Jalen Hurts: From College Star to NFL Super Bowl MVP

Dec 09, 2025 0

Jalen Alexander Hurts, born on August 7, 1998, is an American professional football quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He has quickly become one of the most recognizable faces in the league.

Hurts's parents are Pamela and Averion Hurts. Hurts has two siblings: a younger sister, Kynnedy, and an older brother, Averion, named after their father. Averion was the starting quarterback for Texas Southern University.

Hurts is a Baptist. He has said, "I keep God at the center of everything. I give Him all the praise, I lean on Him all the time.

Hurts is an advocate for women in sports and employs an all-female management team, including his social media, marketing, communications, and sports agent team members. In 2021, Hurts honored female empowerment and women in sports when participating in the NFL's "My Cause, My Cleats" initiative. In 2023, the management team reached out to the producers of Abbott Elementary to express Hurts interest in making an appearance as 'he was a big fan' and Hurts and his teammates, Jason Kelce and Brandon Graham had their cameos during the one-hour season three premiere of the show. Hurts is the godfather of teammate A. J.

High School Career

Hurts attended Channelview High School in Channelview, Texas. Hurts' father, Averion, was the football coach at Channelview High School throughout his son's high school career. As a senior, he passed for 2,384 yards with 26 touchdown passes and rushed for 1,391 yards and 25 touchdowns. Hurts was a second-team all-district selection as a sophomore and was named the District 21-6A Overall MVP as a junior during his high school playing years. Throughout his high school career Hurts was rated as a four-star recruit and was ranked among the top dual-threat quarterbacks in the class of 2016. Although Texas A&M made a strong push to recruit Hurts, Hurts committed to the University of Alabama on June 5, 2015. In addition to football, Hurts participated in powerlifting.

College Football Career

He began his college football career with the Alabama Crimson Tide, leading the team to consecutive College Football Playoff National Championship appearances in 2016 and 2017. After Tagovailoa led the Crimson Tide to victory in the National Championship the year before, questions arose if Hurts would remain the starting quarterback for Alabama. In the season opener against Louisville, Tagovailoa was the starter. Hurts came into the game in a rotation.

On January 16, 2019, Hurts announced via social media he would use his final year of eligibility to transfer to the University of Oklahoma to play for the Sooners.

Every Touchdown of Jalen Hurts' College Career (2016-2019) ᴴᴰ

Alabama Crimson Tide (2016-2018)

Hurts produced a historic freshman season under head coach Nick Saban. He threw for 2,780 yards and 23 touchdowns with nine interceptions. His completion percentage was at 62.8 percent, and he finished the season with a quarterback rating of 139.12. He rushed for a total of 954 yards and 13 touchdowns, breaking the school single-season record for rushing yards by a quarterback, surpassing Steadman Shealy's previous record of 791 yards. He finished the 2016 season with 36 overall touchdowns breaking the previous record for touchdowns in a single season for the Crimson Tide (35) set by Blake Sims in 2014. Hurts became the first quarterback coached by Nick Saban to rush for more than 11 touchdowns in a single season. In the Iron Bowl game against Auburn, Hurts completed 75% of his passes, which set a new Iron Bowl record. Alabama concluded the 2016 regular season with a perfect 12-0 (8-0 SEC) record.

On November 30, 2016, Hurts was declared one of the ten finalists for the Manning Award, which is given to the nation's top college quarterback. On December 3, 2016, he led his team to win the 2016 SEC Championship by a score of 54-16 over the Florida Gators and was subsequently named SEC Offensive Player of the Year, SEC Freshman of the Year, and received Freshman All-American from several publications. Hurts was featured on the cover page of Sports Illustrated College Football Playoff magazine on December 6, 2016. On January 9, 2017, top-seeded Alabama lost the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship against the Clemson Tigers by a score of 35-31.

Oklahoma Sooners (2019)

In his first game as a Sooner on September 1, 2019, Hurts shattered Oklahoma's single-game yardage record in a debut (previously held by Baker Mayfield when he put up 396 yards of total offense against Akron in 2015), putting up 508 yards of total offense against Houston. On September 28, in a 55-14 victory over Texas Tech, he had 415 passing yards, three passing touchdowns, and one interception to go along with nine carries for 70 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. Hurts helped lead Oklahoma to a 7-0 start to the season. The team's first setback came against Kansas State on October 26.

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Hurts completed his B.A. Hurts completed his M.A.

NFL Career

Selected by the Eagles in the second round of the 2020 NFL draft, Hurts became their starter near the end of his rookie season.

Philadelphia Eagles

On December 6, 2020, Hurts relieved Carson Wentz, who was benched due to ineffective play, against the Green Bay Packers. In this Week 13 matchup, Hurts threw his career first passing touchdown to Greg Ward and finished with 109 passing yards with a touchdown and an interception in the 30-16 loss. On December 8, 2020, Hurts was named the starter for their Week 14 game against the New Orleans Saints. In his first NFL start, Hurts completed 17 of 30 passing attempts for 167 passing yards and one touchdown, leading the Eagles to a 24-21 win. Before the start of the regular season, Hurts switched his jersey number to No.

