Sam Darnold remained cool, calm and collected after ESPN senior NFL reporter Kalyn Kahler accidentally spilled beer on his clothes following the Seahawks' win in Super Bowl LX
11:29 ET, 12 Feb 2026
Sam Darnold reacted calmly after a reporter accidentally spilled beer near his clothes
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Sam Darnold reacted calmly after a reporter accidentally spilled beer near his clothes(Image: X)
ESPN reporter Kalyn Kahler shed light on the heartwarming interaction she shared with Sam Darnold after accidentally spilling a drink all over the Seahawks quarterback’s clothes.
On Sunday, Darnold — who recently opened up about a rare emotional moment with his father — and the Seahawks earned a 29-13 win over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX. Though Seattle’s fearsome defense and running back Kenneth Walker III stole the show with respective dominant performances, the 28-year-old did just enough to secure a win by completing 19-of-38 passes for 202 yards, one touchdown and zero interceptions.
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As celebrations raged on inside the Seahawks’ locker room following the Big Game, Kahler made her way towards Darnold’s locker in hopes of asking the star signal-caller several questions and capturing his genuine reaction.
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“You guys know how crazy it is in a locker room post game, where you’re just trying to get into a scrum and you can’t hear anything,” Kahler said while making an appearance on ‘104.3 The Score.’
“So Sam was the last player to come into the locker room, and I was writing about Sam. I had pretty much finished my story, but I just wanted to add in some scenes from post game.”
Upon reaching the massive sea of reporters surrounding Darnold’s cubby, Kahler set up shop on the edge of the crowd and began kneeling on a folding chair. Unfortunately for the senior NFL writer, the seat quickly gave out from under her.
“I kneel on the folding chair, and the folding chair collapsed underneath me,” Kahler said.
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“You should never trust a folding chair, honestly, but it collapsed right away, and I went hands first into his locker because it’s like a cubby, it’s like a stall.
“So, I went straight into his locker, and he had a beer sitting there, and I knocked his little beer.”
Despite being in the middle of an answer as Kahler flew head-first into his locker, Darnold swiftly stopped his impromptu presser to check if she was alright.
Upon noticing that a river of beer was making its way to his clothes, he took a moment to clean up the mess before resuming his response.
Sam Darnold celebrates during the Seahawks' Super Bowl parade
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Sam Darnold checked to see if a reporter who fell into his locker was ok(Image: Getty Images)
“He had to kind of stop what he was doing because I think his clothes were sitting there and they were gonna get beer on them,” Kahler explained. “So, then he mopped up the beer.
“He was actually really nice about it. He was like, ‘Are you OK?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m fine.’ I was like, ‘Sorry, I knocked your beer over,’ and he was like, ‘Don’t worry about it. What’s important is that you’re OK.'”
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Taking to social media, Kahler shared a clip of the embarrassing incident while giving Darnold due praise for his kind gesture. “Happy to report Darnold is the nice guy we think he is and PSA to never ever trust a folding chair,” she wrote on X.