Super Bowl champion Sam Darnold's deferred destiny

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TWO YEARS AGO, Sam Darnold sat at a small round table in a Hilton ballroom just outside of Las Vegas. Several reporters visited the table he shared with another San Francisco 49ers teammate throughout the week of Super Bowl media availability, but many more maneuvered around it on their way to talk to someone more important. Darnold was just a backup hidden in a maze of dozens of tables. He wasn't the star anymore, and he had chosen to fade into the background for his own good.

As Darnold sat unbothered at his table, a reporter asked if he had given thought to the best way to develop a quarterback. What had he…