Jalen Hurts’ rocky road leads to a Super Bowl MVP award

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Jalen Hurts smiled as he held the Lombardi Trophy in his right hand and the Super Bowl MVP trophy in his left hand, reflecting on all he has gone through to reach the pinnacle of success.

The hurdles he faced along the way helped lead to where he stood Monday morning: a Super Bowl champion and MVP.

"When you hoist those trophies, it's more so about the journey and less about the results," Hurts said. "Obviously we're going to be judged by results and that's what everyone talks about. The journey is what fuels us and makes us who we are."

The finish to the 2024 season for the Philadelphia Eagles with a dominating 40-22 win over the two-time defending champion Kansas City Chiefs for their 16th win in 17 games comes in stark contrast to 2023.

The Eagles started 10-1 that season and looked like they could have a chance to avenge a Super Bowl loss the previous season to the Chiefs. But then they lost five of their final six regular-season games and were blown out in a wild-card loss at Tampa Bay, with the brunt of the criticism being focused on Hurts and coach Nick Sirianni.

But Sirianni believes the celebration that happened Sunday night at the Superdome wouldn’t have been possible without the disappointment from 2023.

"Adversity has a tendency to bring you together," he said. "I look back on last year and how last year ended and I'm grateful. As crazy as it sounds, I'm grateful how last year ended because it shaped us to who we are today and where we're standing today."

Hurts has been shaped by adversity throughout his career. He lost the college football championship game as a freshman at Alabama in the 2016 season and then was benched at halftime the following year in the title game and could only watch as Tua Tagovailoa led the Crimson Tide to a title.

Hurts spent the next season as a backup before transferring to Oklahoma, where he improved as a passer and was drafted in the second round by the Eagles in 2020.

The pick was panned by some because Philadelphia already had Carson Wentz in place, but Hurts took over as starter late in his rookie season. He helped the Eagles make the playoffs the following year in his first full season as a starter and reached the Super Bowl in the 2022 season.

The questions about his ability as a pure passer lingered despite his success on the field, but Hurts may have put them to rest at least for now thanks to the way he controlled the game Sunday night against Steve Spagnuolo’s defense.

"When it's all said and done for me, I won't measure my success by any numbers or statistics or passing yards or touchdowns or anything like that," Hurts said. "I measure it off rings and championships. That's how I look at it."

Hurts had both the stats and the championship against the Chiefs. He went 17 for 22 for 221 yards and two touchdowns, and he ran for 72 yards and a touchdown, joining Hall of Famer Joe Montana as the only quarterbacks to throw for at least 200 yards and two TDs and rush for at least 50 yards and a score in a Super Bowl.

While that performance led to Hurts winning the award for Most Valuable Player, the most valuable person for the Eagles might have been defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, who delivered a signature performance in a long career that had lacked only a championship.

The Eagles sacked Patrick Mahomes six times - the first time that has happened in his 8-year NFL career - and generated three takeaways, including a pick-6 by rookie Cooper DeJean.

They managed to do that without calling a single blitz all night, according to NFL Next Gen Stats, as Fangio’s defense repeatedly took away Mahomes’ first read on plays, allowing the four-man front to get pressure.

"Obviously we are very talented on that side of the field," Sirianni said. "Vic Fangio is one of the best coordinators of all time. He cemented his legacy in being maybe the best defensive coordinator of all time last night."

Hurts’ legacy has yet to be determined; he is only 26 and has many years of football remaining. He knows there is still plenty more to do even after winning a Super Bowl MVP.

"It's a journey. It's all a journey and I'm still yet to arrive," he said. "We are still yet to arrive as a team."