Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold seems to be enjoying the honeymoon phase with new wife Katie Hoofnagle.
The Super Bowl champion tied the knot with his longtime girlfriend earlier in the year, and on Friday got a special message from his new wife as he turned 29. Darnold has been busy as he returned for voluntary offseason practice with the Seahawks, but took some time on Friday to celebrate his big day with his wife.
Sam Darnold’s Birthday Message
Hoofnagle took to Instagram to share a picture of the couple and a birthday message to her new husband.
“my favorite person turns 29 today!!” Hoofnagle wrote. “thank you for being exactly who you are and for offering me a comfort that I’ve never found anywhere else. you are celebrated, loved, and appreciated today & everyday. happy birthday 🤍”
Darnold and Hoofnagle tied the knot in April, with a ceremony that drew many of their NFL friends. Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, who has been close with Darnold since they both came into the NFL in 2018, attended along with his wife, Hailee Steinfeld.
The ceremony was a break for Allen and Steinfeld, who have been busy with their new baby.
“Hailee and Josh were so sweet on the dance floor, clearly having a blast,” a source told People magazine.
“People were politely congratulating them on their baby girl, and they were very kind,” the source added.
Sam Darnold Shared Enthusiasm for Team’s New Offense
Darnold has been busy in his quest to defend last season’s Super Bowl title, returning to Seattle for OTAs and sharing excitement about working with new offensive coordinator Brian Fleury. Darnold said the team isn’t exactly starting over from scratch, keeping the concepts that worked well under former offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak before his departure to become head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders.
“For Klint, to be honest, the way that his personality is, it’s a little like Fleury, kind of stoic,” Darnold told reporters. “I think sometimes last year it was like, okay, we’re just going to continue to run the ball if we’re running the ball well. And that’s kind of his mindset and that was his mindset last year.”
Darnold said he and Fleury have been getting to know each other and understand their strengths.
“You kind of build an identity, right, as an offense,” Darnold said. “I’m not saying the identity has to be exactly what the coordinator wants to call or his personality, but it kind of ends up being that way a little bit, coordinator, quarterback.”
Darnold also shared praise for wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, saying during an appearance on “Green Light with Chris Long” that the star pass-catcher has a unique and effective way of running routes.
“The way that he runs routes, and I’ve used this a ton, but it looks like he’s skating out there,” Darnold said. “And he doesn’t really change levels, so I think he just runs routes at the same level, just kind of glides. And I think it makes it really hard on defenders to be able to cover him because they don’t know whether he’s going to put it down on the ground and change directions, or whether he’s going to give them a hesi and keep going on that same line, or if he’s going to just run by him.”
Like HEAVY’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
The post Seahawks QB Sam Darnold Gets Personal Message From Wife Katie Hoofnagle appeared first on HEAVY.