ANOTHER REASON I WON'T EVER VOTE DEMOCRAT AGAIN

California tax wipes out Darnold’s win bonus

CALIFORNIA ~ Check This Out: The Jock Tax

"Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold effectively lost over $70,000 by winning Super Bowl LX in 2026 due to California's high "jock tax". 

While earning a $178,000 winner's bonus, California's tax on the 8 "duty days" spent in the state calculated based on his total annual contract resulted in an estimated $249,000 tax bill.

Key Details on the Situation

The "Jock Tax": California imposes a state income tax on non-resident athletes for workdays (practices, media, game day) spent in the state.

Financial Impact: Darnold’s estimated $249,000 tax bill, calculated on his overall $105 million contract, exceeded his $178,000 game check by roughly $71,000.

Broader Context: This tax affects all players, including lower-earning ones, and has led to calls from figures like Boomer Esiason to move future Super Bowls out of California.

Result: Despite the financial loss, Darnold's high-value contract makes this a manageable hit, but it highlights the extreme tax liabilities for playing in California."

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The Golden State's Golden Shovel: How California Taxes Victory Into Defeat

The numbers are almost too absurd to believe. Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold just won Super Bowl LX, the pinnacle of his profession, the achievement every football player dreams of since childhood. For this accomplishment, he received a $178,000 winner's bonus. And thanks to the state of California, he now owes $249,000 in taxes a net loss of $71,000 for winning the biggest game of his life .

Let that sink in. Sam Darnold paid $71,000 for the privilege of becoming a Super Bowl champion.

This is not a rounding error or a creative accounting trick. This is the reality of California's "jock tax," a predatory revenue scheme that targets non-resident professional athletes for the crime of setting foot in the state to do their jobs. And it serves as a perfect metaphor for everything wrong with progressive governance: insatiable appetite for other people's money, complete detachment from common sense, and a governing philosophy that punishes success rather than celebrating it.

How the Jock Tax Works

The mechanism is deceptively simple and outrageously unfair. California, like a handful of other states, imposes its income tax on non-resident athletes based on "duty days"—any day spent in the state for work-related activities . For the Super Bowl, that meant eight days: travel, practices, media obligations, and the game itself .

Here is where the scam reveals itself. The tax is not calculated solely on the income earned during those eight days. That would be reasonable. Instead, California looks at the athlete's entire annual compensation in Darnold's case, his $105 million contract and taxes a percentage of that total based on the ratio of duty days spent in the state . The state then applies its top marginal rate of 13.3% (plus a 1.3% disability insurance tax) to that portion .

The result? A quarterback who spent just over a week in California preparing for and playing in a game owes the state a quarter of a million dollars. His $178,000 game check doesn't even cover the bill.

Stanford economics professor Joshua Rauh captured the absurdity perfectly: "If his team wins, Darnold will receive $178k and pay $249k to California in taxes for his time here, losing $71k. If his team loses he gets $103k and still pays over $235k in taxes, losing $135k. I presume California is declaring victory, as his incentive to win is preserved" .

The Broader Message: Get Out While You Can

This is not an isolated incident. It is a pattern. California has become expert at devising new and creative ways to extract wealth from those who create it. The state has recorded a net loss of residents for six consecutive years roughly 216,000 people in 2025 alone . Since 2019, more than 200 major businesses have relocated out of state, including corporate giants like Oracle, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Charles Schwab, and Chevron . Even Hollywood is fleeing, with on-location production in Los Angeles hitting its lowest level since the pandemic shutdown .

And how does the state respond? With proposals for a "one-time" 5% wealth tax on billionaires and exit taxes to penalize those who dare to leave . The message could not be clearer: you are a revenue stream, not a citizen. Your success belongs to us.

The contrast with conservative governance could not be starker. States like Texas, Florida, and Tennessee have no state income tax at all. They attract businesses and families not by confiscating wealth but by creating environments where wealth can be generated. They understand that the relationship between citizen and state should be cooperative, not adversarial. California views that relationship as predatory.

What This Means for the Rest of Us

Some will argue that Sam Darnold is a millionaire and can afford the hit. This misses the point entirely. The principle at stake is whether a state should be permitted to reach across its borders and claim a share of income earned entirely elsewhere, simply because a worker spent a handful of days within its boundaries. If California can do this to Darnold, what prevents it from doing something analogous to any out-of-state professional who conducts business in the state?

More importantly, the jock tax exemplifies the progressive mindset: the belief that government is entitled to whatever it can extract. The same logic that justifies taxing a Super Bowl quarterback into the red also justifies taxing small businesses into oblivion, driving middle-class families out of their homes with property tax increases, and spending billions on programs that fail to deliver results .

Former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason argued that the NFL Players Association should refuse to allow future Super Bowls in California . He is right. But the lesson extends far beyond football. Individuals and businesses should think twice before subjecting themselves to a jurisdiction that views them as ATMs rather than partners. The exodus from California is not happening by accident. It is happening by design the natural response to a government that has forgotten its proper role.

Conclusion

Sam Darnold won the Super Bowl. He played brilliantly, led his team to victory, and achieved immortality in his sport. And for his trouble, he gets to write a check to Gavin Newsom's California for more money than he earned from the game itself.

This is the face of progressive tax policy: insatiable, unaccountable, and utterly indifferent to the human beings it devours. The rest of the country should take note. If California can do this to a Super Bowl champion in the glow of his greatest triumph, imagine what it will do to you. The smart money and the smart people are already leaving. The rest will eventually follow, or they will learn the hard way that in California, victory comes with a bill you cannot afford to pay.