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NFL

One-on-one with Sam Darnold: Pizza, Will Ferrell and no surfing

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Sam Darnold went from being a college student and Heisman Trophy hopeful in Los Angeles to a perceived franchise savior in New York.

It has been a whirlwind, coast-to-coast year for the New York Jets quarterback, who is adapting to life in the Big Apple after spending his entire life in Southern California.

In a not-so-serious interview with ESPN, Darnold shared some thoughts on the transition and his new life.

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What do you want to do in New York that you haven’t done yet?

Sam Darnold: I haven’t had the great pizza that everyone is talking about. So that’s one thing I want to do. Other than that, I haven’t gone to the Jersey shore. I don’t know if that’s a New York thing. You know what I want to do? I want to go to the 9/11 Memorial. I heard that’s amazing and crazy to look at, an amazing museum. So I haven’t done that. I’d like to do that.

Describe the last time you got recognized by a fan in public.

Darnold: It was actually [Monday]. Me and Josh [McCown] went into Panera Bread. We were just kind of sitting down and having our sandwiches, and this guy came out. I thought he was about to faint because he was so excited to see the both of us. He took a picture. It was kind of funny.

Do you get recognized more in New York or Los Angeles?

Darnold: Oh, definitely here, especially with Jets fans. They’re everywhere. I mean, the USC thing is pretty crazy, too, but there are a lot of things in L.A. New York is kind of like L.A. If I walk around, not everyone is going to notice me because not everyone watches football, especially in New York. But I feel like everyone in Jersey is a Jets fan, and I always get recognized here.

What do you miss about California?

Darnold: It’s starting to rain here a little bit — so the weather. No, I mean, I love it here. I think the biggest thing about California is the people, especially my friends and family. That’s what I miss.

As the USC quarterback, you must have met some celebrities. Who?

Darnold: I met quite a few people. Will Ferrell is up there. I got a chance to meet and hang out with Sam Hunt. He’s actually a pretty cool dude. I got to go to a concert a couple of years ago. He actually played at UAB (quarterback, 2005-07). He was coached by Tyson Helton, who coached me in college at USC. So it kind of came full circle and I was able to hook up with him and hang out for just a little bit. Russ [Vitale] the Rapper, I met him.

Sam Darnold got to know USC fan and actor Will Ferrell, and the quarterback even hosted him for a podcast. Nati Harnik/AP

You had Will Ferrell as a guest on your weekly podcast last year at USC. What’s he like?

Darnold: So he’s a funny dude. I’m a huge Will Ferrell fan. I met him at the Cal game. He actually came out to watch us at Cal a couple of years ago. He’s just a normal dude. A lot of people think, oh, he must be hilarious all the time. Nah, he’s just kind of chill. Very relaxed dude, but when he sees an opportunity to make a joke or say something funny, he always does. He’s a good dude.

What about celebrities in New York?

Darnold: I mean, I’m friends with Gary V [Vaynerchuk, entrepreneur and avid Jets fan], which is pretty cool.

What do you do for fun away from football?

Darnold: I just like hanging out with my friends, honestly. I mean, as long as I’m in good company and with cool people and we’re just hanging out and having a good time, that’s usually what I like to do. When I’m home, if you want to go to the beach or anything like that, I’m always down. When I’m here, I’ll hang out, grab a bite to eat. I’ll play a video game every now and then. But not too many video games. I’m open to a lot of things, but the biggest thing is just having cool people to hang out with.

Tell us something about you that people don’t know.

Darnold: I mean, everyone knows pretty much everything about me already. Did you see how Kawhi [Leonard] answered that, by the way?

A lot of people think you’re a surfer, and you’re not, right?

Darnold: Yeah, I’m not a surfer. A lot of people think I am. That might be one thing. It’s funny, I did a commercial for Toyota, and they had a surfboard on top of the car I was driving in the commercial. I was like, ‘Guys, I don’t surf.’ Everyone thinks I surf. All my friends give me crap when someone says, ‘Oh, Darnold surfs.’ They’re like, ‘Dude, you can’t keep telling people you surf. You know you can’t surf.’ All my friends surf.”

What kind of music do you listen to before a game?

