If Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold winds up winning any personal hardware or accolade from this point forward, he should at least thank the San Francisco 49ers during his acceptance speech.
After all, it was during his 2023 one-year tenure with the Niners that apparently turned his career arc on its head.
Darnold, the No. 3 overall pick from the 2018 NFL Draft, experienced plenty of tumult and inconsistency for the first five years of his career, spending time with dysfunctional organizations like the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers before opting to onboard with San Francisco as a free-agent backup to Brock Purdy in 2023.