What a year it’s been for Jalen Hurts. After winning a championship at Alabama, transferring to Oklahoma and becoming a Heisman Trophy finalist, Hurts was selected 53rd overall by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2020 NFL Draft. This immediately set up a quarterback controversy, since Carson Wentz was the resident franchise cornerstone.
Over the course of the season, Hurts was used suboptimally — he occasionally would come in for one play at a time and head back to the bench, or be used purely as a decoy. It felt like the Eagles didn’t know how to use Hurts without upsetting Wentz. Near the end of the season, when Wentz’s play finally became too disastrous to abide by, Eagles coaches put Hurts into the starter role and he showed he was ready to take the reins, putting a jolt of life into the team in a quarter and a half against the Packers.
In the offseason, Wentz was traded to Indianapolis, Doug Pederson was fired as the head coach and most of the Eagles staff turned over. Now there’s a new head coach, offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator, a quarterbacks coach Hurts is familiar with, and a bevy of explosive new offensive weapons who make the Eagles offense something worth watching.
In the driver’s seat is Hurts, a stylish return to the Black quarterbacks who propelled Philadelphia to football glory in the past, and a man who prefers silence when controversy swirls around him. During an off-day leading up to his Monday Night Football debut against hated rivals the Dallas Cowboys, Hurts sat down with GQ to discuss his last year, becoming the first brand ambassador for Eastbay, how he made DeVonta Smith pig’s feet in a dorm at Alabama, and how he makes “angelic” crawfish.
GQ: I heard you have a new deal with Eastbay. Tell me about that, why’d you make that decision?
Jalen Hurts: It’s been a part of my life for a very long time. Like any other kid growing up: you get excited. That catalogue comes in the mail. It’s football season. And they always just came in the clutch for me. I’ve always valued them and happy to get my groove on with those guys, man, and be their first brand ambassador.
Your style has changed a lot since you were a kid. Are you still shopping there or how do you approach fashion these days?
The biggest thing is being comfortable in the clothes...You make the clothes. It’s a thing of confidence. I put everything on with confidence. I go out there and I try to make the fit.
Do you do everything with confidence?
Absolutely.
That feels like it comes across very clearly when I see you play on the field. What’s made you so confident as a quarterback from college to now?
I hold value in the pain and perseverance that I’ve had to endure and overcome. I think that’s where the grit comes from. I just want those things to be imbued into my teammates. I’m trying to lead them, be an impactful guy, try to represent my teammates and my team in the right way. It’s all about the togetherness in the sport.
When you mention the things you had to overcome, exactly what do you mean by that?
Adversity. Different obstacles and different opportunities when I had to learn and grow. I always say, “is the glass half empty or half full?” I use all these opportunities to grow. Obviously, you have to do things to overcome, but it’s always meant to grow and it’s always a situation that you can learn from.
How do you approach controversy? Like it or not, it’s been around you from the start, from Alabama, to Oklahoma to the Eagles. How did you handle the difficult moments that come with being a quarterback?
In a lot of those different situations it’s been the people around me that’s made the controversy, not me. I try to go out there and never get too high or too low. I’ve always had a somewhat [calm] mentality.
Coming out of the draft, did you ever expect to be a second round pick?
That’s a story I have to tell when it’s all said and done [laughs]. I had an opportunity then, and I have an opportunity now. I’m just very excited to be with the Philadelphia Eagles and the things we’re gonna do in the future.
I’m from Philly and I’ve been a fan all my life….
[laughs and groans at the same time] Oh yeah?!
C’mon now…
What’s ya cheesesteak spot?
Ishkabibble's Cheesesteaks, baby.
See, I had Larry’s, that’s the only one I’ve had and I liked Larry’s a lot. I’ma have to tap in with that.
Watching you during your rookie season, it felt difficult. We didn’t see or hear much from you. But there was so much going on in the quarterback room with the Carson Wentz situation. What was it like to sit and be silent while all of that happened around you?
