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Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl-winning quarterback Sam Darnold has earned himself plenty of money in recent years. That’s a good thing, too, because playing in and winning Super Bowl LX this year actually cost the 28-year-old about a quarter-of-a-million dollars.
As explained by former NFL QB Boomer Esiason on his New York City radio show, Seattle Seahawks signal caller Sam Darnold became a victim of California’s “jock tax” and had to fork over $249,000 to the state.
In the Seahawks’ 29-13 win over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX, Darnold completed 19 of 38 passes for 202 and one touchdown, while also being sacked just one time.
Playing in the Super Bowl cost Sam Darnold $249,000 due to the “jock tax” in California
“For winning the Super Bowl, the winning team — each player gets $178,000,” Esiason explained on Monday. “In other words, the Super Bowl isn’t a part of their salary. And because the game was played in California, and California has a jock tax, they look at duty days. Each team spends seven days in the state, and they tax your regular salary at 3.5 percent.”
“So when you take into account the $178,000 bonus plus his regular salary, he ends up paying the state of California about $249,000 for those seven days.”
Sam Darnold lost money on Sunday?? Boomer says the NFLPA should shut down any future Super Bowls in California: pic.twitter.com/3Rki5K6HT4
— WFAN Sports Radio (@WFAN660) February 9, 2026
According to Esiason, this tax situation in California should be enough for the NFLPA to demand that the league stops playing Super Bowls in the state. Unfortunately for next year’s participants, the game is already scheduled to be played as SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.