the money and responsibility attached.

Handling Uncertainty & Perspective

• Trade Rumors & Team Uncertainty
  • Outlines how he handled rumors about the Panthers potentially drafting a QB:
    • “It truly is – whatever happens, happens. At the end of the day, it’s out of my control… I know I’m a good quarterback.” – [74:18]
  • Stresses importance of having a grounded support system from friends and family.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Early Recruitment:
  “I didn’t really know what a scholarship offer was until I got offered my first one.”
  – Sam Darnold [12:07]

• On QB Competitions:
  “The weirdest part… we had the same friend group, and then all of a sudden we’re in a competition together. It was like, alright, I guess that’s over.”
  – Sam Darnold [31:31]

• On the ‘Seeing Ghosts’ Meme:
  “That was the worst game by far I’ve ever played in my life. I own up to it.”
  – Sam Darnold [39:12]

  “In the quarterback room, we’d say some guys are ‘seeing ghosts out there’—I just said that to my coach at the time… I was pissed and didn’t know what to say. And they got it on live TV.”
  – Sam Darnold [38:23]

• On Cam Newton:
  “He’s just a natural born leader. Just the things I’ve learned from him… so much respect. He’s a great dude.”
  – Sam Darnold [69:40]

• On Fans & Criticism:
  “It’s fun to have those conversations… they’re critiquing what we should do. The part that pisses me off is when people judge how I’m playing. Then I’m like, hey bud, go strap it up. You can talk all the shit you want, I’m not gonna do anything about it, but take it easy.”
  – Sam Darnold [59:21]

• Lock Room Talk/Story:
  After winning the Rose Bowl, Sam and friends DM’d Snoop Dogg (a famous USC supporter) hoping to celebrate, but got no reply.

  • “To this day, years later: no response.”
    – Sam Darnold [79:56]

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Timestamps of Major Segments

• Charmin Ad w/ Sam cameo: [02:44]
• Basketball roots, Kobe influence: [06:38]
• First college offer (Utah), discovering the process: [12:14]
• USC dream & recruitment: [16:08] – [18:54]
• QB competition at USC, disappointment: [29:18]
• On friendship, competition & handling being benched: [31:04]
• NFL Draft class, contrasting styles: [32:24]
• On defining Jets moments, ‘seeing ghosts’: [38:14] – [39:00]
• Social media, quarterback pressure: [40:31]
• Mental health in NFL: [42:05] – [44:11]
• Trade from Jets to Panthers, handling uncertainty: [61:27] – [66:10]
• Life in Carolina, Cam Newton experience: [67:13] – [69:40]
• Handling QB rumors, draft nerves: [70:29] – [74:45]
• Locker room talk, Snoop Dogg story: [77:50] – [80:37]

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Tier Talk: Sam’s Top 5 USC Quarterbacks

1. Carson Palmer
   • “He won a Heisman at SC, national championship. Handled his career professionally. A baller…” – [51:44]
2. Matt Leinart
3. Mark Sanchez
4. Matt Barkley
5. Rodney Peete
   (Sam humbly excludes himself.)

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Tone & Atmosphere

The interview is casual, lively, and honest, with ample humor and candid revelations. Taylor and Sam display great rapport, with Taylor pushing for deeper answers while respecting boundaries. Sam’s humility, clarity, and understated confidence shine through. The show maintains its “locker room” vibe, balancing substance with laid-back laughs.

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For Listeners Who Missed Out

This episode is an exceptional look inside the mindset and journey of a young NFL QB who’s weathered both hype and hardship. From homespun stories and hilarious DM tales to deep dives on quarterback pressure, leadership, and locker room dynamics, Sam gives listeners an authentic and open account of being the face of a franchise—wins, memes, slumps, and all.

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Bussin’ With The Boys stands out for its ability to peel back layers, and this episode with Sam Darnold delivers on all fronts—insight, real talk, and laughs for both hardcore and casual fans.

Transcript

[Podcast Host (Jim Beam Ad)]

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[Podcast Host (Stugots Co.)]

Have a podcast empire that I have brought here to iheart and I'm also hosting a daily live radio show from 3 to 5pm Eastern called Stagouts and Company Live, which is available in podcast form right when the show finishes. Every single day you can expect a lot of laughter, great guests, a ton of calls and a lot of fun. Listen to Stew Gotts Co. Live and our original podcast, Stugatson Co. And God bless Football and you can check all of those out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast.

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[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

We heard you shouldn't talk about going to the bathroom in public, so we decided to sing about it. Charmin ultra strong. You can use less. Better than the rest.

[Sam Darnold]

Charmin ultra strong booty, pass the clean test.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Salmon weave texture, it's the best.

[Sam Darnold]

Study up. Teach a lesson on fresh your booty pass the clean test.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yes, sir. Charmin ultra strong. Charmin ultra strong with diamond weave texture cleans better than the leading one plaid brand so you can use less. Enjoy the go with Charmin. So keep it up. Keep going. Love you. Big hugs, tiny kisses. Keep it up, Sam Darnold. Let's rip.

[Sam Darnold]

All right.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah, Perfect. We're already in this thing. You know, this is actually my first time doing a podcast by myself.

[Sam Darnold]

Are you nervous?

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Not by myself, but like with somebody.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

It's not Will. Yeah, I could say I'm a little nervous right now. A man of your stature.

[Sam Darnold]

We'll be all right, man.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Who's making news around the league everywhere right now, Really? I don't know. I've read a couple things, dude.

[Sam Darnold]

You know what I'm saying? I don't pay attention.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

So you don't pay attention to anything? No. I feel like that's a load of bullshit. Really?

[Sam Darnold]

Absolutely.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

So you don't see any stuff? People are saying things going on healthy. It's not a healthy thing, but at the same time, it's like one of those deals where.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Kind of forced to watch.

[Sam Darnold]

Well, that's why it's cool when it gets brought up in person. Because then they're like. Exactly like you just did. Yeah, Actually, no. I don't know. Any news that's come out about me. Yeah, you can fill me in on everything.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

And we'll have to. In a little bit for sure. Yeah, we're actually going right now, too. By the way, welcome to busting with the boys. Outstanding citizen with us today, third overall pick in the 2018 draft, Sam Darnold. Please give him a round of applause, boys. Electro Stack to have him on. Charismatic individual. I've actually met him once before, if you guys didn't know this. At the Rebel Ranch, right?

[Sam Darnold]

Yep.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

We went. We were boozing together one day. Not a whole lot of boozing, but there were a couple drinks passed around. Did you like the place?

[Sam Darnold]

It was great. Yeah. Live music, all the.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Brad Burberry, right?

[Sam Darnold]

Yep.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

He came up and. How do you guys know each other? Same class. Garrett. Garrett. Brad.

[Sam Darnold]

Yes.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

It's all the same thing to me.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host (Stugots Co.)]

Yeah.

[Sam Darnold]

He's a. He's a great dude. We just connected through really our agency. Really just people that we know and then actually alignment. That's on our team. Pat Elf line is boys with him.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Sam Darnold]

Through like training and stuff. So. But yeah, they're all great dudes, you know, Right.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

The salt of the earth. Cats.

[Sam Darnold]

100%.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

100%. And so you guys came up to Cave Creek. What brought you guys up there?

[Sam Darnold]

Where were we? That bar. Buffalo Chip. Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Outstanding.

[Sam Darnold]

So we had a night out in Buffalo Chip and it was great.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Guys watch the bull riding and everything.

[Sam Darnold]

Did. Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

That's awesome. Give me one second because I am already leaking. Boys.

[Podcast Host (Stugots Co.)]

Holy.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Don't look at that. Don't look at. Hey.

[Sam Darnold]

What?

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

J.P. watch yourself now. I know. So. Hey, sometimes you're sitting down in that chair a little bit and it's like. Oh, it tarf. Comes off a little bit. Yeah. You guys went to the Buffalo Chip. You saw bull riding?

[Sam Darnold]

Bull riding, the whole thing. Little line dancing.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Oh, you know how to line dance?

[Sam Darnold]

I don't.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

No.

[Sam Darnold]

But I tried. Did you? I tried really hard.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

And that's all that matters is the effort matters.

[Sam Darnold]

The effort. Yep.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

No doubt. What? So did you learn. Did you learn how two step? Two.

[Sam Darnold]

I've learned in the past. Just when I. When we started line dancing and it wasn't going my way. Yeah. I just kind of stepped to the side.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

No doubt.

[Sam Darnold]

Started, you know, just doing my thing, kind of bobbing back and forth. Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

That middle school thing where you kind of peer back and forth. You're staring at the other girls. 100 we're waiting to who's gonna make a move first type of deal.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah. And then at Buffalo Chip, I feel like there were a lot of pros. Yeah. Out that night.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah. They get down out there. Dude. I give you a little hint on line dancing. This might just be my opinion, but I feel like you leave line dancing for the ladies. Right. They go out there, they get in their lines, they enjoy themselves and do all that two steppings where it's at. I was out. I was out. I was actually in Arizona this weekend and I have a buddy out there, Bo Campbell. Guy can absolutely two step with the best of him. He's throwing women around. There's no gravity when it comes to that. Man. Dancing. It's. It's outstanding. Got way too drunk. I had no idea. It was one of those little sipper deals. And it was just. It turned on me real fast. Yeah, not about me. This is about you.

[Sam Darnold]

No, let's keep going.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

No, let's keep going. Let's keep the train. No, let's not.

[Sam Darnold]

Where'd you go to high school?

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Oh, I went to Chaparral High School. I went to Michigan. But you went to high school and you didn't just play football? Basketball player, too?

[Sam Darnold]

Yep.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Was there ever a point in your life where you're like, I want to do basketball instead of football?

[Sam Darnold]

Oh, yeah. Early on, I would say. I would say basketball is probably my first love. Watching Kobe growing up the man. My dad, a huge Lakers fan, obviously turned me into a Lakers fan as well. You know, even when the Lakers weren't winning a ton, he was so fun to watch. I mean, just, you know, it would. It could be middle of season, regular season game, and he'd be going all out like they could be losing by 20 and he'd be playing in the last few minutes of the fourth quarter. It was just like, you know, and I didn't even really recognize that as a young kid.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah. But as you get older, you appreciate it way more.

[Sam Darnold]

100%. Yeah, 100%. So it was just. Yeah. Didn't even. Didn't even realize it at the time, but he was such an inspiration for me. And, you know, I'm sure a lot of other kids, but it was fun to watch grow up and watch that. And so that's kind of how I fell in love with basketball and then. Yeah. Just ended up loving it and then started to get into football a little bit later on, like third grade, and just played. I played basketball, football, and baseball. Those are like the three that I just rotated around. Yeah. Throughout my childhood growing up and really throughout. Until freshman year of high school and then played basketball up until my senior year of high school, and that was the last year I played basketball.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

So you didn't do any pickups at USC or anything like that?

[Sam Darnold]

We did, yeah. Yeah. But another reps or whatever.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Dunk on some little nerds.

