Joining the San Francisco 49ers to compete for the starting quarterback position alongside Brock Purdy and Trey Lance, Sam Darnold recently shared a chilling tale about his brief stay at teammate George Kittle's pool house. Darnold, a former top draft pick who previously played for the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers, appeared on Barstool Sports' "Pardon My Take" podcast and recounted the unsettling experiences that led him to find his own living arrangements.

Darnold described two consecutive nights where he woke up in the middle of the night with a strange sensation of being held down, followed by an overwhelming feeling of another presence in the room. He detailed the experience, stating, "It was crazy man. Like, I woke up, and you know how sometimes you have a dream and then you wake up and you feel like you can't move... I felt that, and I woke up, it was like 3 a.m., went to go take a pee and came back, fell right asleep. And then, that next night, the same thing happened... there was something else in the room."

While Darnold didn't explicitly blame the unsettling occurrences for his move, he admitted that the potential paranormal activity didn't make him feel any more comfortable staying at Kittle's place. He emphasized the peculiarity of the situation, stating, "It was very creepy, and I had never dealt with anything like that before... it just felt like when I woke up there was something, like, holding on to me, and then that next night... I felt that something was in the room with me, and it was … the freakiest thing. I'm like getting chills talking about it right now." The podcast hosts jokingly suggested the presence might be the infamous "hat man," but Darnold dismissed the idea.

Darnold, who has thrown for over 11,000 yards and 61 touchdowns in his NFL career, is looking to revitalize his career with the 49ers. While his spooky experience at Kittle's pool house is certainly a memorable anecdote, he's hoping to make headlines for his on-field performance in the upcoming season.