Jalen Hurts channels inner Tom Brady as Eagles QB seeks to avenge Super Bowl LVII loss to Chiefs
In Super Bowl LVII, Jalen Hurts had one of the greatest performances in the history of the event: 27 completions on 38 attempts, 70 rushing yards (most by a quarterback), four touchdowns (one passing and three rushing, the latter a first for a quarterback), 28 points scored (tied with James White in LI for mist by a single player), and a 103.1 passer rating.
Unfortunately, his Philadelphia Eagles lost to the Kansas City Chiefs, and he is very determined to rectify it. Eagles Nation recently shared an Instagram screenshot of Hurts during a rookies' event, and when loosely inspected, the lock screen of his phone was of him walking off the field after Super Bowl LVII as Chiefs-themed confetti fell around him:
"This man is on a mission this season."
Jalen Hurts’ lockscreen is a photo of him walking off of the field after the Super Bowl loss with the Chiefs’ confetti falling…
This man is on a mission this season. pic.twitter.com/YUAx0TMnX4" target="_blank" title="tweet-url" rel="noopener noreferrer">pic.twitter.com/YUAx0TMnX4
Tom Brady once avenged AFC Championship Game loss by winning Super Bowl XLIX
Someone Jalen Hurts can look up to in his mission is Tom Brady, a former archnemesis of the Eagles back when he was still the face of New England.
In the 2013-14 AFC Championship Game, the Patriots took on the Denver Broncos and lost 16-26, extending their Super Bowl drought to nine years. After that defeat, Brady vowed that things would change, as former pass catcher Julian Edelman recalled on Jason and Travis Kelce's New Heights podcast:
"We started training in, like, February. And Brady had the location of the Super Bowl on his whiteboard in his gym. And I was like, 'F***ing naive', 'What is this?' He's like, 'That's where we're gonna be playing the last game of the year, bro.'"
And Brady had loftier goals in mind when predicting that the Patriots would not just revisit the Super Bowl, but win it:
"I go, 'I'm gonna help you catch Montana', 'cause this is when he only had three. He looked at me dead in the face; he goes, 'I ain't catching Montana; I'm going for Jordan!'"
And he did. Super Bowl XLIX marked the beginning of the second and more famous half of the New England dynasty.
Jalen Hurts declined starring role in Quarterback, relished "triple-threat" playing style
The Netflix docuseries Quarterback has been such a huge hit that a second season has been commissioned - but do not expect Jalen Hurts to be a focal character anytime soon. Speaking to reporters after training camp, he said:
“I actually turned it down last year. I didn’t feel it was appropriate for the year so I turned down the opportunity to be on it.”
In the same session, he lauded himself as a "triple-threat" quarterback - one who can defeat his opponents in the air, on the ground, and through the mind:
“I am embracing the uniqueness of my game, and just being a triple threat out there. Just being someone knowledgeable and understanding of what’s going on, on the field, and being able to make those throws. And being able to cause problems on the ground as well.
"Those are the three areas of quarterback that I’m embracing, and that I want to continue to excel at.”
The Eagles begin their 2023 campaign against the New England Patriots on September 10.