From being benched to playing in the college football national championship, to winning super bowl MVP, Jalen Hurts has made a name for himself with his brilliance on the field and resilient determination to be exceptional.
Hurts was born on August 7th, 1998 in Houston, Texas. He grew up playing football in Channelview, Texas at Channelview High School, where his father coached. He excelled throughout high school, winning the district 21 6A MVP award his junior year.
While Hurts has an incredible work ethic, he credits a lot of his success to his father, especially in high school. “Over (my) childhood, I saw my dad handle situations. I saw how my dad led the troops. I saw how he coached, saw how he was able to communicate and build relationships with a ton of different people” shared Hurts during an interview with Faith on the Field.
After Hurts’s High school success he took his talents to the University of Albama. There, he was named starting quarterback as a true freshman after the first game, which is very uncommon in college football, especially at Alabama. He won the SEC championship game, and later led the team to a national championship appearance. In this game he fell short, but despite the loss, the season was a success for Jalen. He was able to break many Alabama records including most touchdowns by a quarterback for the Crimson Tide.
In Hurts’s sophomore season he led the Crimson Tide to a 11-1 record, and they were able to sneak into the playoffs as the #4 seed, where they defeated #1 Clemson in the semi-final. Alabama then moved on to play the Georgia Bulldogs in the National Championship. This was Hurts’s shot to redeem himself from last season’s defeat, and to win it all. However, The Crimson Tide fell to a 13 point deficit, and despite Jalen’s overwhelming prior success, he was benched. Then, true freshman teammate Tua Tagovailoa came off the bench and led Alabama to a 26-23 come-from-behind win.
Hurts then remained on the bench behind Tagovailoa for most of his junior season. He transferred to Oklahoma for his final season of college football and led the Sooners to an SEC championship, but fell short in the college football playoffs.
In 2020 Hurts entered the NFL draft and was selected by the Philidelphia Eagles with the 53rd overall pick. He had an above average first two seasons with the Eagles, but took a leap in his third season where he led the team to the Super Bowl where they played Kansas City Chiefs. There, Hurts went toe to toe with the best quarterback in the league at the time, Patrick Mahomes.
Yet, once again, Hurts fell short on the biggest stage, losing to the Chiefs 35-38. Many media members proceeded to bash Hurts over his arm and throwing ability. Hurts never forgot about this loss and used it as motivation, saying, “You either win or you learn.”
This past February, the Philadelphia Eagles faced the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl once again. Despite the Chiefs’ best efforts, Hurts and the Eagles crushed them 40-22. Hurts went 17 of 22 passing for 221 yards and 2 touchdowns. He was named Super Bowl MVP and took the Lombardi trophy back to Philly.
Although Hurts is extremely talented, he stays humble and credits his success to God and his father, saying, “God is greater than any high or low.” Which is a great way to sum up his mentality towards football. He has shown his ability to overcome adversity and achieve greatness. Hurts has set a new precedent of what it means to be a successful young quarterback.