Jalen Hurts Praises Eagles Fans as They Begin Pouring into Super Bowl LVII City
PHOENIX – The Super Bowl LVII city is filling up fast, as fans began pouring in from Philadelphia and other NFL sites all day on Thursday.
There are fans representing the Bears, 49ers, Steelers, and Seahawks, based on the different jerseys that were spotted in the lobby of the media hotel.
They are outnumbered, though, by those wearing Eagles colors. Chiefs, too.
As of Thursday night, 72 hours before the Eagles and Chiefs tee it up in the NFL’s biggest game at State Farm Stadium, there appears to be more green than red.
That’s not surprising to the Eagles players, especially Jalen Hurts and Ndamukong Suh
Hurts has been a part of the Philadelphia community for three years now.
“The energy and enthusiasm of this city is something like none other,” the QB said on Thursday, the final media availability for both Super Bowl teams before Sunday.
“I’ve been able to be part of two really historic and dominant football programs with rich support (at Alabama and Oklahoma). I think this city of Philadelphia, being in this city for a short time now, it’s something different.
“It’s encouraging, it hypes you up, they support you regardless of the circumstance. You see the videos on social media with parades after winning (the NFC championship), even going to the World Series, it’s a city of great enthusiasm and we’re definitely going to need that this week.”
Veteran defensive tackle Suh has only been with the Eagles since November, signing the week before Thanksgiving. He heard the passion of the fan base, though, from friends who played there, former teammates, and also Brandon Graham, a good friend of his.
“From the standpoint of our fans, people are super invested in something I like being part of,” said Suh, who is at his third Super Bowl and is 1-1 in them. “My wife said it best the other day in an interview with the New York Post, that it feels like Nebraska (where Suh went to college), where we’re in a fishbowl and our city and town loves us.
“Even New York was showing us love (lighting up the Empire State Building in green) when we won the NFC championship. There’s always going to be attention. Our guys are used it, they embrace it, but at the end of the day we have a job to go take care of, so we focus at the same time.”
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
