Sam Darnold meme fans rally around their Super Bowl champ
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold was once — is still, really — a meme. He is also a Super Bowl champion. And social media lit up on Sunday because of that fact.
Darnold was perhaps the story of 2026's Super Bowl LX — won by the Seattle Seahawks over the New England Patriots — because everyone loves an underdog. Darnold, a former top prospect, flamed out while playing for the flailing New York Jets and Carolina Panthers. Pit stops in San Francisco and Minnesota then led to Sunday's triumphant victory with Seattle.
It was a full reversal for Darnold, who was once relegated to memedom. An admittedly hilarious graphic from 2019 created a meme format — Darnold pointing while given a random illness or ailment.
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Fans of Darnold, widely known as a chill and good guy, even created a subreddit called r/The_Darnold, where they celebrated the QB and all his associated memes. He was both beloved and mocked. Naturally, then, the memes flowed as Darnold led Seattle to victory in Super Bowl LX on Sunday. It was largely a celebration of an athlete who overcame lots of doubt and tough times.
It's always heartwarming you get to see such an amazing comeback story — and the internet certainly celebrated Darnold's moment in the sun on Sunday.
Topics Super Bowl
Tim Marcin is an Associate Editor on the culture team at Mashable, where he mostly digs into the weird parts of the internet. You'll also see some coverage of memes, tech, sports, trends, and the occasional hot take. You can find him on Bluesky (sometimes), Instagram (infrequently), or eating Buffalo wings (as often as possible).
