On Sunday, the top two teams in the NFL will battle it out to become Super Bowl LX champions. Like millions of people across the country, I’ll be watching, not only because I love football, but also because I’m a huge Seattle Seahawks fan.
But while I love football for many reasons — the skill, the strategy, the cool uniforms — as an executive recruiter, I also can’t help but see the work-place lessons hidden in the sport.
This year, I’m finding inspiration in one player in particular: Seattle quarterback Sam Darnold.
Darnold’s story didn’t begin in Seattle. In 2018, the New York Jets selected him as the third overall pick in the NFL Draft. But a few difficult seasons marked by injuries and turnovers led to his release just three years later. Or what some people might call a layoff.
Next stop: Carolina, where more injuries and inconsistency prevented him from holding onto the starting position. Then to San Francisco, where Darnold fell even further and spent a single season as a backup, watching someone else (Brock Purdy) do the job he wanted.
For many of us, this would feel like the end of the road.
But Darnold didn’t quit. Throughout this time, he kept listening and improving his craft. Eventually earning the trust of his coaches and teammates. In other words: He worked hard.
And then his luck changed.
In 2024, six frustrating years after his NFL start, a one-year stint with the Vikings allowed him to begin rebuilding his career. It was a season that culminated in a Pro Bowl selection.
You may know what happened next. Last year, Darnold signed a 3-year, $100+ million contract with Seattle. And now, in one of the most unexpected developments in recent NFL memory, he has brought the Seahawks all the way to the Super Bowl — proving that failure early in a career doesn’t have to define your future.
Most of us will never have played in the NFL, but we all know what it feels like to win and — despite our best efforts — lose.
In my work, I speak every day with candidates who are incredibly capable, yet have faced sudden layoffs, mergers, toxic environments, burnout, or simply one wrong-fit job that didn’t bring out their best.
Like Darnold, many are looking for a second chance: The right leader, the right culture, the right team that believes in them again.
That said, take that risk, make that move, get uncomfortable until you find your right team because I can assure you there are companies looking for a perfect fit — and why I’m tasked to help find them.
So, as we head into Super Bowl Sunday, let Sam Darnold’s journey remind us that every professional failure is a chance to succeed somewhere else.
Oh — and go Seahawks!
Karen Geisel is an executive recruiter and the CEO of the Geisel Agency, a boutique executive recruiting firm focused on helping agencies and companies find marketing, communication, PR/Advertising, and creative talent throughout the Northeast.