[Sam Darnold]

Nothing.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Get a little workout in 100.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah. Off season grind. Yeah. No question, boys. Yeah, I was.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

I cannot play basketball at all, but all the boys would go out there, hang out and play basketball. Yeah. I'll get no easy buckets. Yeah, no easy buckets. Yeah, absolutely. Pass it back and forth over and over again. Invent the alley. Oop.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

It's a beautiful thing.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah, you would. You would throw it, though. You're not dunking though, or.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

No, I can. I get. I used to be able to. I don't know if I can dunk anymore. The boy had a 30 and a half.

[Sam Darnold]

Okay.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

You know, that little vert was kind of nice.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

For a big mine, it was just like 25, 26.

[RingCentral Air Advertiser]

Bad.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

I was looking at on the Wikipedia page.

[Sam Darnold]

I'm a 111 foot jumper.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

We ran the same 40 as well.

[Sam Darnold]

Did we?

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yes.

[Sam Darnold]

Good.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah, well, yeah, well, you know, in the beginning of this whole thing.

[Sam Darnold]

Well, you know, what was, what was the 10? What was the split one? That's what mattered.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

164.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah. Probably faster than me too, so.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

But you don't, you don't got to run that fast. You kind of got wheels like Pat Mahomes. You guys can get around a little bit. Yeah, yeah. Game speed.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

And so when you went to usc, you were going there to play linebacker?

[Sam Darnold]

No, you.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

They wanted you to play linebacker at.

[Sam Darnold]

First, so I got recruited. So there were some O linemen. I don't know if you know the name Kyle Murphy or Josh Garnet.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

I do. I don't know those names. No.

[Sam Darnold]

So they went to Stanford, played lineman. He was a left tackle at Stanford. But they went to my high school or. Sorry, Kyle Murphy went to my high school. Not Josh, but. And then Sean Harlow. Do you know that name at all? Place for the Falcons, Oregon State.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Do we know the name back there, boys? If it's not 49ers blossom. I know.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah, he was, I mean, both really good prospects out of same high school. So we had some, you know, Pac 12 schools that would come around and they recruited me and. But at the time, I was playing linebacker and receiver my sophomore year and. And I remember Ogeron Ojron had like one of the little film cameras. Yeah. And he was like filming me doing linebacker drills. And I was like, I thought this guy was. Was here for, you know, the seniors who are getting recruited to play. To play at sc. And he was just like, no, like, I want to film this dude Darnold. Like, he looks like he's. He's got some athletic ability. And I was like a buck, you know, buck 90 at the time.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Grow into it.

[Sam Darnold]

Same, same height. I was tall early on, but yeah, I was a skinny, skinny little linebacker who would just get tossed around by left tackles in our league. But I was playing like 3, 4, like Sam or no Will at the time. So I was like kind of on the line of scrimmage.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Sam Darnold]

Trying to fight off tight ends and tackles when they were trying to run block. So that was fun at 190.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Sam Darnold]

And there were kids that there were like tackles and guards that were pushing 300 in our league. Really? Yeah, for sure.

[RingCentral Air Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

California's got good ball out there. A lot of people like to. On California, but it's kind of a deal.

[Sam Darnold]

People do like to. On California. Yeah, A lot of people in this bus, actually.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Oh, really?

[Sam Darnold]

California? Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Who's that? Who is that? We want to point fingers.

[Sam Darnold]

No, we're not pointing fingers, but it's in this.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Is it in this general area? Is there in this general area?

[Sam Darnold]

No, it's in this general area. We'll leave them out of it.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah, fair enough. T with three letters on California ball. It's like a top five. A top five State. You gotta.

[Sam Darnold]

He just talks a lot about sec and, you know, where you from, it means a little bit more.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Oh, you're from here. You're a Vols guy. Gotta respect the Vols. Their fan base is out of control. Their fan base is insane. Michigan. Michigan beat the Vols in basketball to go to the sweet 16. And I put out one tweet of Juan Howard slapping the tee and holy shit. Now, obviously, most of my followers are Tennessee fans living in Tennessee, but it was a bloodbath. They remind me of the Buffalo Bills, that Bills mafia. You got that team mafia out there. But. But California dudes, they rip now. California, Ohio, Georgia, Alabama, Florida. Is that the top five? Oh, Pennsylvania too. That's another one. You can't sleep on that tee.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah, Louisiana too.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Louisiana's like that.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

I don't even know that.

[Sam Darnold]

That's recent, though. That's pretty recent.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

So when Ogeron came, had this little camcorder on you, filming you up. You're a buck 90. Did you think to yourself, oh, I'm going to the league now?

[Sam Darnold]

No, no, I had no idea, dude. I actually. I didn't really know what a scholarship offer was until I got offered my first one.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

What was your first offer?

[Sam Darnold]

University of Utah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Oh, hell yeah.

[Sam Darnold]

Ute, dude.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Absolutely.

[Podcast Host (Jim Beam Ad)]

Yeah.

[Sam Darnold]

So they offered me after my sophomore year. I played like two games at the end of the season at quarterback because the starter got hurt. And they offered me based on some tape that they saw of those two games and then of like some drills that I did for him during the spring. No, crazy. Yeah. And so he offered me the scholarship. He was like, hey, man, like, we want to offer you a scholarship to play football at the University of Utah. And I was like, oh, okay.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

At quarterback after two games.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah. And I was like, okay, cool. You know, didn't really knew like, what it entailed or like, he was like, you pretty excited about it or you just. I was just very, like, kind of monotone, like, yeah, I'm very excited. Thank you, coach. Like, can't wait to, you know, continue talking to you, whatever. And he goes and tells my parents, like, right after that, and I just see my mom melt. She's just crying. Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Everywhere.

[Sam Darnold]

And I'm just like, I think this is a little bit bigger deal than I. Than I thought.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Right.

[Sam Darnold]

And so they're like, yeah. Like, my dad kind of explained it to me in the. In the head, coach. He was just like, dude, you're like, you're gonna get offered, like, full tuition to go to the school just to play ball and, like, potentially have a chance at going to the league.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

That's pretty incredible.

[Sam Darnold]

And so, I don't know, I think it was kind of cool to, you know, live my entire kind of childhood and my high school life not really knowing what, you know, I was necessarily going for. You know, I wasn't ever trying to get an offer, you know, but it just. It just happened.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

And so when you were growing up playing ball, you never thought, I'm going to be an NFL football player someday, or, I'm going to be an NBA basketball player or mlb.

[Sam Darnold]

I always. I always dreamed of playing in professional sports, something, but I didn't know necessarily kind of the steps to get there. I was just like, oh, I want to play. I want to play professional ball. Do something. And so I was just like, dang, like, you know, I guess the next step would be college.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Sam Darnold]

High school. Right.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Right. Yeah, that's. So usually football's, like, just a singular line trajectory of where you're gonna go.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah, exactly. So, yeah, so I got offered, and I was. Yeah. After they kind of, you know, told me what it was and what was going on, then they told me. They're just like. I was just, you know, so happy. So happy about, you know, the situation. Then it's funny, like, once you get that first offer, I mean, you know how it is. It just starts rolling in. Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

And you got one your sophomore year. That's kind of. Is that abnormal? I have one guy, that dude from Michigan. He got one in eighth grade, which is kind of wild. Do you have any kids at your school that were getting offers like that?

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah, I mean. Oh, not in my. No, no, not in my high school. But obviously, you know, you got guys. He got guys in, you know, like David Sills, who now plays receiver, I think, for the Giants. He Played at West Virginia, I believe, and he was like one of the top recruited kids in California to play quarterback and ended up getting offered in seventh grade, I believe, by like, Lane Kiffin at sc. Yeah. And it was insane.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Zero pubic hair on his body, and they're just gonna all of a sudden give him an offer.

[Sam Darnold]

I mean, hey, that's. You know, he might have.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

He might have. You know, some seventh graders did.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Luke Stedman, when I was in middle school, kid was a horse. He had a receding hairline at 12 years old. It was unbelievable. So you get. You get the Utes, and so you're kind of like, hey, I guess I'm just going to college now. This is going to happen. What happened after that? Who. Who were the next ones to fall in line?

[Sam Darnold]

Shoot. It was kind of other PAC 12 schools.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

And you didn't start playing quarterback till your junior year?

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah, like full time. So, yeah, kind of. That off season, so we're going into junior year, I started playing more quarterback. But yeah, man, it was just packed. 12 schools, a couple. I think it was just Tennessee, honestly, who offered me. And then.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Smart move, huh?

[Sam Darnold]

And then. Yeah, and then it was like Big Ten, like Penn State, some other ones.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

But. Did you get Michigan?

[Sam Darnold]

I didn't. You know, it's funny, right? When Harbaugh got the Michigan job, he called me.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Really?

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah. And he was kind of pitching, and I was just like, hey, like, I've committed to usc. Like, this was after, like, right when I was about to start my senior year, and I was like, listen, like, I made a commitment to go to sc. Like, I appreciate you reaching out, but. So, yeah, he did reach out and, you know, assume that he would have probably offered me, but I didn't even let him get that far. I was just like, I'm. I'm going to sc.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

A loyal cat, huh?

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah. I mean, dude, I grew up an SC fan.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah. I mean, you grew up with Matt Liner, Reggie Bush, those dudes out there.

[Sam Darnold]

That was playing it prime time, SC ball. And I was, you know, that was my childhood. You know what I mean?

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

And Pete Carroll was the dude too, man. Yeah, he played SC perfectly, did all the stuff he needed to do, and then dipped right when the sanctions. Yes. Will Ferrell coming in doing practice. Do you guys have anything like that at sc?

[Sam Darnold]

You did it, right? We never did, dude.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Who were your coaches at sc?

[Sam Darnold]

I was with. So Sark. I was with Sark for about a year and a half, and then Clay took over as the interim and Then ended up getting the job after that. That first year where we. We had a pretty good year.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

That's awesome.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

So when you. When you were coming out, as soon as you offered by the utes, you're like, I want to go to sc. The whole time, you're like, I want to go to sc.

[Sam Darnold]

Well, I always wanted to go to sc.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah. So when they offered, it was done deal.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah, it was because they offered late, too. Like, I was. I actually went on some unofficial visits. I went to Duke, Northwestern, and then I went to Oregon.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Why'd you go to Duke? Why'd you go to Northwestern?

[Sam Darnold]

I wanted to. Right. I smart.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Sam Darnold]

No, I'm not, actually.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Well, Duke's. Duke's a good school, right?

