Jalen Hurts made a lot of history on Sunday in quarterbacking the Philadelphia Eagles to a resounding win in Super Bowl LIX, 40-22 over the Kansas City Chiefs. In a dominant performance, he denied the Chiefs a record three consecutive Super Bowl titles, lifted the Eagles to just their second Super Bowl crown in franchise history, and etched his name with some all-time greats as a Super Bowl MVP.
(This story has been updated to remove incorrect information)
Jalen Hurts made a lot of history on Sunday in quarterbacking the Philadelphia Eagles to a resounding win in Super Bowl LIX, 40-22 over the Kansas City Chiefs. In a dominant performance, he denied the Chiefs a record three consecutive Super Bowl titles, lifted the Eagles to just their second Super Bowl crown in franchise history, and etched his name with some all-time greats as a Super Bowl MVP.
He made some Alabama football history, too: Hurts snapped a 49-year drought between Super Bowl titles for former Crimson Tidequarterbacks, as well.
That’s an awfully long time for a program that produced the first three Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks ever (Bart Starr twice, and Joe Namath), and another in 1976, when Ken Stabler led the Oakland Raiders to a 32-14 rout of the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl XI. Since Stabler, however, there wasn’t an Alabama quarterback to even reach the big game, much less win it, until Hurts himself got there two years ago, only to lose.
He more than atoned Sunday, completing 17 of 22 passes for 221 yards, two touchdowns — one of them to former UA Heisman Trophy winner DeVonta Smith — and another 72 rushing yards with a third touchdown rushing. The performance made Hurts an easy choice for Super Bowl MVP, which put him in some former Crimson Tide company, as well. The late Starr took the game’s first two MVPs, and Namath followed with another in Super Bowl III.
Now, onto the Oklahoma argument.
I reject the notion that a player should only be associated with one college, especially at the quarterback position, where transferring has become more rule than exception. Hurts locked himself into Alabama lore in multiple ways, leading the Crimson Tide for about 95 percent of the 2017 national championship season before Tua Tagovailoa’s miracle relief appearance. And lest anyone forget, it was Hurts who bailed out an injured Tagovailoa a year later in the SEC Championship Game, delivering two late touchdowns to spark a comeback win over Georgia. It was a rewarding way to finish his run at Alabama, after he’d lost the starting nod to Tagovailoa, having to sit the bench despite a .929 career winning percentage a starter. He came up on the short end of the most hotly-contested quarterback competition in school history, and never flinched as an elite teammate and positive locker-room influence, all while having to hold a clipboard.
Hurts, in short, was a winner.
It would be different if he had zipped into Tuscaloosa as freshman, accomplished nothing, and zipped out as a sophomore, like so many other quarterbacks. Heck, Julian Sayin managed to come and go in the space of a few weeks. Hurts, however, left a stamp on the program with permanent ink.
That doesn’t mean Oklahoma can’t claim Hurts, too.
It was, after all, where he finished his college career, and he took the Sooners to both a Big 12 Championship and a College Football Playoff berth in his lone season there. He forged a place in OU’s storied history, as well.
Now, he’s got a Super Bowl ring.
And Alabama has put a 49-year skid to rest.