Dating : On Tanks and Toxicity: How a Hopeless Jets Season Helped Me through Heartbreak

One person probably knows more than most about the pain and suffering that comes with being associated with the New York Jets: starting quarterback Sam Darnold.

The story of Sam Darnold is as curious and messy as you’d expect from a Jets quarterback. Drafted at No. 3 in 2018, he was meant to be their leader and shining star for the foreseeable future — in an organization historically known for being a QB graveyard. He was promising and talented, though certainly not without areas (footwork, decision-making, and game reading, to name some) that needed polishing.

Since then, he has been dealt with some unfavorable cards. He was sidelined for weeks last year due to mononucleosis. The general manager who drafted him was fired. Some of his best weapons demanded trades away from the team. The head coach he’s spent the most time with is Adam Gase (more on that shortly).

Needless to say, Darnold never stood a chance to truly succeed with the New York Jets in the NFL.

Which brings us to this season.

Sam Darnold was bad this year.

He’s regressed. He’s thrown more interceptions than touchdowns. He finished close to the bottom — if not dead last — in every statistical category that matters. He was barely able to do what he could, and let’s not even talk about what he always couldn’t. You barely saw that spark — that energy and excitement that he used to carry every game day.

While he is not entirely blameless for this, I’m among those who believe that much of the responsibility lies at the feet of the Jets organization and coaching staff — Gase, in particular.

Gase was hired as an “offensive-minded” coach and a “quarterback guru”. He was entrusted with developing Darnold into an elite quarterback. Instead, he has nothing to show for except Darnold’s regression. Under his watch, Darnold has truly become the face of the Jets — its problems, its chaos, its dysfunction, even when the list of things to fix goes far beyond him.

Put yourself in Darnold’s shoes this season. You’re losing. Your fans want you to continue losing. But you hope each week that a miracle happens and you don’t have to suffer with the ignominy of a 0–16 season on your resume. You’re playing for your job and your future.

Sam Darnold has been called many things this year: a “broken” quarterback, a waste, a shadow of himself, another Jet QB down the drain. The Jets have been a punch line and a laughing stock, and there’s nothing new there.

But my eyes see something far deeper and worse.

The Jets hasn’t just been a chaotic and dysfunctional environment for Darnold — but a downright toxic and abusive one.