Hurts had a breakout season in 2022 when he led the Eagles to their conference's top seed and an appearance in Super Bowl LVII, earning him Pro Bowl and second-team All-Pro honors. With a Week 14 win over the Giants, Hurts led the Eagles to a consecutive playoff berth. Hurts finished the season with a starting record of 14-1, tying a franchise-best (with Randall Cunningham) 35 total touchdowns (22 passing, 13 rushing) to just six interceptions, 3,701 passing yards, and a 101.5 quarterback rating.

On January 21, 2023, Hurts led the Eagles to a 38-7 victory over the Giants in the Divisional Round of the 2022-23 NFL playoffs. In doing so, Hurts won his first playoff game, and later led the Eagles to a 31-7 win in the NFC Championship against the 49ers to advance to Super Bowl LVII and face the Kansas City Chiefs. In the game, Hurts threw for 304 yards and a touchdown, and rushed for 70 yards and scored three rushing touchdowns, the most rushing yards and rushing touchdowns by a quarterback in Super Bowl history. His three touchdowns and a two-point conversion also tied the record for most points scored in a Super Bowl with 20.

On April 17, 2023, Hurts signed a five-year contract extension for $255 million ($180 million guaranteed), making him the highest paid player in NFL history, although that was surpassed just 10 days later by Lamar Jackson's contract with the Baltimore Ravens. In Week 8, Hurts threw for 319 yards and four touchdowns in a 38-31 win over the Washington Commanders, earning NFC Offensive Player of the Week. In a Week 9 game against the Cowboys, Hurts scored his 33rd career rushing touchdown, surpassing Randall Cunningham for the most by a quarterback in franchise history. In Week 12, Hurts achieved his 10th rushing touchdown for the season and finished with 265 total passing and rushing yards and five touchdowns in a 37-34 win over the Buffalo Bills. He became the first quarterback in NFL history to have three consecutive seasons with at least 10 rushing touchdowns each.

In Week 16, in a game against the Giants, Hurts scored his 15th rushing touchdown of the season, breaking the record for rushing touchdowns in a single season by a quarterback, which was previously set by Cam Newton in 2011. The following week, in a game against the Cardinals, Hurts scored his 36th total touchdown of the season with a throw to wide receiver Julio Jones, breaking the franchise record held by Randall Cunningham that Hurts had tied the season prior. In Week 18, Hurts suffered a dislocated middle finger against the Giants and was taken out of the game early.

In the NFC Championship against the Commanders, Hurts tallied four touchdowns, zero turnovers, and directed the offense to a dominant 55-23 win, advancing to Super Bowl LIX. In Super Bowl LIX, Hurts threw for 221 yards with two touchdowns and an interception while also rushing for 72 yards and a touchdown in the 40-22 win against the Chiefs to avenge Philadelphia's loss two years earlier in Super Bowl LVII. He was named Super Bowl MVP for his performance, becoming the third Black quarterback to earn the honor and the fourth black starting quarterback to win a Super Bowl.

Closing out the 2024 season, Hurts successfully led Philadelphia to the playoffs in all of his first four seasons as the primary starter, receiving two Pro Bowl selections in the process. Following their Super Bowl victory, Hurts and the Eagles made an appearance in the NFL Kickoff game, hosting the rival Dallas Cowboys. In the game, Hurts completed 19 passes out of 23 attempts for 152 yards, with no touchdowns or interceptions. He accompanied his passing performance with 14 carries for 62 yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground. Hurts led the Eagles to four consecutive wins to open their 2025 season with him recording a combined completion percentage of 79.9%, throwing for 609 yards and rushing for another 41. Hurts did not throw for a passing touchdown until Week 3's 33-26 victory over the Los Angeles Rams when he completed a 33 yard pass to tight end Dallas Goedert in the third quarter.

Awards and Nominations

Hurts had 3,701 yards passing, 760 yards rushing and 35 touchdowns combined, leading the Philadelphia Eagles to a 14-3 record in the regular season and the No. 1 seed in the NFC. Mahomes led the NFL with 5,250 yards passing and 41 TDs.

Brian Daboll, Doug Pederson and Kyle Shanahan are the finalists for AP Coach of the Year award. Daboll led the New York Giants to a 9-7-1 record in his first season as head coach. Pederson guided the Jacksonville Jaguars to a 9-8 record and an AFC South title in his first year with the team.

Purdy, the last player selected in the draft, began the season as third-string QB and stepped in after injuries to Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo. Walker led all rookies with 1,050 yards rushing and nine TDs.

This was the first year for the AP’s new voting system. Voters chose a top 5 for MVP and top 3 for all other awards. For MVP, first-place were worth 10 points.

Statistical Overview

The following table provides a summary of Jalen Hurts' key statistics:

Statistic	Value
Passing Yards (2022 Season)	3,701
Rushing Yards (2022 Season)	760
Total Touchdowns (2022 Season)	35
Starting Record (2022 Season)	14-1