[Sam Darnold]

I thought I was, but. No, Duke's a great school. Northwestern too. But I. I really liked Fitz, who's the coach at Northwestern. And I like Cutcliffe a lot. Just knowing his background with the Mannings and stuff. I was like, you know, I want to get to know this guy and potentially play for him. I think it'd be sick.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Sam Darnold]

And that was kind of my mindset with that. And then went to Oregon after that. So I went Duke, Northwestern, Oregon, and then I came back down to. To do a camp, like, last minute for. At sc, they had like a middle school camp going on. And then I was throwing. I was like throwing in the mix because Sark wanted to see me throw in person. He had never seen me throw in person. So I threw for him. I probably like 50 balls. Just kind of warming up and then on the run, just really like low key workout. And then he took me in his office and offered me on the spot there. And I thought about it, you know, I made the whole list, pros and cons, where I wanted to go, top three schools. And. And you know, that was. Once I made the pros and cons list, I was like, pros for sc and then there were no cons.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah. It was always over for you, huh?

[Sam Darnold]

Okay. Yeah. This is pretty easy.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah, no doubt.

[Sam Darnold]

Parents can see me play. Great education, great ball. Grew up a fan.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Like, grew up in San Clemente, right?

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Outstanding town if you've ever been to San Clemente. God, what a beach town. I have been. I was like 15, 16. I had a girlfriend who was pretty rich, so we go out there in the summertime. It was a nice deal. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Smart, big family, Italian girl.

[Sam Darnold]

There you go.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

She was awesome. Shout out. Laura Shockley. But we would go to San Clemente all the time.

[Sam Darnold]

Awesome.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah. We go to San Clemente. It was. It was awesome.

[Sam Darnold]

Motherfucker.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah. She hates my guts probably now.

[Sam Darnold]

Shout out.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Hey, Laura, good to see you. Name out your motherfucking. Yeah. How do you feel about that? What side are you on with Chris Rock and Will Smith? What a weird pivot.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah. On it. Yeah. No, I mean, you. You can't. You can't hit anyone. Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

So you're on the Chris Rock side.

[Sam Darnold]

And it's a joke. But, you know, whether. Whether the joke was bad taste or not, you know, it's. You can't just. You can't go up and smack someone. Yeah. Like that.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah. We talked about on the podcast last week, and it kind of seemed like it's alopecia. Right. I don't want to get that wrong, because I feel like it's insecure if I. What does it call it? Last week? Propecia. Propecia. Which is like the save the hair thing. And I just think that. I don't know, it depends. Like, there's a lot of women, Jada included, who look beautiful.

[Sam Darnold]

Right.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

With the shaved head. I. I had no issue with it. And I think anything's fair with comedy when it comes to stand up.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

I'm saying, unless you're white, saying the N word, that's probably a big no. No, right? Yeah.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Probably shouldn't go down that road. Other than that.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

I think you're pretty fair game that.

[Sam Darnold]

There might be another couple.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah. But anything off the top of your head you're thinking of, you probably shouldn't touch.

[Sam Darnold]

No, not at all.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Sam Darnold]

But no, that was. Yeah. I mean, I don't know it. I don't even know if. If he knew that she had it or. I don't even know if it was his joke. That's. The other thing is, like, did he write it himself? He didn't. Right. I mean, even. Even then he's got to take responsibility because he said it.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Sam Darnold]

So, I mean, but at the end of the day, it's. It's a joke, and Chris Rock's there to. And you got to know, if you're at the Oscars and you're sitting front.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Row, you're going to get roasted a little bit. Yeah.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

And I think, too, when they showed Will Smith sitting there, he was, like, smiling, having a good time.

[Sam Darnold]

Debbie's in the whole clip, and then he looks over.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah. Had to go defend her honor.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah. Yeah. I thought his reaction was perfect, though.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Way Chris Rock handled it. He's like, wow, what a What a fucking pro, dude. What a pro. Oh, there's no question. He was starting documentary instead of Oscar. Like had a whole bunch of stuff going on. But I think all of us in here, if he slapped me, we've talked about this. You, you get slapped by another man, you like to think level of heads would prevail. But like, I mean do getting poked in the chest in general, someone doesn't like just goes right up to your chest and pokes you, you kind of want to kill that person immediately. Right. So imagine getting open hand slapped.

[Sam Darnold]

Imagine if that just broke out in a huge fight.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

I think Chris Rock would get his ass beat. He would, that, he would absolutely get his ass beat.

[Sam Darnold]

Well, yeah, he's probably gotten, I mean listen, he's a, he's a stand up comedian who's done a million shows, right.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

He's.

[Sam Darnold]

That's probably happened to him and the standup community.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

I don't think there are a bunch of tough guys in there. Like two off the top of the head, Shaub and Rogan, the two dudes that are probably going to beat some ass. And other than that, like you don't think, I mean Chris Rock's tiny five seven.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

54 years old or whatever. He is absolute legend.

[Sam Darnold]

Legend.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

But he starts swinging, it would have made it. I mean it would have been outstanding tv. Talking for an hour longer.

[Sam Darnold]

Right when, right when he landed the shot, when he got back up to the mic, he was like, this is the greatest night in television.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah. Such a great job. Yeah, such a great job.

[Sam Darnold]

Very well. He handled it perfectly. Yeah. Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

I think it would have been better if he just said keep my wife's name out your fucking mouth. And then it just was. That was it.

[Sam Darnold]

But then he just kept going and.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah, it was a bad deal. And then it goes up and does that two and a half minute speech. Did you know? Were you watching it live?

[Sam Darnold]

I didn't watch it live.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah, I wasn't either. Yeah, I see the Twitter and it's thriving. It's going off on there and you immediately go to try to zoom in, find it, shout out Japan. Japan had the whole thing for us.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah. Now I don't know how, how fast it was after he slapped Chris Rock, but how fast what, how quick was the turnaround with him winning the award and going up and giving the speech?

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

It was like 20 minutes. Right?

[Sam Darnold]

That's crazy.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah. And so he's got to go up. He's talking about being a protector and stuff like that.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

It was his first Oscar as well. God. Hey. And then he. He just resigned from the Academy. Yeah, he just came out the other day and said, I'm gonna resign, which I don't know what that means. That means he's done acting or he's just no longer affiliated with the PA or whatever they are.

[Sam Darnold]

I don't know.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Dude, he can't go to the Oscars. I tell you. He's got the information. He just can't go to the award shows anymore. But he can still win stuff.

[Sam Darnold]

He's still good.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah, he's Will Smith, dude. He's not going anywhere.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

If anything, he probably just got another action movie.

[Sam Darnold]

Right?

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Work on that. The hit movement.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Guy would be a hell of a golfer. Yeah, 100% hell of a golfer.

[Sam Darnold]

Hell of a quarterback.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

So we go to sc. How do we do at sc? We redshirt.

[Podcast Host (Jim Beam Ad)]

Our first year, the postseason is upon us and there's really nothing like it. But the postseason can be stressful. Crushing losses, wild upsets, your unhinged six game parlay falling apart at the literal last second. Things can get rough and it can leave you feeling a little sour. But you got to look at the bright side when you. Once your team is out and headed to decompress, you can finally relax. Now you can actually enjoy the postseason with all of the heart palpitations. That's why we're partnering with Jim Beam. We want to help you turn that lemon of a loss into delicious, tasty Jim Beam and lemonade. Because it's really the perfect bevy for the offseason. It's refreshing, it's got the perfect sweetness and a little bit of tang on your tongue. Best paired with stress free watching when your team is out. So gather the boys and grab some Jim Beam and lemonade to make the rest of the postseason just a little bit sweeter. Refresh your season with Jim Beam and lemonade. Best enjoyed together. Please drink responsibly. Jim Beam Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 40 alcohol by volume 2025. James B. Beam Distilling Co. Clermont, Kentucky.

[Podcast Host (Stugots Co.)]

Here I have a podcast empire. It continues to grow and I have brought it here to Ivar. I'm also doing a live radio show from 3 to 5pm Eastern because my wife wanted to kick me out of the house. It's called Stegotson company Live, which is available in podcast form right when the show finishes every single day. Some of the biggest names in sports, a lot of phone calls.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

I love you guys show. It's one of my favorites.

[Podcast Host (Stugots Co.)]

A lot of interaction, guys not taking themselves too. Seriously. Those are just some of the things that you could expect from Stugatson Co. And Stugots Co. Live. So listen to Stegotson Co. Live and and our original podcast. Please subscribe, rate and review Stugots Co. And God bless football. Taylor's livelihood depends on it. Do it today and you can check all of those out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Sam Darnold]

Welcome to the A Building. I'm Hans Charles ARMELIK Lumumba.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

It's 1969.

[Sam Darnold]

Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Have both been assassinated, and black America.

[Sam Darnold]

Was at a breaking point.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Rioting and protest broke out on an.

[Sam Darnold]

Unprecedented scale in Atlanta, Georgia. At Martin's alma mater, Morehouse College, the students had their own protest. It featured two prominent figures in black history, Martin Luther King Sr. And a young student, Samuel L. Jackson. To be in what we really thought was a revolution. I mean, people were dying. 1968, the murder of Dr. King, which traumatized everyone.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

The FBI had a role in the murder of a Black Panther leader in Chicago. This story is about protest. It echoes in today's world far more than it should, and it will blow your mind.

[Sam Darnold]

Listen to the A building on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

This is Ryder Strong, and I have a new podcast called the Red Weather.

[Sam Darnold]

It was many and many a year ago in a king.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

In 1995, my neighbor Anna Traynor disappeared from a commune.

[Podcast Host (Jim Beam Ad)]

It was hard to wrap your head around. It was nature and trees and praying and drugs.

[Sam Darnold]

So, no, I am not your guru.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

And back then, I lied to my parents, I lied to police, I lied to everybody.

[Sam Darnold]

There were years, Ryder, where I could.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Not say your name. I've decided to go back to my hometown in Northern California, interview my friends, family, talk to police, journalists, whomever I can to try to find out what actually happened.

[Sam Darnold]

Isn't it a little bit weird that they obsess over hippies in the woods and not the obvious boyfriend?

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

They have had this case for 30 years. I'll teach you sons of come around here. And my wife.

[Sam Darnold]

Boom, boom.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

This is the red weather. Listen to the red weather on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Yep.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah, Red shirt the first year, which I knew I was gonna do. So you know how a lot of quarterbacks go early school? So I didn't do that. I just went in the summer because I knew.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Smart. Hit prom.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Do it all.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah, I Played basketball, went to prom, did all the cool senior stuff to do, you know, because if, if I wouldn't have done that and then sat for a year is like, what am I doing?

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Pros and cons.

[Sam Darnold]

No, exactly. Yeah. So, yeah, redshirted, red shirted sc, sat behind Cody Kessler. And then quarterback competition started that next year with Max Brown was another, you know, five star kid coming out. Had to sit for a few years to wait a shot. Wait for his shot. And then. Yeah, and then he ended up winning the competition. Ended up playing for three games, I believe. And then I started the fourth one. We lost that one. So we started one and three and then we didn't lose a game after that.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

What was going through your mind when he won the competition? Because obviously you guys are going back and forth all campus. When did they tell you that, hey, you're not going to be the starter. Week one.

