Jalen Hurts’ father, Averion, was standing near the field entrance at the Superdome as the final moments of Super Bowl LIX passed on Sunday.
Occasional cheers, whistles, and chants of E-A-G-L-E-S filled the tunnel as the Philadelphia Eagles finished off a dominant 40-22 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs, and Hurts was about to be named MVP. Hurts, with 293 yards and three touchdowns, clearly outperformed Patrick Mahomes.
Soon, Averion joined his son on the field, where they shared a long hug amid green and white confetti. “I am just so humbly happy for him. That’s first and foremost and that’s all I care about as a daddy,” Averion said, speaking with a cadence that reminded everyone of Jalen.
“I cried a little bit earlier. And I haven’t cried since USC-Alabama. I hadn’t shed a tear since then. But for whatever reason, it came out. So I guess it was the right time: They won that game and they won this game so evidently, the tears brought joy and victory.”
USC-Alabama was Hurts’ first college game. He had recently graduated from Channelview High School, where Averion coached him, and joined Alabama. Jalen came off the bench and scored four touchdowns in a 52-6 win.
A lot has happened since then. Jalen became the first true freshman to start for Nick Saban and led Alabama to the national title game in his first two seasons, then was benched in the 2018 championship game against Georgia and lost his starting job to Tua Tagovailoa.
He then transferred to Oklahoma, where Hurts finished second in Heisman voting before being drafted by the Eagles in the second round of the 2020 NFL draft.
He competed for the starting job with Carson Wentz, had an MVP-level season in Year 2, and played his best game against the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII, but the Eagles fell short in a 38-35 loss. His hopes of returning to the Super Bowl in 2023 were shaken by a historic collapse.
There was emotion in Hurts’ voice as he reflected on these moments after the Super Bowl win.
“It’s not normal,” Hurts said, wearing a gray championship T-shirt and a backward hat, briefly smiling. “It’s been a very unprecedented journey. It’s always the beginning until it’s the end.”
“It means a lot: Quantifying all that work over the years, embracing everything, taking every challenge head-on and taking every joy and moment of achievement and success head-on as well and processing them all as one.”
This was a different year for Hurts. The offensive coaching staff focused more on running back Saquon Barkley after a 2-2 start with several turnovers, including seven credited to Hurts.
He only had three turnovers in the rest of the season, helping the Eagles win 10 straight games. But with only one game over 200 passing yards in the final seven regular-season games, there were doubts about Hurts’ passing ability.
Hurts silenced those questions with impressive performances in the NFC Championship Game against the Washington Commanders (20-of-28, 246 yards, 1 TD) and in the Super Bowl against the Chiefs (17-of-22, 221 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT). His 46-yard touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith in the third quarter extended the Eagles’ lead to 34-0.
“Going into this game, he was the least of my worries,” said Eagles chairman and CEO Jeffrey Lurie, his voice barely audible over the celebration in the locker room.
Jalen Hurts huddles up with the teammates before the gameThis season Hurts focused on visibility
“I knew he would play great, just as he did two years ago. You have to worry about almost everything; that’s one thing I didn’t even think about. I just said, ‘We’ve got the quarterback.’
“He’s 26, incredibly clutch, he knows what correlates with winning. Sometimes it’s through the ground game, sometimes it’s through the passing game. You’ve got to be able to do both. They really did a great job against Saquon today, but Jalen is a great thrower of the football, a quick decision-maker when he needs to be. He has the clutch gene.”
Always working hard, one of Hurts’ challenges this season was becoming more vocal and visible. According to teammates, he succeeded in this role.
One example came on the eve of Super Bowl Sunday. As he did before their first championship game against the Chiefs, coach Nick Sirianni gave players the chance to speak at the team meeting in the hotel on Saturday night.
“I’ll tell you right now, I knew we were winning that football game after all the players talked in front of that room,” defensive back Sydney Brown told.
Brown mentioned two players specifically after making that statement: safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Hurts. “I don’t know how to explain the emotion that Jalen had in his speech,” Brown said. “It was unbelievable. There’s a reason why he won Super Bowl MVP. He’s the best in the world.”
The players from the 2022 team have openly discussed how the loss in Super Bowl LVII to Kansas City still stings and continues to drive them even two years later.
Early in the following season, a teammate’s livestream accidentally revealed that Hurts had set his phone’s lock screen to a photo of him walking off the field after that defeat, with red and gold confetti falling from the sky. It remains his lock screen to this day.
When asked if he’d change it now that he has new celebratory photos, Hurts said he might keep it as motivation to return to another Super Bowl. After all, his story of success can’t be told without mentioning the setbacks he’s overcome.
“I watched him walk off the field under that confetti and felt his pain,” Averion said. “I just didn’t want to feel that pain again.
“And I’m so happy — I don’t feel it because he doesn’t. I’m just happy for him. It’s a blessing because of how hard he works.”
