LOOK: Jalen Hurts Shows off His Singing Voice
Jalen Hurts is headed to the Super Bowl, and he's bringing a host of other Alabama graduates with him. Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles beat the San Francisco 49ers in a more dominant fashion than has been seen in a conference championship game in a long time.
The 31-7 victory came in front of an electric crowd at Lincoln Financial Stadium that frazzled all three players that attempted a pass for Kyle Shanahan's offense. After the game, and some encouragement from one Terry Bradshaw, Hurts indulged himself in some celebration with his team's fans, singing the Philly fight song "Fly, Eagles, Fly" in front of a still full stadium.
Hurts and the Eagles opened the two-week period leading up to Super Bowl LVII as two-point favorites over the Kansas City Chiefs, who just squeaked by the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20. Right now, it doesn't seem like there's any team in the league that will be able to match up with Philadelphia's physicality.
For Hurts, the ticket to the big game is the second to last step on one of the most unlikely journeys in sports. Hurts went 26-2 as a starter at Alabama before being benched at the halfway mark of one the most iconic games in college football history. He then made the unprecedented decision to back up Tua Tagovailoa in 2018 and keep learning and developing under Alabama's staff instead of transferring somewhere he could start.
Even after his prolific 2019 campaign with quarterback guru Lincoln Riley and the Oklahoma Sooners, many fans and analysts alike predicted that Hurts would need to switch to tight end or running back to get a shot in the NFL.
As a rookie, Hurts was used merely as a gadget player, similar to Taysom Hill in New Orleans. As a first year starter, he was up-and-down in his performances and the Eagles got bounced in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. Now, as a second year starter, the once "run first" quarterback is headed to the biggest game in football.