[Sam Darnold]

Basically what coach said was just we got to make the best decision for the team. And that was basically it. You know how it is. It was like very. We gotta do what's best for the team. And what's best for the team is that Max starts for us.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Really.

[Sam Darnold]

And so that was, it was very, very simple, which I respected because I was like, how am I gonna argue with that? You know, the coach thinks that he's better than me and that he gives us the best chance to win. Like, do I disagree? Yes, obviously. But that wasn't, you know, that wasn't for me to say. I was just, I just kind of took it and handled it how I handled it. And that was really it.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

And so you weren't pissed off at all by that?

[Sam Darnold]

I will. So I'll go back a little bit. He, he did mention me getting a package for like red zone stuff and some stuff for me to like run the ball in the red zone and on third and short, third and fourth and short. And so that, that kind of got me a little irritated. But I mean, everything that he said was spot on. I mean he was like, he gives us the best, best chance to win. But at the same time, we envision you having like a red zone package and a third and fourth and one package. And so I was just like, yes, coach. Because I'm like a, you know, 19, 18, 19 year old. I was just like, all right, sounds good.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah, I was much more mouthy than that, I'm sure. Yeah, my retro freshman year, they told me I wasn't starting. I told the coach to go himself.

[Sam Darnold]

Ye.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

But hey, that's. That's how it works sometimes.

[Sam Darnold]

You know, I definitely said that in my head. Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah, there you go.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Sometimes you got to let them know, you know, I'm saying things are going your way. I say, fuck you 100%, the way the deal works sometimes. So the first three games go on.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

And then what happens?

[Sam Darnold]

This guy, he gets hurt, right? No, he just got benched.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Just shitty throwing it ints left and right.

[Sam Darnold]

So he just. I mean, I'm still friends with him to this day, max.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Great guy to shit on him. Yeah, I'm sure he's a great guy. He's awesome.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah, I had to say that. But. No, he is. He really is. But. Yeah, that was probably the weirdest part, to be honest, because we're. We're boys. My freshman year, because he was kind of showing me the ropes, and, you know, when I was going out at sc, we were kind of hanging out, and, you know, he was taking me to parties, doing all that stuff, Big brother stuff. And then all of a sudden, we're in a competition together, and it was like, all right, I guess that's over. You know what I mean?

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Sam Darnold]

Doing any of that stuff anymore?

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Not partying together anymore. Nothing like that.

[Sam Darnold]

So. So that was weird part, because I was. You know, we had the same friend group, you know, boys with, you know, everyone on the team, and then some of the kids outside of. Outside of football as well. But, you know, it's just part of the deal. And. Yeah. So I thought the way that he handled it was insane, though, just perfect. The. The way that he was just. He never even said anything in the media about me or anything. He just. You handle it like a pro.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Just supported you.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

That's awesome, dude. I love that when.

[Sam Darnold]

So you.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

You play those games, and then you go on. Then you play the next year. You guys win the Pac 12 championship, correct?

[Sam Darnold]

Yes.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Win the Pac 12 championship. And then we get to the 2018 draft, and there's kind of the three guys everyone's talking about. Baker, Mayfield, you and Josh Rosen.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

And now you and Baker. Well, Baker's pretty outspoken, too, but you seem to like a guy kind of keep to himself. Don't say a whole lot. Don't read a lot of stuff.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

What are you thinking when you see Josh Rosen saying some outlandish. Going to ucla?

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah, I mean, it's just. It's hard. It makes. It just. It makes life harder.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah, but why does it make it harder on you?

[Sam Darnold]

What do you mean?

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

You said it makes life harder for him. Oh, yes.

[Sam Darnold]

That's why I don't, you know, I choose not to. And, like, honestly, like, I wouldn't. I don't know, just not in me to, like, do stuff like that. And now I do have, you know, I have great friends and a great circle, you know, great family that, you know, if there's some that I got to get off my chest, like, yeah, everyone has it. You know what I mean? But going through the media and making a scene about it, that's, you know, it's just harder to live life that way.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Sam Darnold]

You know what I mean? I mean, it makes it a little bit more fun sometimes.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

It's fun if you do well. Right, Right. But if you're the 10th overall pick getting traded the next year and then things have happened the way it's happened to him. Yeah, it's not a. It's not a good deal. And same for Baker, too. He seems like he's in a bit of a deal right now. So of all three of those quarterbacks, you're doing the best?

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

You're doing well.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Oh, absolutely. So Baker. I mean, Baker's got to find himself a new home.

[Sam Darnold]

How do you.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

What did you think about him when he came out with, like, a. See a later letter to the Browns, even before they got desean Watson?

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah. I mean, it's a tough deal, right, because you got. You got, you know, people that you think are loyal to you in terms of, you know, whatever it is in his circle at the Browns, coaches, owner, gm, whatever it is for him, saying that they're, you know, he's their guy. All this stuff, all the promises that they make. And then all of a sudden, there's rumors going out. Not necessarily rumors, but, you know, factual, you know, information out that, you know, they're looking to potentially get Deshaun Watson. And, you know, that might hit a. You know, that might hit to the core a little bit for him.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Sam Darnold]

And so that's, again, it's not. Not for me to really comment a ton on, because I don't. You know, I don't. I'm not in his shoes. I don't know what's going on in Cleveland, but, yeah, it's a tough deal, man.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Sam Darnold]

As you know, it's cutthroat business.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah. 100%.

[Sam Darnold]

I mean, not to get corny, but it is.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah. And you go third. You go third overall to the Jets. And was Adam Gase the coach then, or was the. It. Was that the year after?

[Sam Darnold]

No, he was. So Todd Bowles Todd was the coach. Bowles was our head coach in 2018, 2019 season. And then, yeah, love Todd. And McCagnon was our GM, and they were the ones who drafted me, took me in. And then that next year, Bowles gets fired, they bring in adam Gase, and McCagnon is still the GM. And then the next year, they bring in Joe Douglas as the GM with Adam Gase as the head coach.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

And so, like, hey, you hear all that stuff? Adam Gase is the dude that does like the weird eye thing right when he's getting his interview.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah, yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Like, was he just a. A crazy person or what was the deal?

[Sam Darnold]

Adam's great.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

He's a good. You loved him.

[Sam Darnold]

Great dude.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah, I love Adam because I was watching. I was watching some stuff and I was watching the. A YouTube video of, like the Patriots game. Obviously a tough one out there. And then I was watching stuff after. They're like, Adam Gates didn't do anything to help you. They didn't do slide predictions, no. Like seven man pros, no checkdowns, none of that stuff. What. What was going on during that game where he, like. Did he come and say anything to you or anything like that?

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah, well, I mean, we just watched the tape. We. We talked about some stuff. And, you know, there were. There were definitely some things where I could have done a lot more with the protection to help me out, but it was just, for lack of a better term, it was a cluster, you know, out on the field and trying to, you know, cause Bill and that. That whole Tree, Flores, Patricia, all those guys, if you can't figure out there's zero pressure and you don't have an answer, we're going to keep bringing it.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah. When they bring seven up, you think they're bringing zero.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

So you think if you get the ball out real fast, then all of a sudden they drop and they're only rushing three or four.

[Sam Darnold]

Well, yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

And then the next time they bring.

[Sam Darnold]

Them all, the one guy that rushes is the guy that you slide away from. Yeah. You know what I mean? So it's like, there's just. There's. There's a lot of. There's good ways to handle it and there's bad ways to handle it. And, you know, we didn't. We didn't handle it the best that you could have.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

When you say that was stuff you could have done for protection.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Was it like a development thing for you where you didn't know production very well?

[Sam Darnold]

I think it was just kind of getting things lined up to start. And then understanding, okay, I have five seconds on the play clock, like one of those, like, damn. Like, you know, I was trying to figure stuff out with the receivers, like, trying to give them signals, and I think it was more just trying to. We should have been more in and out of the huddle than we were that game. I think that was really the biggest issue. And then we started going on the ball, and that helped a little bit. But, I mean, yeah, we didn't. We didn't have great answers for it.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Is there anything you said to the guys, like, hey, we gotta get to the line faster so I can kind of dissect this thing? Yeah, for sure.

[Sam Darnold]

I mean, that was. That was one of the first things I said. And then we started going no huddle, which I did quite a bit of with Adam, which, you know, he did a lot of with Peyton in Denver. And so that was kind of. That was kind of the go to. If we were kind of struggling or in a rut, we would go to the no huddle stuff and try to get on the ball and create some tempo for us. But then again, like, you start to go tempo and you go three and out. Puts the defense in a shitty position, real bad position.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Another thing about tempo, too, is when you go tempo or a two minute type situation, it usually vanillas down the defense quite a bit because they have to get ready, they have to get lined up. They don't have time to make those.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah, so they were just bringing zero the whole time.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah, that was really putting the fucking pressure on you.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah, that was. When we started going no huddle, they were like, all right, we'll just keep calling it. Yeah. And, yeah, it was just a tough day.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

And you had the unanimous thing saying you got. You're saying ghosts out there, right?

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Well, like, hey, that's a tough meme.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah, it is. No, it's. It's a tough thing to. To handle, you know, to this day. But.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

So when all that. When all that stuff's cycling, what do you. What are you thinking about that?

[Sam Darnold]

It's. It's interesting because, like, in our room, in a quarterback room, we would. We would see guys kind of like in the pocket. You know, you have some quarterbacks flinch a little bit. We would say, oh, they're seeing ghosts out there. And so, like, I just, like, said that to my coach at the time, you know, when we were down 40 to nothing.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Sam Darnold]

Because I was just pissed and didn't know what to say, to be honest. And it just. It Happened and they. They got it on live tv, so.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Did they? Were you miked up?

[Sam Darnold]

Who was miked up?

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Oh, you up.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

That's on you. I was hoping it'd be like a coach or something like that, but you. You sold yourself out.

[Sam Darnold]

No, it's for sure on me. I'll take that one to the grave. I'll take that one to the grave. No doubt.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Dude. That's got to be a tough deal. But, hey, listen, everyone has bad games.

[Sam Darnold]

It's tough. Yeah, yeah. No. 100. And listen, that was. That was the worst game by far that I've ever played in my life. And I own up to it. Yeah, yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Gotta own up to it. But that week after, like, you play Sunday, and then Monday, you're just like my life.

[Sam Darnold]

No, it was Monday night. So Tuesday morning.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Tuesday morning. Thank God. It's a short week, though. Yeah. One less. You want it?

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah. 100.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Because that stuff, man, when you. When you have one of those games, like I have my. We talk about all the time. Week one, you kind of sit there, and we played at noon on Sunday, so I had the full week to think about. I'm just a piece of now, aren't I? I'm just. I'm garbage out here.

[Sam Darnold]

And then pay attention to the media.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

And, oh, hey, listen.

[Sam Darnold]

Start saying, oh, you know, you suck, dude. Yeah. Try to go find a different profession.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

It's. It's bad. And then people on Twitter, too, are just. Just wild. Yes. Should I do something different?

