In Round 1 of the NFL draft 2018, Sam Darnold was selected by the New York Jets as the 3rd pick. The pick was not surprising to many that have followed his career since his high school days.
It is now expected that the youngster will have a great career in the National Football League (NFL). Here is all to know about him.
Sam Darnold Biography
June 5, 1997, was the day the NFL star was born as Samuel Richard Darnold in California Capistrano Beach. He was brought up alongside a sister by a mother who was a teacher and his father who worked with a construction company. Sam grew up in Orange County in a family that was not very rich.
His love for sports did not start with him as you can as well say it’s a thing in his gene. While his father played football at the University of Redlands, his mother, Chris Darnold played college volleyball when she was at Long Beach City College. More so, his sister Franki also played college volleyball.
You would get to think that with how good he is as a young player in the league, he started playing since he was a kid. Well, he actually started playing even before he was six but instead of football, his sport was basketball.
For his education, Sam attended the San Clemente High School in California where he became an avid sportsman playing football, baseball, and basketball. What was more interesting was the fact that he was good at all.
While there, Sam Darnold played football as a wide receiver and linebacker as well as a quarterback at different times. Having had a very successful high school career, he was granted a number of scholarships including to the University of Oregon, University of Utah, and Duke University. But then, he decided to go to the University of Southern California.
Having played for USC in the 2016 and 2017 seasons and winning the Archie Griffin Award as well as making the Freshman All-America team of the Football Writers Association of America, he announced his readiness for the 2018 NFL Draft. Sam was subsequently selected by the New York Jets.
Height, Weight, and Body Stats
As pointed out, Darnold did not just start with football, he also played other sports such as basketball and baseball excelling amazingly in all of them most especially in basketball. What has contributed significantly to such success apart from his love for sports and talent is his athletic build as well as his height.
The man who could definitely find himself as the tallest in a good number of gatherings stands at a height of 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m). More so, he has a bodyweight of 225 lb (102 kg). Sam Darnold has a hand that measures 9 3/8″, and although his general body measurement has not been provided, he sure has a large arm that’s ideal for the game.
Other Facts to Know
1. The man we know as Sam Darnold was almost named Buck when he was born because his father wanted him to be tough. But then, his mother would not have her son named Buck and because of that, we now have him as Sam.
2. In his high school days, he became South Coast League MVP a couple of times while playing basketball.
3. Although it will be hard for many to believe, Sam is a very shy kid despite his athletic intelligence. You can easily be deceived by his build, but he is really soft-spoken.
4. Before coming to be a big name in USC and then the NFL, his grandfather was also a big name. He was the first Marlboro Man and just like his grandson, Dick Hammer was also good with athletics. The only thing more than that is that he was a part of the U.S. Olympic Volleyball Team of 1964. 10 years earlier, he played for the USC basketball team and he got to make the Final Four. If you think that is all, his maternal grandmother also played volleyball and she shared the gene with her children including Sam’s mother.
5. He has a girlfriend, Claire Kirksey. The first time the picture of the couple appeared on social media was in 2016. But before then, Claire had been in a couple or more relationships based on the pictures shared on her Instagram.
6. Because of the much of an introvert that he is, the first time that Sam Darnold got introduced by Claire Kirksey to her parents, they thought he was scared of them.
