NEW ORLEANS – Jalen Hurts has often been judged by his failings more than his successes over the course of his career.
Getting benched at halftime of a college football championship game. Being forced to transfer from Alabama to Oklahoma just to be able to regain a starting job. Getting drafted in the second round to be a backup and then having his passing prowess questioned as he quickly became a starter and had a successful launch to his NFL career.
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All those doubts helped fuel Hurts along the way and now he will be forever known as a Super Bowl MVP.
“I’ll always be the same guy,” Hurts said. “I was telling someone that I’m the same kid that came to a national championship and lost, went back and got benched and had to transfer and had to go through this unprecedented journey. That kid always kept the main thing the main thing and always was true to his vision of what he saw.
"It all began with greater leadership and doing it the right way.”
While Hurts wasn't asked to do too much on a dominant defensive night for Philadelphia, he came through at nearly every opportunity when he was needed as the calm he has shown throughout his career was evident on football's biggest stage.
He went 17 for 22 for 221 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for 72 yards and a touchdown in a 40-22 win over Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs that avenged a Super Bowl loss two years ago against Kansas City.
“Dealing with everything that came with the last Super Bowl, still leaving empty a little bit because as great as the performance was, it wasn’t enough to win,” Hurts said. “Going through those emotions, and processing those emotions and processing those things lit a great flame in me. It enhanced my desire to win significantly.”
Hurts was outstanding in that game, throwing for 304 yards and a TD and rushing for 70 yards and three more scores but could only watch as Harrison Butker kicked a go-ahead field goal with 8 seconds left for a 38-35 win.
Hurts turned that year into a $255 million, five-year contract the following offseason, but it didn't quiet the critics who questioned whether Hurts was holding back the Eagles offense at various points the past two years.
Outside of an early interception against the Chiefs — his first since Week 10 against Dallas — Hurts was nearly flawless against Steve Spagnuolo's defense.
“The criticism of him blows my mind, because I think he’s so special,” coach Nick Sirianni aid. “I mean he won so many games and works his butt off and just continues to get better and block out everything and just focus on the task at hand of getting better, putting himself in a position to win each week.”
He converted scrambles when he faced pressure and kept finding open receivers, with his 46-yard deep shot to DeVonta Smith making it 34-0 in the third quarter, providing an exclamation point to a lopsided Super Bowl win.
“In the biggest moments, when there’s the biggest haters or doubters, this man just, I don’t know, just outshines and takes command,” left tackle Jordan Mailata said.
Hurts also threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to A.J. Brown late in the first half and scored on a 1-yard tush push for the first score of the game, leading to a statistical performance achieved only by Hall of Famer Joe Montana in Super Bowl history.
The two are the only quarterbacks to throw for at least 200 yards and two TDs, rush for at least 50 yards and a score with Montana doing it in Super Bowl 19 against Miami.
Hurts is now just the fourth quarterback to lose his first Super Bowl start and go on to win one as a starter later in his career, joining Hall of Famers John Elway, Bob Griese and Len Dawson.
“We can’t rewrite history or do anything about the past, but we can make it even,” Brown said.
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