[Sam Darnold]

Maybe they're right.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah, it's. Dude, it's. It's just crazy how people want to manipulate things. And if you go one bad game or something happens, especially being at quarterback, I feel like it's part of the deal. But at quarterback, you live and die with the franchise. Like, if things are going well, it's like, wow, this dude's a stud. But look how great the defense is. Look how good wide receivers are. But when things aren't good, they're like, it's Sam. It's his fault. It's the quarterback's fault. Does that seem fair to you, to have all that kind of pressure all the time for quarterbacks in general, not just for you?

[Sam Darnold]

I think it is, for sure.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Why is that?

[Sam Darnold]

The money. I mean, the money that's.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

You know, there's a $30 million deal. 20 years. What time. 20 million signing bonus.

[Sam Darnold]

It was something like that.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah. You know exactly what it was. Don't do that. Don't do that, dude. But.

[Sam Darnold]

No, but it's. Again, like, I'm, I'm half joking about the money thing, but you get ready all week and, you know, there's a reason that the franchise lives and dies with the quarterback.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Sam Darnold]

Because you're the one out there. You got the ball in your hand every single play, like. And it really has become more and more as, as the game keeps progressing, it's becoming more and more of a quarterback league. And, you know, it's, it's great. You know, I think it's great for the game, you know, like, when numbers are going up, you know, passing statistics are going up. I think it's great tv, you know, for people to watch and all that. But, yeah, that's kind of my take on it. But I really do think it, you know, some of it's not warranted. Don't get me wrong. There's some stuff that people say that's, you know.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah. People putting that keyboard coach 100. I think they know exactly what's going on. They really have no idea.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah. So that, that part's tough. And then, you know, there's sometimes where, like, some guy gets it, like, spot on. You know, he's like the keyboard coach and he's like, he's like, dude, should have seen this. Like, to the left. You should have slid it to the left and got the back out. You're like, dang, dude, he's right.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah, I should, I should have done that. That's so funny, dude.

[Sam Darnold]

But, but no, it's, it rarely happens. But yeah, man, it's, it's part of the deal.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Do you do a lot of mental work at all during the off season or anything like that?

[Sam Darnold]

I, I, I started to a little bit a couple years ago, just working with someone who, not even for football, it was just to kind of clear my mind. And then there's some, you know, just some low key, like, meditation that I would do, like just by myself, like in the morning or at night before I go to bed and just clear, clear my head. But do you use an app?

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Do you like, do you like the call map or something like that?

[Sam Darnold]

Headspace a little bit? Yeah, I just mess with a little bit if I feel like I need it or if I feel like I'm, you know, why am I feeling a certain way? Like, you know what I mean? So sometimes I feel like I need it more, more days than others. But I think all that stuff's great, though. Yeah, I think there's, I don't think you can talk enough about mental health and especially in the NFL.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Why do you think it's become such a thing lately? And in the last three, four years, it's really. The mental health has. People have talked about it so much more than they have in the past.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah, I just think there's so much more attention around things that wouldn't otherwise get attention because of social media. You know, you have such a. You have such more of a. You're just kind of a fly on the wall in anyone's life now. You know, if you follow whoever it is, like Dak Prescott, you know, talking about mental health, I think is great, you know, because you look on Sundays and you look on the field and he's crushing it. And you're like, dude, this guy makes, you know. You know, he's just killing life in general. Like, he's throwing touchdowns, he's playing for the Dallas Cowboys. Like, you almost feel like he's invincible. And then all of a sudden, he comes out with, you know, all these mental struggles that he's been dealing with. And, you know, you don't realize it, but a lot of. A lot of people deal with the same stuff, you know, huge actors, a bunch of different people.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Do you think. Do you think that, like, the. The mental side of things have. Has kind of been brought up more? Because so, like you said, so many people have more access. And like, a lot of these guys and like, the old school dudes play 10, 20, 30 years ago, like, this is so soft now, but they don't realize that it used to be a newspaper clipping and that would be your news and what happened in the game before, and you wouldn't see what everybody else is saying. But now, at a click of a button, you can learn what everybody's thinking about you always.

[Sam Darnold]

Great point. Yeah, that's a great point. I think it is different. I think everything's just different. Yeah, I think to now there are. There are some times where I'm like, okay, that, you know, that's pretty soft. You know, some of the things that would happen in terms of, you know, guys, you know, missing practice for one thing or the other. You know, I think there's. There's a lot of, like, the basketball talk, I think is very interesting. Like when you hurt, when you hear guys like Michael Jordan and Larry Bird criticizing guys for, like, missing games during the middle of the season, and, you know, I get some of that. But now, you know, you look at guys like LeBron who like to do that, and LeBron's in, what, his 19th, 18th, 19th year.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

He's a unicorn.

[Sam Darnold]

He's a fricking machine. And so when that, when a guy like that sits out a game and gets a bunch of flack for it, I'm like, dude, you can't, you can't really give him for missing a game. Yeah. You know, look at what he's done with his career. Look how he literally brought Cleveland up from nothing.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

He brought Cleveland up for nothing. And then also like Michael Jordan. You. Everybody watched the, the documentary the Last Dance and he would, you know, have a couple beers before a game, eat.

[Sam Darnold]

A pizza, and that's like a round of golf.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah, you'll play around a golf game.

[Sam Darnold]

Imagine playing around a golf the day before.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

I can imagine playing a random golf in general in my life. Yeah, that's a hard ass sport. Play 18 holes. I mean, I can't do it. I know there's a couple guys in the back. Four hours, dude, I'm out there, I play three holes and I sit in the cart and I'm like, I can't do this. Drink some whistle pig and I just move on.

[Sam Darnold]

But there you go, there's the plug.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

The. Oh, yeah, you gotta. You gotta plug it a little bit too. I didn't talk about the Chevy Silverado, the most durable, reliable vehicle, but with my, with Michael, dude, it just seemed like as things have advanced more in science and how the body works and all the things you can do for your body now, I think in basketball, you play so many games. For LeBron, especially at his age too, to take a couple games, sit and not play. I mean, I think that's, that's the move. Now you would argue that people pay good money. They work super hard to come and see LeBron, come and see Kobe, Come and see those dudes. Rest in peace, Kobe. But come and see these guys. But at the same time, like, the whole goal when you play a sport is to win whatever it is at the end, whether it's a Super bowl, the NBA Finals, all that stuff. And so I think that's a smart move by him to be able to do that.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah. Did you see that thing with Eric Church going to the UNC game?

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yes, dude. Oh, my God. What do you think about that? He just dipped in the swad.

[Sam Darnold]

He did, he did. But at the same time, how is.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

It not for the boys move? A huge Eric Church fan, too.

[Sam Darnold]

He refunded the tickets, though, of everyone that went. Now they were complaining about flights and flights and hotels and stuff like that, which I get. But it's also one of. It's his dream you know, to go see a Unc Duke Final Four.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah. And that was what's his name's last game, too, right? Coach K. Coach K. Yeah.

[Sam Darnold]

But I don't know. I'm. I'm kind of. I don't know. I don't know if I want to take a side, but I'm. I lean towards Eric Church just because, like, it might be part of your dream to go see Eric Church in concert, but it's literally his childhood dream to go watch UNC Duke playing the Final Four.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Sam Darnold]

So, like, where does. Where do you draw the line of, like, whose fault is it? You know what I mean?

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah, it's. I mean, just to play devil's advocate, you. If you make a commitment to go do something and there's nothing restricting you other than a want, like you signed up for it, you signed up to be a quarterback in the NFL. So regardless of how you feel on Sunday, you're gonna go out there and play. I signed up to be a left tackle, you know, if I would. If I just dipped. We're about to play the Ravens one day, and I'm like, hey, I love it, but this team's playing this team. I really want to go see him. Hey, it's my brother's birthday. That shit doesn't happen. You know what I'm saying?

[Sam Darnold]

A big Michigan, Ohio State game this weekend, guys. I'm not gonna be able to go.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

To the walkthrough third week in November. I just can't. I can't play. Hopefully the bye weeks then. Yeah, it's like, this doesn't. Just doesn't work that way, you know?

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah, for sure.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

But, I mean, Eric Church, especially in the country music world, he's a. He's a legend like that. I love his music. I think he has three or four albums that just absolutely slay. But I don't know if that's, like, the. I mean, I don't think it's the best move to go and do that now. He can do whatever he wants with his life. He's still gonna go play that same venue probably a year later and sell it out, and it's gonna be just fine. Yeah, he's just gonna catch a little flack right now and move on. Yeah, it's tough, dude.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Eric Church thing is wild.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah. What do you think, like, the best way to, like, handle stuff like that is in terms of maybe not the Will Smith, but, like, Eric Church and, like, other things that come out about people. Like, do you think it's best to, like, post right away, or do you think it's. You just kind of eat it and then kind of let time handle it?

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

So if you're. If you're Eric Church, like, what would I say if I was Eric Church? I would get out in front of it like he did. And I think I'm a big get out in front of things guy. I like to. If I fuck up something, if I do something wrong, I feel like I have to tell everybody around me because there's a part of me that has, like, this anxiety about if I know I did something wrong and everybody else here knows I did something wrong, there's like, this barrier that, like, they're thinking it and I know it.

[Sam Darnold]

So, like.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

And we're not talking about it. For me, I'm like, I just got to talk about it to make sure. Like, this is what I was thinking. This is what happened. And then that's just. That's just how I am. I think you can go a lot of ways about it, but, yeah, I. I mean, there's a lot of stuff I see where I'm like, why wouldn't someone just say it, Something like this right away? Like, if you know your agent's speaking for you in a contract negotiation. I like when I was doing my contract with John Robinson, I just went and spoke to him, and they're like, hey, you shouldn't go do that. You shouldn't go do X Y. I'm like, I gotta get up there and just see them face to face and be like, this is how I feel.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Where? What are you thinking? And then it takes the business side of it. Now you're having a personal conversation. Yeah, I mean, I like to think so. I'm still here, you know, so things are going all right. Yeah, but what would you do? Would you let everybody else handle it? Yeah. You like that, too?

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah, I think that's definitely the move. Dude, should we do that tear talk now? Because I know we have to do two. So we have two segments. There's the locker room talk and the tear talk, which is kind of redundant, huh?

[Sam Darnold]

Okay. Five stadiums he's ever played in, top five wide receivers he's ever played with.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

God, that's tough. Well, I guess I'll give you that. Which. What do you want to do?

[Sam Darnold]

We'll definitely need some top five QBs to ever play at us. I'll do that.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

We'll see that. Okay.

[Sam Darnold]

So I could do.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

I mean, the way. The way bust with the boys work is we have tiers so tier ones, the die hard cats on our podcast, the ones that get tattoos. You guys see the guy who got a tattoo on his thigh?

[Sam Darnold]

No way.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

He had a bee with the. With the horns and everything. I loved. If we could put up his little name in that picture in this video.

