2 Amazing Super Bowl LX Quarterback Facts
No matter what happens later in Super Bowl LX, both quarterbacks will make history simply by taking the first snap for their team when the Seattle Seahawks take on the New England Patriots.
There is also a little extra on the line for one of the starting signal callers in Santa Clara.
Never been done before
Sam Darnold of the Seattle Seahawks and Drake Maye of the New England Patriots are both in line to be the first player from USC and North Carolina, respectively, to start at quarterback in the Super Bowl.
That revelation came as a bit more of a surprise for Darnold because USC has turned out its share of talented signal-callers over the years.
Mark Sanchez came close with the New York Jets but couldn’t finish the job. Carson Palmer had some great regular seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals and Arizona Cardinals but never played in the biggest game of the season. Rodney Peete, Rob Johnson and Matt Leinart never made it, either.
Congratulations to Sam Darnold! He becomes the first ever USC QB to be the starting QB in the Super Bowl!
— Trojan Football ✌️ ᶠᵃⁿ (@TrojanFBx) January 26, 2026
| Seahawks | PROjans ✌️ pic.twitter.com/MQEIIgEnlL
That’s not all
If the Patriots win, Maye and North Carolina will join a unique list of schools that have produced both a Super Bowl winning quarterback and a President of the United States.
Kendall Baker of YahooSports shared that list on social media Sunday night, and it is an interesting one: Delaware, Miami (Ohio), Michigan, Stanford and the U.S. Naval Academy.
Joe Biden and Joe Flacco represent the Blue Hens while Benjamin Harrison and Ben Roethlisberger matriculated at Miami University in Southwest Ohio.
Gerald Ford and Tom Brady went to Michigan, Navy produced Jimmy Carter and Roger Staubach and Stanford has President Herbert Hoover and two quarterbacks — John Elway and Jim Plunkett.
Five schools have produced a U.S. president and a Super Bowl-winning QB.
— Kendall Baker (@kendallbaker) January 25, 2026
- Delaware: Biden/Flacco
- Miami (OH): Harrison/Big Ben
- Michigan: Ford/Brady
- Stanford: Hoover/Elway/Plunkett
- Navy: Carter/Staubach
If Drake Maye wins this year, UNC will be the sixth (James K. Polk).
How they got here
Darnold has taken a longer journey to reach this point.
He was drafted No. 3 overall by the New York Jets in 2018, but his time there lasted only three seasons.
The Jets traded him to the Carolina Panthers, who kept him for two seasons before his rookie contract expired.
After a season as the backup to Brock Purdy for the San Francisco 49ers, Darold resurrected his career with the Minnesota Vikings in 2024 when he threw for a career-high 4,319 yards with 35 touchdowns and 12 interceptions while the Vikings went 14-3.
However, the Vikings opted not to bring him back because they wanted to turn their franchise over to unproven second-year first-round draft pick J.J. McCarthy, who missed all of 2024 with an injury.
That led to Darnold landing in Seattle, where he signed a three-year contract then threw for 4,048 yards and 25 touchdowns this season as the Vikings won the NFC West with a 14-3 record.
Maye is enjoying the opposite of a sophomore slump after the Patriots used the No. 3 overall pick on him in the 2024 draft.
He had a below average rookie season but has blossomed in year two, completing 72% of his passes while throwing for 4,394 yards with 31 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
His passer rating of 113.5 led the NFL during the regular season, though he has not posted impressive stat lines in his three playoff games.