Here’s Why Sam Darnold, That Badass, Refused To Wish Tom Brady A Happy Birthday

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Being a New York Jets fan has been one of the great wars of attrition of my lifetime. Despite the fact they’ve been consistently average-to-below-average since the day I was born (and long before that, too), I still head into every new season with an over-bloated sense of optimism.

But why? Why put myself through the pain at all? Especially considering the New York Giants literally reside in the same stadium, it makes absolutely no logical sense as to why someone would choose the greater of two evils. Yet I do it anyway.

And as a result, my football fan experience has largely been more of a drag on my life than a positive… until now, as there finally appears to be a Southern California-born light at the end of the Lincoln Tunnel that is my Jets fandom

For the first time in my entire adult life, the New York Jets finally have a quarterback that everyone seems to agree is going to be the absolute truth: Sam Darnold.

Despite barely being just 22-years-old, Darnold already has a full NFL season under his belt, and during parts of that season, looked the part of a true star quarterback. In fact, during a three-week stretch in December, Darnold was the highest-rated QB in the league by Pro Football Focus.

And not only does Darnold appear to have the physical tools to be one of the greats, but if this latest story is any indication, he’s also got the mental moxie that you need to not only survive but thrive under the bright lights of New York City.

via Yahoo Sports:

The request was somewhat innocuous. Drew Brees had already said yes. Deshaun Watson. Stefon Diggs. Right along with Eric Ebron and a handful of other NFL players. But Sam Darnold was holding out. Something about this appeal wasn’t hitting him right.

Would you wish Tom Brady a happy birthday for a video clip being put together? Would he, as the New York Jets cornerstone quarterback, be willing to wish a happy birthday to Brady, a longtime Patriots nemesis and the man whose league throne Darnold was expected to challenge?

“Do I have to?” Darnold asked. No, he was told. He didn’t have to. So that was Sam Darnold’s final answer. No, he wasn’t going to be on a video wishing Tom Brady a happy birthday, even if other guys like Brees and Watson and Diggs had already done it.

“That’s just it, man – knowing what I’ve got to do,” Darnold said when asked about the moment this week. “I’m going to get every competitive edge I can, because he’s going to do the same thing. He’s the ultimate competitor. He’s exactly where I want to be when I’m his age. To chase that, I can’t be giving him anything.”

That’s my fucking quarterback right there! Not only is it impossible for Tom Brady to even have a birthday because he was replaced with a cyborg clone a decade ago, but these dudes are supposed to be bitter rivals and Darnold keeping it that way shows the kid’s head is in the right place. Fuck. That. Dude. Tom. Brady.

As long as the Jets don’t pull a Jets and entirely derail his career (which is certainly possible), it appears that Gang Green has finally landed a decade-defining franchise QB.