[Sam Darnold]

Does this guy have a lot of tats?

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

It looked. It was a bare leg. It looked like a bare leg. Outstanding tattoo. They had a great tattoo artist.

[Sam Darnold]

It's different if you're, like, tatted up. You know what I mean? Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

If you're gunned. You can kind of just do whatever.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

You know, whatever you want.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah. No one's gonna see anything.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Right. So when. So he would be qualified as a tier one guy. Tier twos, like, you follow, you comment, you subscribe, you rate five stars.

[Sam Darnold]

Okay.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Those types of things. And then tier three are the people that kind of sit in the background. Then you see like a friend or something like that. Like, hey, I heard you're doing pretty good. Oh, hey, the podcast is doing all right. That type of thing. That's a tier three guy.

[Sam Darnold]

Got it.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

So on these tier talk options, you have to give me your top five quarterbacks. So I guess we're doing five tiers today, boys.

[Sam Darnold]

Okay. In order.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

In order of who you want. Hit the. Hit the names. You can talk about them if you want. You don't have to talk. You can just hit us right away. But I need your tier 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 of these names on the board.

[Sam Darnold]

Yep. Can the. The audience see who's on the board?

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

We'll put it up for them.

[Sam Darnold]

Okay, that's fine.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah. Boss is a whiz back there.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

See a couple names coming out right now.

[Sam Darnold]

I'd go Carson one, Carson one.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Okay.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Carson Palmer. Why Carson Palmer?

[Sam Darnold]

I think just. I mean, he won a Heisman at sc.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

That's a fair.

[Sam Darnold]

Won a national championship. Okay. All right. Yeah, he hadn't. For a lot of people that don't know, he actually had a great career. Had some injuries that he's dealt with and, you know, kind of handled it, I think, very professionally. Could have thrown some people under the bus, too, in terms of what happened in his career, in terms of some. Some different things with some certain teams, but I think he handled it like a pro, and I just respect him a ton. And he's a baller. Then I'll go liner, Liner at two. Yeah, yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Leonard's a stud, man. Him, we said before, him and Reggie Bush, that little duo they had, it was unreal, unreal.

[Sam Darnold]

It was the sickest thing to grow up and watch them play football.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah. About that name above Matt Leiner and what do you think about that one?

[Sam Darnold]

No, I don't. I don't recognize it.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

No, no, no either.

[Sam Darnold]

So I know this is. This is tough because I know Mark and Matt Sanchez and Barkley.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Sam Darnold]

So I hope they're listening right here and we can have a. I mean.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Mark's much more handsome than Matt.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah, that's debatable as well.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

You think so?

[Sam Darnold]

It just depends, you know, if you're into, you know, Bonds or Burnett, you know. Yeah, yeah, exactly. That whole thing that Mark has going on. Maddie.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Big NFT guy. Matt nft.

[Sam Darnold]

Bitcoin guy.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Loves the bitcoin shoot.

[Sam Darnold]

I'm a Go Mark. I'm a Go Mark.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Three.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

God. How does Matt feel about that? He follows the pod.

[Sam Darnold]

I know. I'm just going to go Mark, just because, I mean. I mean, Matt did some great things at sc, but, you know, I think he would have won a Natty with that team that wasn't allowed to win a Natty because of the sanctions.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Shout out B. Carroll.

[Sam Darnold]

But yeah, Mark won the Rose bowl and stuff, so Mark had a great career too. So Mark and then Matt and then I'd go, rodney, Pete, you're not going.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

To put yourself in that list.

[Sam Darnold]

Myself? Yeah. Who's that?

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yourself. Yourself. And I said myself, but yourself. Sorry. Yourself.

[Sam Darnold]

No, you. No, I mean, I'm not gonna do that.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

I don't even know who Rodney Pete is.

[Sam Darnold]

Rodney Pete. Look up his highlights.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

When do you play?

[Sam Darnold]

Sick player. I don't even know. But I've seen some of his highlights. Just being around SC dude is being.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Too humble on this podcast right now.

[Sam Darnold]

No, dude, you played. These guys are ballers.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Oh, we played in the 80s.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Get the fuck out of here, dude. Totally different game. Leather helmets and shit back then or whatever. Dude.

[Sam Darnold]

He had a solid NFL career, too.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

I don't know.

[Sam Darnold]

It's tough, dude, because you didn't grow up with it and you don't know.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

And doing these tiers too are difficult because you got to take away the NFL part because you just got to talk about college. I know, because eating Mark Sanchez, you had the butt fumble, right.

[Sam Darnold]

You could probably play the Matt.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

I don't know. That's all I remember. That's all I know. Yeah, that thing lived on the. Not top 10 forever, right? Yeah, months. Years. I think it was retired. Did you can't even see the film on this thing. It's so grainy. This looks like NFL Blitz 2000.

[Sam Darnold]

That's Rodney Pete at quarterback, right? Yeah. Okay. I thought so. Looks like him.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

That's a dime. I mean, you should have threw him in stride. Am I right?

[Sam Darnold]

I mean, it was a dime, dude.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

You put Rodney. Some dude that played in the 80s. No offense to Rodney, I'm sure. I'm positive he doesn't watch this podcast, so it doesn't matter what I say.

[Sam Darnold]

But you, you never know.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

You never know. Exactly. But you're going to put him over you. You're the third overall pick in 2018, dude.

[Sam Darnold]

Ronnie Pizza baller. Look at him.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

I don't know.

[Sam Darnold]

We're also watching NFL highlights. If you go back to SC highlights. The way we're judging, I guess the tier.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

I want to go to USC so bad.

[Sam Darnold]

They were telling me before you got here.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah, usc, Texas, or any SEC school besides Vanderbilt or Kentucky.

[Sam Darnold]

How does Michigan feel about that when you say stuff like that?

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Well, I, Well, I say when I was in high school and then I had like an up and down deal with Michigan towards the end of my career there.

[Sam Darnold]

In terms of one of the boosters.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

No, I never got paid. Never got paid. I'm sure you did the Hollywood stuff. There's so much. You never got money. You never got a free meal. You never went out to eat. And they're like, hey, go ahead. You're lying like a rug, dude. It's okay. We're out. You can't get in trouble anymore.

[Sam Darnold]

I actually never got paid.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Do you know guys in your team that did for sure. Well, go ahead. What you got? Oh, I got use name, Social Security numbers. Let me hear the whole thing.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah, Social Security numbers. I won't name any names, but I'll give Social Security numbers.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

There you go. Yeah, that's. I mean there's lots of dudes that. People get paid all the time. I mean, sec. You know what I'm talking about over there, T. Yeah.

[Sam Darnold]

Hey, it means more, allegedly.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

You think Tennessee's paying dudes out there?

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

You know what I mean, dude? Yeah, that's right. The nil thing. We'll do locker room talking a little bit because they said they want us to do this. All get cuts up too, so it's gonna sound way better. We'll do locker room talk in a second. So you get, you get drafted to the, The Jets. What is that fan base? Like before you got traded?

[Sam Darnold]

Before I got. So, so when I got drafted.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah, when he got drafted. A couple years there. Yeah.

[Sam Darnold]

Great.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

They're. They're they're love like that.

[Sam Darnold]

I mean they'll let you know when you fuck up.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

There's no question. But they. They just seem like they're like on par with the Eagles.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah, no, it's. It's a very. I mean they're devotional fans, man. Like they're. There be. There'd be games where, you know our season's not going great and they would. The stadium was. I mean, pretty, pretty solid. It was fun to play in loud. It is a great fan base. Loyal.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Loved em.

[Sam Darnold]

But yeah, you know, thing things don't go well and they'll let you know about it. Yeah. I respect. Honestly give your face though.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah, that's. You're playing a little vanilla on me right now. And I know there's a little something behind it that probably pissed you off. Those jets fans.

[Sam Darnold]

I mean. Yeah. You know, there's. There's a lot that, you know, people would say stuff and you know. But again, like I said, like when you. When you're in the social media world and people are talking so much shit online, you respect it so much more when people say it to your face.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah, I. There's only been a handful of times someone says something to my face.

[Sam Darnold]

Right.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

But jets fans really do it like that all the time.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

So tough. You go into it, you're going to a little deli out there, grabbing a.

[Sam Darnold]

Sandwich and somebody's like, there was a place. So I love. So I love this place in New Jersey. I'm not going to say the name.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Okay. Yeah, no free shout outs. I love that 100.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah. And I don't live there anymore, so. But no great people. But there would be people that would. All the people that go there are jets fan. Like they have like the old school, like 80s letterman jacket. Like, you know, I'm like, did you play for the Jets? They're like, nah, I'm just a big fan. And so they're actually hard hats. Like they're all fireman edge guys. So. No, but like great fans. But they, they would definitely be like, hey, what the. Are we doing? Like, can we. Can we get the ball to. Can we put Demarius Thomas out there more often? Like when he catches the ball, he does something with it every time. Yeah. And it's like, hey, you're not wrong. Like, I hear you. But he's. He's dealing with some, some hamstring issues right now.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Right. But they don't care about that at all.

[Sam Darnold]

He knows about. You know what I mean? And so it's Just stuff like that. But honestly, it was. It's fun to have those conversations, you know what I mean? Because they're, like, critiquing, like, what we should do and strategy and stuff like that. The part that pisses me off is when people judge, like, my game, like, how I'm playing. Then I'm like, hey, bud, like, go strap it up. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, I was like, you're a fan, and I respect you being a fan. You can talk all the shit you want, and I'm not gonna do anything about it at the end of the day, but, like, take it easy.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Like.

[Sam Darnold]

Like, what if I was like, hey, like, the house you just worked on, piece of shit.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Like, yeah, you're.

[Sam Darnold]

You're so bad at tiling. Like, you should really go get another job, really think about your profession. Yeah. You know, it's like, sometimes you just want to say stuff like that, but you can't.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Why? Why not?

[Sam Darnold]

I mean, yeah, I could. Yeah, I'm not going to.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

No, I'm with you. I wouldn't say that either.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah. It always sounds so good to think about because you're on that. On that Twitter. You see somebody say something like, yeah.

[Sam Darnold]

Like, even now, I feel like a coward. You know what I mean?

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Sam Darnold]

Damn.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Like he said, now I feel like a coward.

[Sam Darnold]

Like that guy. That guy that's sitting here listening to that podcast like that, the jets fans. Like, now I actually know what he wanted to say to me, but he didn't.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah. Oh, there's an actual Tyler out there.

[Sam Darnold]

No, I don't know.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

I don't know. Probably was Carpenter and like, yeah, yeah, dude, that is a tough deal when people talk like that because you think they think they can do it. You go out to a bar and people say something to you and they're like, hey, what? Why don't you guys do this instead? It's like, well, why aren't you the coach? Why aren't you doing this whole thing? Because they can't love the fans. I don't want to feel like I'm being harder than he is. You're being so nice. I feel like I'm being a little too much of an asshole right now.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah, it's like when we were talking about Max earlier.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah. Yeah, I feel bad about that, too. I owe him a written apology. I'm just kind of shitting on him right away. You're like, oh, he's a great guy. I'm like, yeah, I bet he is.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Max just playing both sides of the fence on you. So when. When the. When you start hearing trade rumors about everything, how did that process go for you? Like, did, like, did they tell you, hey, we're thinking about trading you? Did you hear it from the media first? What was that whole process? Like?

