New Orleans – Never forget where you came from.
I will never forget Jalen Hurts. He was benched at university in the middle of the national championship game. I lost the Super Bowl. His Philadelphia Eagles were ridiculed for not connecting better with star receiver AJ Brown, despite winning 16 of his last 17 games. Something always.
But the morning after Super Bowl 59, the Eagles quarterback concluded his incredible season with an age-old clutch performance, nothing else to knock. Just like he posed with Lombardi Trophy and The Pete Rozelle Trophy, the Sterling Silver Football was awarded the Super Bowl MVP of Speritive Photo Op.
“When we rolled up these trophies, it’s about the journey and there’s little about the outcome,” Hurts said at the final press conference for the Super Bowl 59 hype program. “Obviously, we are judged for the outcome, but that’s what everyone else says. But the journey is what builds us up and it makes us us. .”
Sitting at the New Orleans Convention Center and listening to Hearts and dropping philosophy while accompanying Eagles coach Nick Cilianni and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, I heard him drop his philosophy mid-week I was impressed by how similar it was to the man I met in the team’s hotel. Or the guy I saw last year. Or at his last Super Bowl two years ago. It’s very consistent. Low key. Mellow. Thoughtful. Hurts is only 26 years old. But it sounds like he can go to 50, an old soul wrapped in wisdom.
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Someone asked if he felt he was being verified, but that suggests that his critics are silent by becoming the latest member of the Super Bowl MVP elite club It may have been the way.
“What is the estimate?” replied. “Before someone gave their opinions, there was a purpose. It’s still true. My purpose is to be the person God called me. It’s not something that has ever been about anyone else. It’s just It’s about travel, I’m embracing everything, growing up, and trying to be the best I can.
“I’m not here without that journey, and I think it’s something I’m accepting along the way and it’s just something I should keep building… I’m grateful for the highs and lows. Masu. .”
Amen.
On Sunday night, Harts changed the story about his career arc. Perhaps a blowout victory, backed by a top-ranked NFL defense, prevented the Kansas City chief from becoming the first team to win three consecutive Super Bowls. It happened.
In the final Super Bowl, Nick Bolton lost a fumble that returned 36 yards for a touchdown. It was a pivotal moment in the 38-35 setback. This time it was almost perfect as the first player in Super Bowl history completed at least 75% of his passes (17-22, 221 yards) with 2 TDs and rushed for at least 70 yards on the score. .
Certainly, quarterbacks dominate the Super Bowl, or else they’ve seen a big pass. Still, it’s a different type of flow that has passed a 300-yard passing game (week 3 at New Orleans) all season.
“It’s all said for me and when it’s done, I don’t measure my success, either numbers, statistics, passing yards, touchdowns,” he said. “I measure that from the ring and the championship.”
Mahomes knows. I have a final thanks to Hurts. He broke the Super Bowl record for rushing yards at quarterback with 11 carries, including the longest Scamper, 17 yards.
“One of the things I’ve always admired about Jalen is that he is the winner,” Mahomes later said. “I know it sounds… some people take it as if it’s not a good thing, but you don’t find a way to win with your soccer team around you It’s not. That’s what I learned about my whole career and that’s what he came to the NFL and did his whole career. If he needs to play big, he They’ll play big, and that’s something that not everyone has.
“I have a lot of respect for Jalen. We said that after the first Super Bowl we played against them. I said he was back, and he was, He made me better today. At some point in our careers, in such a big game, I’m sure we’ll stand up again (again).’
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Before returning to Philadelphia, I left the Super Bowl site for a trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando, so I can believe it’s in sight.
“My whole career, I’ve been challenged by many different things. It puts me where I try to improve, improve, improve. “Then there’s the other side of it, where you’re flawed and failed. I have experienced it and now I see the importance of winning. I think both of these components are essential to having great success.”
Especially when the winding road leads to where the wounds are now at the top of the NFL mountain peak.
x Follow Jarrett Bell at @jarrettbell.