Darnold: It kind of depends, actually. I don’t have a superstition or anything, but before every game I have to listen to “15th and the 1st” by Gucci Mane. You don’t know that song? You should listen to it. It’s a good one to listen to right before you go to bed [joking]. I’ve listened to that song since senior year of high school. Yep, right before the game, that was the first song I listened to. But after that, whatever I feel like.”

What is something that would surprise people to see in your apartment?

Darnold: (long pause) I don’t know. I just have a normal apartment, dude. I don’t have anything for you.

Any big splurges with your signing bonus, either for you or your family?

Darnold: I mean, I did a little thing with Kay Jewelers and I was able to get my mom a few thousand bucks, which was cool. They put together a lot of stuff with that in terms of redesigning our house and doing some stuff there in California, which was really cool.

What about for yourself?

Darnold: One thing people should know about me is I’m a simple, simple guy. Some people can probably already guess that. I mean, I don’t need anything to make me happy. I already have all that I want, so I’m definitely the guy who’s probably not going to spend any of his NFL money.

So we’ll never see you driving a Porsche?

Darnold: That’s the only thing, I might drive a nice car. [smiling] But I’m definitely not going to go crazy and buy chains and a bunch of jewelry. Until I get a girlfriend or a wife, that’s never going to change.

Best thing you ever purchased?

Darnold: To be honest, I get a lot of stuff for free. You would think once you become a professional, you’re going to get all this money and spend it, but there are so many different perks. I get a bunch of free stuff from Nike all the time, so I don’t need to be spending money. So I haven’t bought anything crazy.

NFL

Rams believe CB Talib can return late this season
8:03 PM ET

  • Lindsey ThiryESPN

    Close

    • Covered Rams for two years for Los Angeles Times
    • Previously covered the Falcons
    • Has covered the NBA and college football and basketball

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — The Los Angeles Rams left open the possibility that Aqib Talib could return to play this season after the cornerback underwent surgery Thursday to repair an ankle injury suffered in a Week 3 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers.

The Rams feared surgery would reveal a season-ending injury, but that was not the case, coach Sean McVay said, adding that Talib could recover in time to be taken off the injured reserve list and play the final few games of the season.

“We’re very encouraged,” McVay said. “And I know Aqib feels that way and we’re looking forward to getting him back. I don’t know exactly what that date would be but I know that the anticipation is to get him back.”

Talib would be eligible to return from injured reserve the first week of December.

The Rams acquired Talib, 32, from the Denver Broncos in exchange for a fifth-round pick in March.

A five-time Pro Bowl selection, Talib has two pass deflections and a forced fumble in three games this season.

Cornerback Sam Shields started in Talib’s absence in a 38-31 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday as the Rams improved to 4-0.

NFL

Seahawks' Baldwin 'ready to go,' says knee OK
9:10 PM ET

  • Brady HendersonESPN

RENTON, Wash. — Doug Baldwin insists he’s “ready to go” now that he has sufficiently healed from the knee injury that sidelined — and frustrated — him for the past two weeks.

The Seattle Seahawks’ No. 1 receiver is hoping the team’s training staff agrees with him. He knows that will be the ultimate determination of whether he plays Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals.

“Again, that’s going to be their call,” said Baldwin, who was listed as a limited participant for the second straight day. “There’s a lot of things that go into it, obviously the precautionary reasons of making sure that I’m healthy fully, so that I can go for the rest of the season, not just this game. And I get that. But as a competitor and somebody that hasn’t missed games that often, who had an 89-game streak, I feel like I know my body pretty well, so I feel like I’m ready to go.”

Baldwin returned to practice this week for the first time since suffering an MCL sprain early in Seattle’s opener at Denver. That relegated him to a spectator for the second half of that game, and the Seahawks’ Monday night loss in Chicago dropped them to 0-2.

He called it “really frustrating” to not be able to play and said that emotion, among other things, was at play when he lost his cool on the sideline during the Seahawks’ win over the Cowboys. The Fox broadcast showed a fired-up Baldwin talking passionately with the team’s co-director of player personnel, Trent Kirchner. He said he apologized to Kirchner a few minutes later and that the two are fine.