[Sam Darnold]

They're. They were. They were just like, hey, we got to figure some stuff out. When I was leaving, this is exit interview, like, right season, so they don't know anything. They might know what they want to do, but they don't know exactly how they're going to do it. So they just tell me, hey, we're gonna. We're gonna look at, you know, people in the draft and free agents, and, like, you know, we'll. We'll be in touch. And so right. Right when they said that, I was like, okay, like, it's. It's a wrap.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

So how'd that make you feel when you heard all that?

[Sam Darnold]

I was just like, you know, I think you guys are making a mistake. Obviously, you told him that? Yeah, for sure.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Fuck yeah, dude. Nice work.

[Sam Darnold]

But, like, you know, at the end of the day, it's. It's not, you know, that's not my call. So if, you know, they don't think I'm the guy for them, then, you know, it is what it is. But. So I just kind of reached out to my agent. I was just like, hey, like, I'm not gonna pay attention. I'm. I'm gonna, like, not pay attention to social media at all. Just, like, let me know if what happens.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Mm.

[Sam Darnold]

Like, I was like, if you want to, like, tell me rumors, like, I'm fine with that. Like, rumors that are real, not just like, yeah, bullshit. So, yeah, so I was just like, let me know if anything changes. And then got a call. I don't even know when, but I think it was a little bit before the draft. And they were like, yeah, we're gonna. Or it was from my agent, first of all. Literally, it was. It was crazy. So my agent calls me. He's like, hey, like, the Panthers are trading for you. It's gonna come out here in a second. And, like, right as he's saying that, my phone rings. I had a call from Joe Douglas, the GM with the Jets. I was like, hey, like, the GM's calling me. I gotta pick this up real quick. And so Joe called me, and, very respectful, just told me straight up what the deal was, and I was like, all right, you know, sounds good.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

No, no thank yous, nothing. You're just like, all right, see you.

[Sam Darnold]

No, he was like, hey, we appreciate everything you've done for the organization ever since you've gotten here, but we're gonna, you know, move in a different direction.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Sam Darnold]

And.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah, so when we were talking about how, like, we like to get in front of things, like, when somebody knows something that you don't or, you know, that somebody knows something, when you're going through that process, when you talk to the team and they say, hey, we'll let you know how everything goes. And then between that and before the draft, you get traded, how you, like, how are you processing those emotions of, like, wondering? Because, you know, you're not looking at social media, but at the same time, you know, there's stuff out there saying X, Y, and Z. Because, I mean, it's a huge media market with the Jets. People talk about them all the time.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah. I mean, it's. It's tough, dude, because, like, you. What are we doing?

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

I know. Clown horn going off. Just. I'm a very popular guy.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah. I was joking, by the way.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

I know you were. Don't worry, it's all good.

[Sam Darnold]

Taylor's like, I'm going to kill this guy.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

I fucked this dude, man. Get him out of here.

[Sam Darnold]

No, but it was. It was weird because, like, you know, I have that conversation, the exit interview, and then I just go about, you know, my business as usual, and I'm like. Because we. They. They hired Robert Sala, the new coach for the jets, and I'm talking to the oc, like, Michael Fluor and Matt's brother, and then Greg Knapp, you know, God rest his soul. But I mean, we were in conversation for, you know, up until I got traded, basically, about the offense, what we're going to do, and so when. This year?

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah. So when they're calling you, talking about what they're going to do, were you like, oh, I'm safe?

[Sam Darnold]

No, I mean, because I knew, you know, like I said in the exit interview, I was like, okay, I feel like these guys are leaning, you know, in a different direction. So I always knew that deep down. But, you know, like, anything I do, I was just like, I'm just gonna, you know, put everything I got into learning this new offense, and if it works out. It doesn't. You know, if it works out, it does. If it doesn't, it doesn't.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Sam Darnold]

And that was just kind of my mindset going into it. I was like, I might as well, like, keep myself busy, learn the offense and work out and do all the normal things that I do. And, you know, because the worst thing is, like, sitting on something, you know, just. Just sitting, you know, waiting to see what happens. It's like, just keep yourself busy. That's. That's how I kind of deal with stuff like that, honestly.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah. I'm a plow through right in the middle guy. I got to worry about and figure it out. I got to. I got to know what the hell is going on in my life.

[Sam Darnold]

But I respect that, though.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

I respect what you're talking about.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Now look at us. Back on the same page. 100% insulted my phone and me. And now look at us. We're back to being best friends again.

[Sam Darnold]

So popular.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

I love it. So popular. I have three text messages. I think they're all from my wife. So you get traded, the Panthers, the GM calls you and he says, I appreciate everything you've done. Blah, blah. What's the next. What is it like when you're getting treated like, what is that? How does that work? Do you go immediately to Carolina?

[Sam Darnold]

Yep.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

To figure it all out?

[Sam Darnold]

Yep. So, obviously, talk to the gm, talked to Coach Rule, went to Carolina, met everyone. Met. There are probably like four or five players that were actually there training, but so met some of the guys, talked some of the guys on social media through text, had a dinner with some of the guys as well with, like, gm, owner, head coach, a few other players that were there that were in town during the off season. And I was just there for a couple days, you know, did the whole media thing. You know, sitting in front of the locker, putting the jersey on and. Yeah. And I flew back home and started learning the offense.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Nice. And so you live in California in the off season. God, it's a beautiful time.

[Sam Darnold]

It's great.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Beautiful time being there. Great.

[Sam Darnold]

Bought a place four years ago, redid it through my first season while I was in New York, and then came back and been loving it for the last three years.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

That's awesome. So this year, you start off 3, 0, things are going great. You get injured week nine, correct?

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah, that's what it said. I also don't remember.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

I think that's what it said. Yeah. We do have notes up here. Cam Newton comes in and takes a spot or whatever. What was that process like with Cam coming back and he scores a touchdown? I'm back doing all that shit. Is Cam as obnoxious as he seems?

[Sam Darnold]

Cam is the best.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

I take it back. I think. Is he as awesome as he seems?

[Sam Darnold]

Best dude. No. Honestly, I'm being dead.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

He flexed so hard on us back in the day, dude. When he was at the. When he was originally with the Panthers.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

God, I think they won the super bowl or I went to the super bowl that year. That was the year I was on Wesley Woodyard and Avery Williams. He was doing the dance, and then Avery came up and got in his face and he did it to him again.

[Sam Darnold]

I know Avery. Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

God, yeah, Avery's a great dude. But ever since then, I was like, man, fuck that dude. Can't, man. Just flexing on everybody. Guys got charisma. Like, no one's charisma.

[Sam Darnold]

Personality like you've never seen in your life.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

So when you get injured and they bring Cameron, what's your thought?

[Sam Darnold]

You know, I was just like, okay, like, see what the deal is? Like, yeah, this is like middle of the season. I'm just trying to get healthy, honest, honestly. And I was just like, all right. Like, you know, and yeah, he was a great dude. Great guy to have in the QB room. Great guy to just have around in general because his energy is unmatched. And then. Yeah, and then I come back and play and he's a great guy. Like I said, just a great guy to have at practice. Great guy to have on your team. I literally have nothing bad to say about Cam.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Is he like. Is he the way he seems on media always? No, he's not always that high up. High energy.

[Sam Darnold]

No. I mean, there's, you know, just like anyone else, he's like. He's just gonna be quiet and, like, do his work and sit in the QB room, watch tape, take notes. He's gonna, like, be in the training room with his headphones on and the hot tub headphones on, like, just chilling with a towel around his neck. You know, it's like he's a normal dude, but, you know, when he gets out to practice, when he Getting ready for games, and there's times, you know, in the locker room and stuff where he gets. He gets very charismatic and very high energy, and it's awesome. But, yeah, he's just. He's just a natural born leader.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah, he's just.

[Sam Darnold]

He got. He has that energy and. Yeah, I'll. I mean, just the things that I've learned from him in terms of. Because he's dealt with a ton of stuff.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

A lot of. A lot of stuff.

[Sam Darnold]

A lot of ups and downs in his career and the way that he's handled it and the way that he talks about how he's handled it, just so much respect. And. Yeah, he's a great dude.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

He was MVP one year, and then A couple years later, it's like, it's not going the way he wants it to.

[Sam Darnold]

Oh, yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

He had trouble finding a job for a little bit, so to go through that kind of adversity, and he just seems like every time he gets on a team or does something, he's the same dude over and over again. You got to respect that.

[Sam Darnold]

Oh, yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Got to respect that. So this year, I know you don't. You don't read a lot of stuff, but there are a lot of people are talking about whether the Panthers draft the guy, whether they. They were in the deshaun Watson talk for a little bit of trading for the quarterback. Like, what is. You obviously, like, you say you don't look at the social media stuff, Which I'm not sure 100 believe yet, but.

[Sam Darnold]

I see some stuff. Yeah. And then. But I really try not to pay attention to it.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Sam Darnold]

I don't even know if I try not to pit. It's just that I don't. Yeah. I mean. Cause it was so. It was. You know, New York was on another level, so it was like, you know, I kind of figured out how to handle it there, and I was, like, kind of going back and forth, you know, between my rookie, My first year and my third year. It was like I figured out how to best handle it for myself, and I was just not really paying attention to it. So that's why I've handled it. And I've kind of done the same thing this off season where, like, I'm just trying to learn Coach McAdoo's system, and that's where I'm at. Just wait. I mean.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah. So do you get nervous when the draft's coming up or anything like that? With possibilities of them drafting a quarterback at six or.

[Sam Darnold]

It's just. Dude, it's. It's literally like, this is a lot.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Harder questions than I usually ask on this thing. I apologize.

[Sam Darnold]

This is good because no one. To be honest, no one ever asked me these questions because they're. You know, whether they're afraid or they don't. They don't want to bring it up. You know, just a normal, everyday conversation.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Sam Darnold]

So, no, this is truly, like, the first time I've ever answered questions like this. But, dude, it's like, honestly, whatever happens, I'm prepared for it. And, you know, at the end of the day, someone's got an answer for it, whether it's, you know, whoever it is. So the gm, coach, whatever. If something happens like that, then it's like, all right, I'm gonna see what they have to say, and that's about it.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah, yeah, I mean, I hear what you're saying, but it's got. For me, it'd be like a tough. That'd be a tough thing to kind of to feel and knowing when you're, when you're a quarterback because, you know, like.