It’s always been like that for me. Honestly, I’m a man of few words. I just try to let my play do the talking. I just want to go out there and play ball. That’s what we all love to do. That’s what I love to do. So, I let all the external factors be external factors and I focus on the thing I can control, and that’s my play.
But, silence can be daunting sometimes can’t it? Things can pile up. Did you find trouble while this went on or have people to lean on as the Carson Wentz situation went down and Doug Pederson got fired? We got introduced to a whole new team overnight.
Those are the things you have to weather through. I go into it with a stoic mentality. I put complete trust in my play and go out there and work for it and go and get everything. I have a good relationship with a lot of guys on the team: Jason Kelce, Greg Ward, DeVonta Smith, all the receivers.
We had a bit of mystery coming into the year: we didn’t know about Nick Sirianni’s offense, folks still didn’t believe you were the guy to lead. Was it hard that folks weren’t seeing the clear writing on the wall?
It’s not about all that. I stay out of all of that. I control the things I can and that’s my play, and how I work and prepare to go out there and play on Sundays. You have to have a confidence in one another as a team, and you have to connect to build that confidence in one another. We’re doing that and we’re learning from every situation — good, bad or indifferent — and we’re gonna continue to grow as a football team and attack everybody we play.
What excited you about the first game of the season and Sirianni’s playbook?
I’ve been able to be around a lot of different coaches and minds and I see how he sees the game and how he coached and prepared other quarterbacks he’s had in the past. It’s very interesting to me. And I’m excited to be able to grow with him and do this thing with him. We’re still in the beginning of this thing.
Does anything get you hype about this season? There seems to be more explosiveness in the offense than the Eagles have had in the past.
It’s a great opportunity for us and — plain and simple — we just have to take advantage of that opportunity we have. This team can be as good as we are willing to be. We can learn from our mishaps and the mishaps of other players and other teams, we always have to be in tune to our fundamentals and have a connection with one another and build a bond with each other. We must have the right football intellect for what’s going to happen on the field. When you master those things, you go out there and take advantage of those opportunities. That’s what we wanna do.
There haven’t been many franchises that have started as many Black quarterbacks as the Eagles. We’ve had Black stars as quarterbacks in Philly. Have you considered that? Being a Black quarterback coming into a city with a long line of Black quarterbacks?
I hold that in high value and high regards. I know the history of the position here, especially the dual threats we’ve had: Michael Vick, Donovan McNabb, Randall Cunningham. I just want to carry that torch the right way moving forward. And the best way to do that is to win. Winning is the motive. It’s the ultimatum. We wanna win ball games.
What’s been the coolest thing for you when it comes to acclimating to Philadelphia?
It’s a city with so much rich history. It’s still early for me, but I wanna continue to learn what has happened in the history of this city. But obviously: there’s great food, everyone’s passionate about ball, and the great food again [laughs]. It’s very similar to Alabama and Oklahoma. It’s a very passionate fan base that wants to win and nobody wants to win more than I do. I guess that’s a great pair.
What’s your early relationship with DeVonta Smith been? When I saw him in Tuscaloosa before the draft, he talked extensively about making sure he had the right quarterback to start his career. And he name dropped you a lot. How’s it been so far?
It’s been great. He’s so eager to be great and to do great things, not only personally but for the team. It’s always great to have a guy like him on a team. I’m excited to do great things with him.
Tell me something about you that folks don’t know. You enjoy the silence so I’ma let you get the record straight.
[laughs] This oughta’ be a great interview when it’s done. I love you a lot brotha! Something people don’t know about me? I cook the best crawfish that they’ve ever had. I think I’m the greatest in the game.
Crawfish?!
I am angelic.
Angelic?!
It’s that good!
Well, when you see DeVonta next, ask him to make you some of his famous jambalaya.
I’ma have to do that, man. I’ll do that. Me and him got the same taste. I think in college one time I made him some pig’s feet. We country boys! We like that type of food. [laughs].
