Sam Darnold is already showing one of the reasons why the New York Jets wanted him and why playing in New York won’t be too big for him.
The quarterback of the football is usually the “Big Man on Campus” in college. When you play college football in Los Angeles, though, a quarterback player isn’t just the biggest star on campus. He’s the biggest star of the city. That’s one of the reasons the New York Jets and many teams likely had Sam Darnold so high on their boards.
Even though there are two NFL teams in LA now, USC and UCLA football still grabs the spotlight. So, when you’re the star quarterback at USC — like Darnold was — the spotlight is thrust upon you, and he handled it brilliantly. Now, it’s carrying over to the NFL.
After his first rookie minicamp, with all the cameras around him, Darnold didn’t seem fazed by all the attention. He had a few hiccups on the field with some botched center exchanges (according to those that were there), and his early performance even brought out a comic side of Todd Bowles that is rarely seen (as seen in this tweet by Dennis Waszak Jr):
#Jets coach Todd Bowles asked how Sam Darnold looked today in his first practice of rookie minicamp ... and he laughed and then ... 😳😂 pic.twitter.com/YLcZURk9yS
— Dennis Waszak Jr. (@DWAZ73) May 4, 2018
Todd Bowles joking with the media aside, Darnold appeared calm, cool, and collected in his interview after his first practice too. According to Eric Allen of NewYorkJets.com, here’s what he said about his approach to the game.
"“I’m just going to come in here and be consistent every single day (and) do what I need to do: lift, eat right, get with Coach Bates, get with Josh and Teddy, learn everything that is installed that day.”"
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It may be the first day, but Darnold is already showing the media savvy that helped him stay calm in the environment of USC. No, he’s taking that to the NFL and New York. He’s ready off the field. Now he just has to show it on the field.