[Sam Darnold]

Well, it's the Baker thing. It's.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah, it's the Baker thing and it's understanding. You're, like, trying to understand your thought process of, like, how you're not looking at. You're not paying attention. You're just focused on what you're trying to do, which is be a great quarterback. The only issue is, like, if they. So they do draft a guy at 6, you got, you know how the, you know how the politics of the NFL work. You know, that guy from Liberty, whatever his name is. If they, let's say they draft him, you got to sit there and know that if you guys play well in camp, you might start the beginning, but at some point in time, the owner, the gm, is going to start telling the head coach, we got to get our first round pick to play, you know, and so that's gotta, that's gotta ruffle some feathers on the inside a little bit. It's gotta be tough to think that, like. I'll give you. I'll give you an example.

[Sam Darnold]

So in 2000, ego. Little shot to the ego.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah, it is a shot to the ego. In 2016, we had the number one overall pick and John Robinson was the new GM, and everybody that, all the analysts, the experts were saying that we need to draft a guy, number one overall offensive tackle and move me to right tackle. And so at that point, I, I won't play right tackle. It's nothing against right tackles. It's just I'm a left tackle and that's what I'm going to play. And if they say if to play right tackle, I'm out of here. You know, that's just how I work. And so I meet with John a couple weeks. It's like the middle of April or something like that. And he's asked me, like, how I feel about all this whole thing, and I kind of just tell him. I was like, you know, the first overall pick's a lot of money to pay for a right tackle because I'm a left tackle. We go through a couple weeks of OTAs and they end up trading the pick away. You know what I'm saying? So, like, that for me, that's like when I had, like, I've said anything that comes to me, I want to barrel through it so people know how I feel. I don't leave anything up to. I wonder what he was thinking or that you know exactly how I'm feeling and stuff like that. So just when the draft is coming, it's got to be a hard feeling or wondering what is the possibility. It's nothing you can control, truly. But the thought of it coming coming up is. It's got to be a difficult thing at times.

[Sam Darnold]

For sure. Yeah. I mean, it truly is. And this is. This is kind of where you're not going to believe what I say. But just bear with me.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

I'll be ready.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah, it truly is. Like, whatever happens, happens, because that's at the end of the day, like, it's out of my control.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Sam Darnold]

And I know that. And so I have enough security in myself to where I can be. Like, I know I'm a good quarterback. No, I can be a good quarterback in this league. I've proved it. And I know there's a team if, you know, something happens that would want me. Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

So I feel like the emotional mature to handle it. Like, that is impressive. Like, I think I go about. I'm not saying the way I do things is a mature way, because I don't. I think it's like it can be a little reckless sometimes and for you to have the head on your shoulders you do as a quarterback, that you would want.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah, I think. I think it's. It's all about who you surround yourself with, too. That's. That's how I've always thought. Like, my parents, my family, my friends that I have back home. Like, all my high school buddies are all my best friends. So, you know, obviously there's guys in college that I, you know, I'm boys with too. But, like, I'm best friend. I have like six or seven best friends in high school that were kind of with me before all this shit started happening. So I just kind of roll with them and, you know, if I start getting a big head, then they let me know about it.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

That's impressive.

[Sam Darnold]

So, you know. Yeah, that's pretty much it.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Having boys like that around you is really special to have definitely people that'll keep in your place. For sure. The locker room talk segment is the last thing, I promise. Okay. So the whole point of the locker room segment, it's a new thing we started last week. We started with Fred Taylor, and it's basically like something like you're sitting with the boys in the Locker room, a story, whether it's off the field, on the field that you don't usually talk about. With the mainstream media, we're definitely not the mainstream media. But with media type people, we're not trying to be mainstream. We're definitely not trying to be mainstream. Buttoned up is not our forte. Yeah, but as far as locker room.

[Sam Darnold]

Talk, no one's gonna listen to this.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

I know we have millions of viewers. Millions. We're not in mainstream. You know what I'm saying? We're not the ESPNs.

[Sam Darnold]

Okay. I feel like. I don't know if I can even.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Kind of a weird way to segue, like a segment too. Like, just to ask, hey, tell us a cool story.

[Sam Darnold]

Right?

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

You know, it's kind of tough.

[Sam Darnold]

No, it's kind of funny. Is ESPN even. I don't know, like, is TV mainstream media now? Like, is that. I mean, maybe it really is, but like, podcasts and YouTube are starting to become a little more.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

It's definitely transitioning quite a bit because.

[Sam Darnold]

I know, like, I'll sit on YouTube for hours, you know, and not watch a lick of TV, so maybe I'm just different.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah, ESPN, they let off like 100. Laid off like 100 people a couple of years ago. And it's. I mean, it's tough. Shout out all the grinders out there in the mainstream media, though. Shout. Shout out, you guys. But the podcast, like, you see a Pat McAfee is doing, I think he's the most watched dude. Oh, yeah. Of all the places, right? Guys making, I would say close to $100 million a year right now.

[Sam Darnold]

I mean, Rogan.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah, Rogan's out there too, but he's not. I mean, he's not sports, but yeah, he crushes CNN and NBC. We had Brandon Schaub on here and they were saying, like, all those mainstream news medias take like a week, two weeks to just gain one of his episodes. And he's putting out three of those a week. 13 million views.

[Sam Darnold]

Hawking.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Just talking. He's. Dude, he's incredible at having conversations with people too. Yeah, incredible.

[Sam Darnold]

Could you have a four hour conversation?

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah, I think I could.

[Sam Darnold]

You could? Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Well, it's. It's usually the conversation usually goes off of who you're talking to. Right. Like, if, for sure, if Joe's on here, he's a. He's an excellent speaker, keeps things flowing and he loves talking. So I don't think that'd be an issue at all for sure to be on with him, but. Locker room segment. Sorry.

[Sam Darnold]

Okay.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Locker room talk. What kind of story do you got for us that's going to bless the bus?

[Sam Darnold]

You mean besides all the dudes running around naked in the locker room?

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yes.

[Sam Darnold]

Okay.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah, we can talk about. If you peek at meat, too, in a second.

[Sam Darnold]

Okay.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Big part of our thing, T. Riffs.

[Sam Darnold]

Riffs only.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

No, I' ma lock eyes with that kind of guy. Yeah. I think I've just moved on to not caring anymore.

[Sam Darnold]

Hey, you gotta. You got kids, right?

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah, I got kids.

[Sam Darnold]

Okay.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

I don't know what that has to do with anything. Oh, yes. Wife.

[Sam Darnold]

You know what I mean? Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

It's the best cover up I've ever had in my entire life. It's outstanding.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah. Oh, man. Locker room story. I don't know if it's not like a locker room story, but it's. It happened after the Rose bowl game. We were in the Rose bowl, and school's on winter break, and so. So no one's at school. And so we're like, what do we do? Like, literally, I'm like, didn't have a planned out, like, nothing.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Just won the Rose Bowl. Don't know what to do.

[Sam Darnold]

Rose bowl, like, what do we do? You know, can't go out. You know, got my IDs taken away. If that's not allowed to be on this, we can take that out, I'm sure.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

But yeah, we won't. But. All right. I'm just kidding.

[Sam Darnold]

Got my. Got my IDs taken away. And so I was, like, 19, I think, at the time. And so I literally was like, what do we do? So we go back an hour south down in my hometown, and I literally. All those guys I mentioned, we just had a time. We had a time at. At my buddy's house who had a bunch of people over. He had a sick backyard Jacuzzi, all that stuff. So all the stuff you enjoy when you're 19 years old. So we had a few drinks and ended up. We ended up thinking it was a good idea to DM Snoop Dogg.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Okay.

[Sam Darnold]

Because he wasn't, you know, he wasn't involved with USC anymore. And I was like, dude, he'd for sure respond. All my buddies were like, hyping me up, like, dude, you just won the Rose Bowl. Like, you should be able to talk to him. And to this day, like, seven years, however long it is, years later, no response.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Snoop hasn't said a word.

[Sam Darnold]

Nothing.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

He's SC guy, dude. That is a tough feel.

[Sam Darnold]

It cut to the core.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

I really thought that was gonna go to, like, he. And he Hit us up and we went to his house.

[Sam Darnold]

We went to his house. Yeah. Nah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Dude. Yeah. Did he read it?

[Sam Darnold]

So sorry for everyone listening because that was a, you know, tough story, but.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Student dog is good.

[Sam Darnold]

Did he anything with Snoop? Yeah. But nothing, dude.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Not a. Didn't read it or anything.

[Sam Darnold]

I don't know. He was probably like, who are these kids? Like just recording videos. Like send them whatever. Loop. Yeah. Just like dumb stuff.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

But these dumbass crackers just.

[Sam Darnold]

That's probably what he said. But yeah, it was just like send him a video. And he just never responded. And I was pretty devastated.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah. That's got to be tough when you put yourself out there.

[Sam Darnold]

100.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Especially when you tell the boys. Yeah. You probably respond and they're like, oh, you for sure would.

[Sam Darnold]

It wasn't even my idea. It was like one of my boys ideas.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Sam Darnold]

And I was just like a couple.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Hours go by and it's like, oh, it's not looking good for Sam.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah. Right. That was. That was kind of like where it. Where it came from was like we wanted something to go do. You know, an Uber up to LA probably wouldn't be super cheap, but we're gonna do it. If you like was like, yeah, like come out with the boys. You know, it'd be a good time. And just never responded.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Fighting with Snoop Dogg would be all.

[Sam Darnold]

Time Would have been sick.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

You'd be so high.

[Sam Darnold]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Regardless of whether you wanted to or not.

[Sam Darnold]

Right? Yeah. Second hand.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Just. Second hand. Just stoned out of your mind.

[Sam Darnold]

100.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

You think it'd be harder to smoke with Snoop Dogg or Willie Nelson?

[Sam Darnold]

Willie Nelson.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

You think it'd be harder? Well, elaborate. Why do you think?

[Sam Darnold]

I think there was a story that came out of Willie Nelson smoking. It was like Snoop and Wiz Khalifa. Under the bus.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

No. Yeah, under the bus.

[Sam Darnold]

There you go.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah. I think Toby Keith wrote a song about he'll never smoke weed with Willie Nelson again. Yeah, he was like that.

[Sam Darnold]

I don't know. That's what I heard. I think I heard that. Maybe it was. Maybe it was flipped. But I'm pretty sure it was Willie Nelson.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

And those two, Whiz Khalifa and Snoop Dogg. They like.

[Sam Darnold]

Those are the guys. Those are the weed guys?

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah, those are the weed guys.

[Sam Darnold]

I mean, Seth Rogen. Yeah, yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

No doubt. Seth Rogen does get after it, doesn't he? Listen, dude, I had an outstanding time. I think you. I hope you had a great time. We love having you on the bus. Thank you for sharing all that stuff. Let's give a round applause Mr. Sam Donald. Outstanding stuff. Don't forget to subscribe and rate five stars. Please do that. 70% of our audience, they've told us 70% just watches don't follow. So go and click that subscribe button so we can just send this thing to the moon. God bless each and every one of you. It.