During the first few seasons of his NFL career, former USC QB Sam Darnold went viral for all of the wrong reasons.
There was his first ever NFL pass being a pick six. There was the graphic of him being out with mononucleosis. And of course, there was the infamous moment in a Monday Night Football Game against the New England Patriots, where, after a multi-interception performance, the ESPN cameras picked up Darnold telling a teammate that he was “seeing ghosts”.
But now that he has escaped the QB prisons known as the New York Jets and the Carolina Panthers, Darnold is finally finding success in the NFL. And last week, he went viral for a very different reason.
After leading the Minnesota Vikings to a 27-25 win over the Green Bay Packers last week, Darnold was mobbed in the locker room by his teammates and lifted up onto their shoulders. The clip quickly went viral on social media as a sign of the support that Minneosta’s players have for their quarterback.
However, the work is not done yet for Darnold and the Vikings. Despite being 14-2, they are currently tied with the Detroit Lions for the NFC North lead. The two teams will meet Sunday night in the final game of the NFL regular season with the No. 1 seed in the NFC on the line.
For Darnold, it will be by far the biggest game of his NFL career to date. However, USC fans know that the quarterback is no stranger to big game performances. In the 2017 Rose Bowl against Penn State, he famously threw for 453 yards and five touchdowns to lead the Trojans to a legendary 52-49 comeback victory.
Tonight, he will look to recreate some of that magic and win the Vikings the division.