“It was empathy, is what it was,” Baldwin said. “I won’t go into a great deal of detail but essentially it’s frustrating when you start 0-2 and you start the way we’ve started. We’ve had some frustrating games. And especially as a receiving corps, being here for so long and knowing the process and knowing what you guys are going to say, the questions that come up in the receivers room, and how that plays a role in just the emotional stability of the receivers and then just other things that come along with that, so when they come off the field and they’re telling me how they’re feeling and they’re expressing their emotions and myself, trying to be empathic to them in that regard, there’s a lot of energy there.

“On top of the fact that I’m not able to go out there and help them out and play with them, on top of the fact that there’s history, there’s a lot there. I think that was just an exertion of energy that Trent just happened to be in the area at the time unfortunately. I sent him a text message and I just told him — well, during the moment I came back to him and said, ‘Look, man, I’m sorry. I just had to let get that out.’ And he’s like, ‘I get it. I get it.’ He knows. He understands. So we had a good conversation about it. That’s my guy, though.”

Baldwin had missed a month of training camp because of an injury to his other knee before he suffered the MCL injury in Denver. That snapped his streak of 89 consecutive games played, which had been the fourth longest among active receivers. He returned later in the first half before realizing he had to take himself out.

“In that moment, it was one of those situations where, ‘OK, Doug, it’s messed up, you know it’s messed up but let’s see what you can do,'” he said. “I knew it was a serious injury, but just again, being out for so long prior to that game I wanted to do everything I could to go back in and I did that, realized that it wasn’t getting better so I had to pull myself unfortunately. It’s just the nature of the business, but the reasoning for going back out there was really just the competitive nature in my mind.”

Baldwin said his other knee is doing better with the extra time off it has had to rest.

“Knowing that I have a lot of mileage on my legs, knowing that I’m not 25 years old any more, I take all that context into account when I’m making my decisions as well,” he said. “The process of getting my body to this point has been obviously a long process, but I know where I’m at. And of course I have to tell [coach Pete Carroll] and anybody who asks me how confident I am. But that’s just the truth. I think all of you all know when I come up here, you’re not going to get BS from me. I’m going to be honest with you. And I’ll say the same thing to Pete and anybody else who asks me about my health. I’m ready to go, so we’ll see what happens. I think we have a good plan in place and I’m willing to go with that so we’ll see what happens.”

In other developments Thursday, free safety Earl Thomas was a full participant after getting what the team said was a rest day Wednesday.

NFL

WR Matthews set to bolt Titans over playing time
11:51 PM ET

  • Turron DavenportESPN

    Close

    • Covered Eagles for USA Today
    • Covered the Ravens for Baltimore Times
    • Played college football at Cheyney University

Rishard Matthews apparently has had enough.

The veteran wide receiver told A to Z Sports on Wednesday that he has reached an agreement with the Tennessee Titans for his release.

“EVERYTHING IS GOOD! JUST WASN’T HAPPY WITH WHAT WAS GOING ON BARELY GETTING ANY PLAYING TIME. IT WAS TIME TO MOVE ON,” he told the website in a text message.

“I’ve been the leading receiver [on the Titans] for two years. Then all of a sudden I’m barely playing and not even starting,” Matthews added. “Using my injury as the scapegoat. Look at number of snaps and targets.”

Earlier Wednesday, Matthews posted on Instagram: “Daddy is home for good until someone calls him to get off the couch.”

He was not at the Titans’ facility for what coach Mike Vrabel categorized as personal reasons.

In August, Matthews signed a one-year contract extension with the Titans that had a base value of $7.75 million. He missed all of training camp due to a knee injury.

The veteran wideout was off to a slow start this season, catching only three of six targets for a total of 11 yards. His six targets are tied for fifth on the Titans. He played 36 snaps against the Miami Dolphins in the season opener, followed by 28 snaps in Week 2 and 31 in Week 3.

Matthews filled in as a punt returner on Sunday, after cornerback Adoree’ Jackson was knocked out of the Titans’ win over the Jacksonville Jaguars due to a concussion.

Matthews’ role on the team diminished as second-year wide receiver Taywan Taylor and third-year wideout Tajae Sharpe saw their snaps increase. Now, Tennessee will rely on Taylor and Sharpe, along with Darius Jennings and Nick Williams, to make up for the loss of Matthews.

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