Michael Dorstewitz wrote in his Feb. 11 Newsmax column:
The Seattle Seahawks took home their second Lombardi Trophy Sunday in Super Bowl LX by defeating the New England Patriots 29-13 at San Francisco’s Levi Stadium.
For Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold, it was a case of “to the victors belong the spoils,” but it was short-lived, according to Junk Science founder and regular Newsmax TV contributor Steve Milloy.
“Californicated: Super Bowl-winning Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold won $188,000 in prize money for the game,” Milloy began, then gave the bad news, “His tax bill from Democrat-run California will be $202,000.”
“Californicated” is right. In return for playing his heart out, including throwing 19 pass completions for 202 yards, he now owes the state of California $14,000 more than the bonus he earned for winning the game.
All things considered, he may have been better off watching someone else play the game from home, lounging on his sofa and munching on pizza and Buffalo wings.
Well, not so much. As Snopes detailed:
It is crucial to note that some headlines suggesting that Darnold was “losing money” were misleading and did not account for the entire financial picture of his NFL salary, not including money earned from endorsement deals. According to the NFL, Darnold signed a three-year contract with the Seahawks in 2025, valued at $100.5 million.
[…]Therefore, the $249,000 Darnold allegedly owes California was not just for the Super Bowl itself, but every working visit made to California during the season.
Snopes added that this started as a social media rumor, which it appears neither Dorstewitz nor Malloy could be bothered to fact-chek.
Still, Dorstewitz’s screed continued anyway:
It’s not that we should feel sorry for professional athletes making tens of millions of dollars a year. No, it’s because we shouldn’t support states like California that waste billions in state and federal funds with nothing to show for it.
They waste taxpayer dollars on nonsense like California’s projected high-speed rail system that never sees much progress despite the massive funds it consumes each year.
[…]Taxation, in many cases, may be the biggest scam of all time, and Sunday’s Super Bowl did nothing but highlight that fact.
It’s theft when they tax the income of non-residents; and it’s theft when it funds fraud, waste, and abuse.
Dorstewitz is a tax-hating right-winger, so he would say that.