Hour 1: The Jets Let Sam Darnold Go and It Still Haunts Them

Evan & Tiki

Audacy

Sports

4.2 • 988 Ratings

🗓️ 23 January 2026

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Sam Darnold is one win from the Super Bowl, and Jets fans have no idea what to do with themselves. On one hand, they still like Sam and want to see him succeed. On the other, they can already feel what’s coming next: two straight weeks of “LOL Jets” takes if Seattle punches the ticket. The guys relive the Jets era, the “seeing ghosts” moment that became a defining label, and the decision to move on for Zach Wilson. They debate alternate history: what if the Jets kept Darnold, traded back, and built the roster right? Plus, how much credit does Sam deserve for Seattle’s run, and why this feels even more brutal than watching Saquon win with the Eagles. Also: the poll results, and which fan base actually has it worse.

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm really not a bitter guy.
0:01.6	Yeah.
0:02.2	I'm a good guy.
0:03.1	At least I think I am.
0:04.2	Yes.
0:04.5	And I have always liked Sam Darnold from the moment that I laid eyes on him and I was
0:09.7	in a amateur scout watching him at USC.
0:14.1	I always wanted the Jets to select Sam Darnold.
0:17.1	I was excited when they selected Sam Darnold.
0:19.3	I always liked Sam Darnold. Even when the era ended badly and the Jets decided to move on from him, I always liked him. And even now, I like Sam Darnold. So I've had a few people ask me, hey, what are you rooting for? Like, do you want Sam in the Super Bowl? I'm mixed for this reason. I like Sam. I have no issue with Sam Donald going to a Super Bowl.
0:39.8	The problem is if he does, and if he is instrumental or even not instrumental, he's just
0:45.3	on the Seahawks and they win the NFC championship game on Sunday night, there are going to be
0:50.1	people.
0:50.7	I'm not saying you.
0:51.9	I am definitely saying Sean and many others who are going to make
0:55.8	it an LOL Jets thing. Really? He's not about the Jets. How many teams has he been on since the Jets?
1:02.5	Teak, you're rational. Yes. But you know deep down if I ask you to get into the brains of people
1:08.1	that if Sam Darnold wins on Sunday and he is going to the Super Bowl, there's going to be a lot of talk, mostly locally, but some of it nationally, about the Jets. The Jets had them. What they could have had? What they, everything about it. And that's why I am conflicted because as a human, when I sit there on Sunday, Teak, I like Sam. We've had a lot of discussions about him over the years.
1:29.2	I like him.
1:30.4	I don't dislike him.
1:32.0	But yet I can feel it in my bones that guys like Sean and others are going to turn it into
1:37.7	the Jets.
	...

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