“I’m not f**king coming out!” Jalen Hurts allegedly breaking his collarbone against the Bears last season and still wanting to continue speaks volumes about his mental toughness
Hurts reveals his journey until now as he stars on the covers of Sports Illustrated.
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Hurts endured against the Chicago Bears despite an injury almost cost him his throwing arm (Image via FOX)
Jalen Hurts has quickly become a role model for the next generation of football players in just a few years. His grit and passion for the game and robot-like tenacity channel him to trod on in adverse situations. The Texas native is a strong-willed and hard-working individual who follows his routine like clockwork. On top of that, he loves football so much that even breaking his collarbone could not force him to step off the field.
Hurts came through the ranks in Alabama. Yes, that old place that has produced greats such as Bart Starr, Don Houston, and a flock full of legendary players When Mama Pamela Hurts and his older brother Averion Jr. enrolled young Jalen in the program, he was not a quarterback. Rather, he struggled as a tight end and a running back. Switching to quarterback was effortless, as coach Nick Saban made Jalen Hurts the first-ever freshman to start as the Alabama center since Vince Sutton in 1984.
Hurts completed more than 5,000 passing yards in three years for the Crimson Tide and left for Oklahoma. As a Sooner, he played a solitary season, throwing for 3851 yards and scoring 32 touchdowns. He declared for the 2020 NFL Draft and was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles. However, his chances were limited in his rookie year, but everything changed in 2021. Hurts started every game and ended up with a positive record of 8-7.
In 2022, he turned it up a notch. The Philadelphia Eagles went eight games unbeaten. After a loss against the Commanders in week 10, normality was restored. But on December 18, against the Chicago Bears, Jalen Hurts went clutching his throwing shoulder “after an innocuous-looking tackle.” Hurts later revealed, as per Sports Illustrated, that he had realized that something was wrong. He stayed on, even completing a short pass, and then headed for the sidelines. “My S—’s broke,” he told the physio. “My shoulder. I felt it. I just broke my collarbone again.”
Players huddled around him, concerned for their quarterback. But Hurts wasn’t ready to give up. “I’m not f—ing coming out,” he said. He wasn’t wrong, as head coach Nick Sirianni confirmed the QB’s injury. “He sprained his shoulder and is attacking his rehab,” according to NFL.com. That only kept him out for just two games as he returned to beat the New York Giants. The Eagles went into the postseason.
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Jalen Hurts on the cover of Sports Illustrated
Hurts tried his best to win last season’s Super Bowl but lost to the Kansas City Chiefs. However, that doesn’t mean he can’t go again this year. He does not have the word quit in his dictionary; rather, what he wants is redemption.
To commemorate the inspiring journey of Jalen Hurts, Sports Illustrated made him their cover boy. “Being on the cover of SI goes back to my childhood,” Hurts said, as per the Philadelphia Inquirer. “I put a couple of different professional athletes on my wall as a kid in my room.”
He became the latest Eagle to be featured in the coveted sports magazine. The last player to do so was former quarterback Nick Foles in 2018. Most notably, retired players such as Michael Vick and Donovan McNabb have also made it into the Illustrated Hall of Fame.
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Ishan Misra
(3133 Articles Published)