Yes, Puka Nacua Did Make Fun of Seahawks QB Sam Darnold in Viral Super Bowl Tweet

But it wasn’t as mean-spirited as fans may have thought.

Rams star Puka Nacua explained his viral Super Bowl tweet in which he appeared to throw shade at Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Rams star wide receiver Puka Nacua didn’t mean to start a heated controversy over his tweet about Sam Darnold during the Super Bowl, but that’s what ended up happening. Last month, Nacua posted to his X account a laughing face emoji and name-dropped the Seahawks quarterback during his Super Bowl LX win over the Patriots, leading many NFL fans to believe he was throwing shade at his NFC rival.

Nacua finally addressed his now-viral tweet and admitted he had, in fact, been laughing at Darnold. But not for the reasons others may think.

The Rams star explained he was making fun of Darnold over a silly in-game moment involving the Seahawks quarterback.

“It’s a point in the game where [Darnold] tries to take a knee and he kind of falls into the Patriots guy’s lap,” Nacua said on the One Night with Steiny podcast. “And the guy tries to help him up and he doesn’t take it. So that’s where it came from.”

It was only after his tweet started to make the rounds on social media that Nacua realized his light-hearted dig was getting blown out of proportion.

“But then after everybody started playing like, ‘Yo, we beat you guys. The Rams suck. Sam Darnold owns you.’ I was like, ‘All right, I’m not going to explain myself now’... It was too far already,” said Nacua.

The Rams went 1-2 against the Seahawks last season including the playoffs, and two of those games arguably stand alone as the most memorable of 2025. In December, Seattle outlasted L.A. in a 38-37 overtime thriller that ended with the Seahawks, who were down by as many as 16 points in the fourth quarter, completing a game-winning 2-point conversion.

Roughly a month later, the Seahawks got the better of their NFC foes again in the conference championship game. Darnold, no longer seeing ghosts, threw for three touchdowns and, with the help of the Seahawks’ top-ranked defense, punched Seattle’s historic ticket to the Super Bowl with a 31-27 victory over the Rams. The Seahawks ultimately went on to beat the Patriots 29-13 to clinch their first Lombardi Trophy since 2014.

Following unfruitful stints with the Jets and Vikings, Darnold won his first-ever Super Bowl in his debut season with the Seahawks, revitalized his NFL career and may have emphatically silenced his critics once and for all—except for Nacua, that is.

“I’m definitely going to keep [the rivalry] going. That’s what makes it fun,” said Nacua.

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