1. Success for Sam Darnold
Most of the time, NFL fans prefer to see their team’s former players fail in their new homes.
It can sting watching another team benefit from the talents of a player who once donned your favorite franchise’s logo on the side of their helmet (well, in the case of the Cleveland Browns, I suppose they wore the logo on their head).
The relationship between Sam Darnold and New York Jets fans is a rare one, though. The vast majority of Jets fans are eager to see Darnold succeed.
During his time in New York, Darnold was the consummate pro’s pro, winning over the hearts of Jets fans not just as a quarterback, but as a human. To this day, he remains one of the most humble and likable athletes in all of sports. Few men in his position show as much self-awareness and love for those around him.
Add in the fact that Darnold was clearly wronged by the Jets franchise during his time there, suffering from poor coaching and an even worse roster, and Jets fans are hardly upset with Darnold for the poor results of his all-too-short tenure with the franchise.
Darnold has had many opportunities to jab at the Jets franchise over the past five years. Nobody would blame him if he did. But he takes the high road at every opportunity, showing grace, acceptance, and accountability for the way things went down in New York.
Thus, Jets fans view Darnold as the rare former Jet who deserves to be rooted for in another team’s jersey (well, so long as he is in the NFC, which is where he has remained since leaving New York).
Perhaps it was slightly different when Darnold first left New York, landing with the Carolina Panthers in 2021. At that time, many fans weren’t ready to see Darnold succeed in another home so quickly. It would sting like hell for Jets fans if the 24-year-old quarterback immediately broke out after the Jets gave up on him.
But after his two-year tenure in Carolina flamed out, bygones were bygones. Darnold spent a year as a backup in San Francisco, and by the time he had his breakout 2024 season in Minnesota, it had been four seasons since Darnold had worn a Jets jersey. Not to mention, a second team had already given up on him in that timeframe. It afforded Jets fans the comfort to root for Darnold’s success without regretting what could have been.
One year later, the Vikings have joined the Jets and Panthers as the third team to give up on Darnold, allowing Jets fans to enjoy plenty of company in their misery. For what it’s worth, the Jets’ decision to give up on Darnold is arguably the most defensible out of the three teams that let him go.
Darnold is a high-character individual whose Jets tenure fizzled out due largely to factors out of his control. It’s been half a decade since he was in New York, and multiple teams have since given up on him.
By now, it seems clear that Darnold may have always been destined to succeed outside of New York. He seems to be the type of quarterback who needed many seasons and many failures to reach his apex as a player, a breed that isn’t entirely uncommon throughout NFL history, but has been written off in today’s impatient league.
Mix it all in a pot, and Jets fans can agree that they’re ready to root for Sam Darnold to win a Super Bowl this evening, even if it’s in lime green instead of Gotham green.
The team he’s facing makes it all the easier for Jets fans to root for him.
2. Go Seahawks
Few things bring more joy to the heart of Jets fans than watching Patriots fans suffer.
They don’t care that the Jets won three games this season, while the Patriots have won 16 on their way to yet another Super Bowl. Jets fans will party like it’s January 1969 if they get to see Robert Kraft’s sulking face in the Levi’s Stadium press box.
It’s been a rough Super Bowl lead-up for Pats fans. Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft were snubbed from the Hall of Fame (although even Jets fans should admit that the Belichick snub was downright disrespectful), while Drake Maye narrowly lost out on the MVP race to Matthew Stafford. Anger has boiled over the brim in New England, and if Pats fans have to suffer through a Super Bowl loss on top of it, Boston might burn to the ground.
When your team has won half as many games over the past two seasons (8) as your most hated rival has won this season (16), you need to find alternative sources of joy. For Jets fans, that usually means feeding off the delicious tears of those who reside in western New York, south Florida, or New England.
Tonight, Jets fans are the Seahawks’ 13th man.
3. Under 1.5 Jets mentions
The Jets have this weird knack for getting mentioned on the broadcasts of games that they are not participating in. And whenever they get brought up, it’s often in a snide way.
After a 3-14 season that featured numerous records of ineptitude, Jets fans are ready to turn the page on the 2025 season. Tonight marks the final game of a year that Jets fans would love to wipe from their memories (that’s if they actually remember anything, as the team played some of the most forgettable football ever seen).
On the way out, it would be pleasurable for Jets fans to get through a full four quarters without their team being mocked in front of over 120 million people.
I’m setting the over-under for Jets mentions at 1.5. It feels like one mention is a given, as they will almost surely come up when talking about Darnold at some point. Will there be a second mention, though?
Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel interviewed with the Jets last season before he interviewed with New England. The Seahawks also have two other former Jets in kicker Jason Myers and defensive end Leonard Williams.
If the Seahawks beat down the Patriots in embarrassing fashion, with Darnold winning Super Bowl MVP and the Jets being mentioned no more than once, Jets fans can go to sleep feeling pretty good (well, that really depends on what they ate and drank).
