From Alabama to Oklahoma to Philly, Here's How Fans Can Celebrate Jalen Hurts' 'Very Unprecedented Journey'

Jalen Hurts’ journey to the top of the football world was, to use his words, “not normal.”

From high school star in Houston to dynamic freshman at Alabama to getting benched in Tuscaloosa to a season of rebirth at Oklahoma to a Super Bowl loss to a Super Bowl win, Hurts said, were all “formative for the future” that led him here.

Now Hurts has wrapped up his fifth NFL season as Super Bowl MVP following Sunday’s 40-22 blowout of the two-time defending champ Kansas City Chiefs.

Now, OU (and Bama) fans who followed his memorable 2019 season in Norman can celebrate Hurts’ Super Bowl triumphs with Sports Illustrated’s commemorative Super Bowl issue (order here).

“It's been a long journey,” Hurts said. “It's been a journey of ups and downs and highs and lows, and I've always stayed true to it in the end, and having this vision of just being the best that I can be, and that evolving over time, and this desire and this flame inside to win.”

Hurts and the Eagles lost to the Chiefs two years ago despite a fantastic performance from Hurts: 304 yards passing, 70 yards rushing and four total touchdowns.

Now the Eagles are champions as they leaned on a crushing defensive performance and another tremendous showing by Hurts: 17-of-21 passing for 221 yards and threw two touchdowns with one interception and a team-high 72 yards and a touchdown on a QB sneak.

Other than Troy Aikman, Hurts is the only former Sooner to be named Super Bowl MVP.

“I took great pride in never backing down from a challenge, always turning my negatives into positives, turning my weaknesses and making them my strengths,” Hurts said. “And it's taken great effort and determination to evolve my game over time and just continue to grow and improve.”

Hurts’ football career has been at times the very definition of perseverance and resilience.

He was the SEC Offensive Freshman of the Year in 2016, but the Crimson Tide lost to Clemson in the National Championship Game. Hurts had another big year in 2017, but as the Crimson Tide was losing to Georgia in the title game, Hurts found himself suddenly on the bench in favor of freshman Tua Tagovailoa, who rallied the Tide to the crown in overtime. In 2018, Hurts tried to win the job back but ended up Tagovailoa’s backup before replacing an injured Tagovailoa in the SEC title game and leading Bama to a conference crown, followed by a victory over Oklahoma in the CFP semifinals in the Orange Bowl (and ultimately another title game loss to Clemson).

In 2019, Hurts saw an opportunity to grow his game, so he transferred to OU to learn the position under Lincoln Riley.

Hurts led the Sooners to their last College Football Playoff appearance (a 63-28 loss to LSU) following the team's fifth straight Big 12 Conference championship and set numerous offensive records that season, including most rushing yards by an OU quarterback (1,298) and touchdowns (21) to go with 3,851 yards and 32 touchdowns passing. He ranked third in the nation in total offense with 5,149 yards, which stands second in OU history behind Kyler Murray’s 5,362 in 2018.

Hurts began his rookie season with the Eagles as a backup and a change-of-pace running QB, but took over the starting job late in the year in 2020. He passed for 3,144 yards and 16 touchdowns in 2021, 3,701 yards and 22 TDs in 2022, 3,858 yards and 23 scores in 2023, and despite missing a handful of games with injury this season, threw for 2,903 yards and 18 TDs.

Now he's a Super Bowl champ and Super Bowl MVP.

“Not normal,” Hurts said. “So it's been a very unprecedented journey, and the journeys, you know, it's always the beginning until it's the end. And I think 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.”

Whether it was critics pointing to limitations as a freshman in Tuscaloosa or coming up short of certain standards set by his predecessors at OU or any hurdles he’s had to clear in the NFL, Hurts uses it all as motivation.

“I’ve always found it thrilling, and any doubt and any questioning and any opinions, it's always been something that I've embraced,” he said. “And I don't want it to change now it's because of the results. So just running your race, and playing with purpose. You know, this is what I'm called to do during this season of my life, and I'm gonna give it all I have and try my best to leave no stone unturned.”