Sports

Sam Darnold said all the right things in his U.S. Open cameo

The context was a bit out of kilter: Sam Darnold, the Jets’ first-round draft pick and hopeful franchise-quarterback ticket to a first Super Bowl nearly 50 years, roaming the U.S. Open grounds Saturday at Shinnecock Hills.

A guy wearing a white polo shirt with a Giants logo on the left chest, politely stopped Darnold and asked for a quick picture with him.

“We’ve got to get you a Jets polo,’’ Darnold told him with a smile. “That blue doesn’t look good on you.’’

Darnold, who’s new to the game of golf, having played just four or five rounds in the past year, was a guest of the USGA at Shinnecock along with his friend and fellow quarterback Josh Allen, the Bills’ first-round draft pick.

It’s the first pro golf tournament Darnold ever has attended, and a place where he got a proper taste of New York sports fans at a live event, as well as taking in some correlation between golf and football.





“We talk about it in the quarterback room all the time,’’ Darnold said. “Whenever we get a chance to watch greatness, whatever it is, you learn from it — even last weekend with Justify winning the Triple Crown. You appreciate that.

“As a quarterback and someone who’s striving to be great, it’s crazy to see guys like Dustin Johnson able to do what he does. It’s just so cool to watch greatness in action.’’

The Jets, of course, are hoping for greatness from the player they chose out of USC with the third-overall pick in the draft.

Darnold — who said, “I’m really bad at golf, but am trying to get better” — has designs on being great as an NFL quarterback.





He spoke of a funny moment he witnessed Saturday from which he hopes to take away a lesson.

“One [player] was trying to play an iron on a par-3 and someone yelled, ‘J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets,’ right in his backswing,’’ Darnold said. “He knew I was there, that’s why he was yelling, and it just so happened to be right in the guy’s backswing by accident. It was just a funny fan moment.

“But the laser focus of [the player], who still hit a really good shot, was cool to see. It’s just really cool to see these guys do what they do — even with all the hecklers and everything that’s going on, they’re able to focus on what they need to do.

“In football, as a quarterback you can’t necessarily hear all the fans, but it’s definitely hard sometimes when you’re trying to call out a cadence and the defense is calling out what they’re doing and you’re trying to focus on what they’re doing and how they might disguise a certain play. There’s definitely a correlation between football and golf.’’





Minus the 300-pound pass rushers.

Darnold said the time since he was drafted in the spring, including the offseason OTA practice sessions and last week’s minicamp, has “been flying by.’’

“It’s been pretty crazy,’’ he said. “I feel like I’ve grown a ton, and things are starting to click with the offense.’’

Asked if he fancies himself as the starting quarterback by the season opener, Darnold sounded mature beyond his 21 years with his diplomatic answer: “We’ll see. We’ll see what happens. That’s a coach’s decision.’’

Asked, as a highly touted and top draft pick in the locker room, how he’s gotten along with his teammates, Darnold said, “I’m always going to just be myself. That’s the safe way to do things — have fun with all my teammates and be straightforward with them.’’





Darnold’s most mature, music-to-Jets-fans’-ears answer came when he was asked if he has started to feel a sense of respect from his teammates.

“No, respect is earned when you do well in games and when you start playing well and winning games,’’ he said. “When I get a feel for that I’ll know. That’s when I think I’ll start to roll.’’





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