Sam Darnold making history as first USC QB to start Super Bowl only adds to legacy as all-time great Trojan

You don't need to dive deep into the historical notes for Super Bowl LX to find one of the most mind-blowing facts for a college football fan. Because while the USC quarterback has been a glamour position in the sport for much of the modern era, producing 26 NFL Draft picks and three Heisman Trophy winners, Sunday's game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots will mark the first time in Super Bowl history with a former Trojans signal-caller in the starting lineup. 

Sam Darnold's journey from No. 3 overall pick to presumed bust then back to being one of the best quarterbacks in the league is a redemption story that NFL fans have celebrated for much of the last two seasons. But that support pales in comparison to the unwavering love that Darnold has from USC fans, who have celebrated him as one of the program's all-time gret quarterbacks long before he broke through as the school's first Super Bowl starter. 

Darnold did not win a Heisman Trophy like Carson Palmer or Caleb Williams. He did not win a national championship like Matt Leinart, who did both, but he was a hero at a time when USC football had lost its footing. He was the star for school's first Rose Bowl win and Pac-12 championship since the Pete Carroll era, and his 20 wins as a starter highlighted the most successful two-year run for USC football in the 2010s.

Sam Darnold went from bust to journeyman to Super Bowl starter. What can NFL teams learn from his path?

Zachary Pereles

Ryan Abraham is the owner and publisher of USCFootball.com, which has been running since 1996 and is currently the home for all things Trojans on the 247Sports network. He describes a relationship between Darnold and USC fans that has seen the community "really gravitate and circle the wagons" around their former star quarterback during this redemption arc of his pro career. 

"Sam Darnold is a USC legend," Abraham said this week. "To talk about him with the Trojan fanbase, even though he hasn't had a ton of success -- many people consider him a bust in the NFL with the Jets and in Carolina getting benched -- he still has legendary status among the USC fanbase."

USC QBs drafted into the NFL

Being legendary requires excellence in the face of unique or difficult circumstances, and Darnold arrived to USC at a time when both were in play. Darnold was redshirting during the chaotic 2015 season that saw Steve Sarkisian dismissed in mid-October and Clay Helton eventually get the full-time job after going 5-2 against Pac-12 opponents to close out the year, earning a spot in the conference title game. 

But any fanfare for Helton's promotion was dimmed by back-to-back losses to close 2015 and a 52-6 blowout loss to Alabama to start 2016, his first full season as the permanent head coach. Darnold, then a redshirt freshman, played in the opening weeks but did not become a starter until Week 4. His first challenge? Battling Kyle Whittingham's Utah Utes on a Friday night in Salt Lake City. USC's offense was better with Darnold running the show, but the Trojans blew a 27-17 fourth-quarter lead to the Utes to lose by four and fall to 1-3 on the year. It was clear Darnold would be the new QB1 in Los Angeles, but the outlook for USC football was bleak as the team had lost five of its last six games since officially naming Helton the full time coach. 

That's when the legend of Sam Darnold took off. 

Darnold won his first home start, throwing for 352 yards and scoring four touchdowns (three passing, one rushing) in a 41-20 win against Arizona State. That would be the first of what became a nine-game winning streak for USC to close out 2016, knocking off a top-five Washington team on the road, rival Notre Dame at home and closing the year with a win in one of the best Rose Bowl games of the decade. That 52-49 win against No. 5 Penn State was highlighted by 453 yards and five touchdowns from Darnold, who earned Offensive MVP honors for the game and set or tied numerous Rose Bowl records along the way. USC finished the year ranked No. 3 in the final AP Top 25 poll, and for the first time since 2008, really felt like a player on the national stage. 

And it came time to hand out credit for the return to greatness, anyone with eyes could tell you Darnold was one driving the bus. 

"I don't think a lot of people thought the offense was something where they were scheming guys open or anything, where Tee Martin and Clay Helton were running this high-powered offense," Abraham recalled. "[USC fans] felt that this was all Sam Darnold, improvising and making things happen. They give credit for that Rose Bowl to Sam Darnold." 

After the year, turnover at wide receiver that included the loss of JuJu Smith-Schuster to the NFL Draft and Darreus Rogers to graduation only heightened the need for Darnold to be a Superman figure for USC's offense. The 2017 season was not without a few bumps along the way but still wildly successful, as the Trojans spent most of the year ranked inside the top 15 and finished by winning the school's first conference championship since 2008. Darnold threw for 4,143 yards and totaled 31 touchdowns, earning First Team All-Pac-12 honors at the end of the year and solidifying his spot as one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL Draft.  

Of course, that No. 3 overall pick is what sets the stage for the "bust" conversation. Darnold's struggles with the New York Jets and eventual benching with the Carolina Panthers may have changed the way he was discussed in NFL circles, but he never lost his legendary status in the eyes of USC fans. His ascent over the last two seasons has only enhanced his legacy a former Trojan great, and though they might have some issues with that purple-clad college team in Seattle, there will be plenty of USC fans across the country rooting for the Seahawks and hoping Darnold can bring home a Super Bowl win. It helps, too, to have a couple of Darnold's former teammates on the team in defensive end Leonard Williams and linebacker Uchenna Nwosu, as well as some strength staff that were at USC earlier in their careers. 

If we are to take the Sam Darnold-USC historical footnotes even further, he does have an opportunity to join even more elite Trojan company on Sunday. He's already the first-ever quarterback to start in a Super Bowl, and has the opportunity to add to that if he wins, but if Darnold wins and earns MVP honors, he would be the fourth former USC player to win Super Bowl MVP. That right, not only has USC never had a quarterback start in the Super Bowl, but at the same time, the school has seen three players, none as quarterbacks, win MVP honors in the game. If Darnold were to accomplish that feat on Sunday night, he would join wide receiver Lynn Swann (Pittsburgh, Super Bowl X), Marcus Allen (LA Raiders, Super Bowl XVIII) and linebacker Malcolm Smith (Seattle, Super Bowl XLVIII) as former Trojans to win the award. 

Win or lose, MVP honors or not, Darnold has already built on his legacy as one of the most beloved USC quarterbacks in history. He arrived at a strange time for a proud program and delivered a sense of normalcy for a fanbase that had grown weary of sub-standard performance. Darnold's journey in the NFL and his arrival as the school's first Super Bowl starter only adds to the legend of who he his, was and represents to USC fans across the country.