PHILADELPHIA — Ron Jaworski is one of the most popular figures in Eagles history. Neighborly as he has been, reliable a performer as he was, there is one reason for that: He went to a Super Bowl.
Donovan McNabb never liked Philadelphia, and considering how he was treated when he was drafted it was understandable. But eventually his number was retired, and for one reason: He went to a Super Bowl.
Nick Foles was a good player for the Eagles, great at times, ordinary at others. There is a statue in front of Lincoln Financial Field of him, plotting a memorable play in a memorable game. Guess which one.
It’s how it works, and not just around the Eagles. No matter how many yards they pass for or how many touchdowns they score, pro quarterbacks ultimately are categorized by how many times they played in – and better still, won – a Super Bowl.
That’s not the situation with guards, with nose tackles, with cornerbacks or long snappers. Running backs can get away with great careers that always ended in December. Coaches need the Super Bowl thing for validation. Coaches and quarterbacks. That’s all. So that’s where Jalen Hurts is a couple of days before an NFL semifinal against the visiting San Francisco 49ers: He has the chance to deposit a Super Bowl in his career account, never to be withdrawn. He is also at risk of missing that opportunity and never having another.
Hurts wasn’t dwelling on that Friday, when the Eagles had their last full-sweat practice before playing for a spot in history. Some of that comes from the professional innocence of being 24 and the likelihood that he should be playing at a high level when he is 34. Most of it comes from the reality that in order to build a career resume, it is necessary to win games, and that to win games, it’s necessary to not dwell on a career resume.
“You just want to go out there and do the things that got you there,” Hurts said. “You just want to go out there and kind of do the things that have gotten you there. You don’t necessarily change your approach. You just go out there and kind of attack it like another game.”
Technically, he is onto something. But as difficult as regular-season games are to win, the coaching sophistication rises late in the postseason, where some defensive wrinkles are added and others are ironed smooth. Though the Eagles have played a better schedule than their critics have been scoffing at for six days – three of the four NFC East teams were in the second playoff round – they have not faced a defense like San Francisco. Hurts knows that. And every whisper says he shows up for work early, stays late and is calm in this moment.
“I’m pretty cool with knowing what is up and down in a game too,” Miles Sanders said. “But when you see a quarterback not panicking – ‘onto the next play’ – it keeps you calm. It keeps you cool. It keeps you believing that we’ll get everything right. And once we get everything right, we’ll be cool.”
There is history to suggest Hurts will warm to the moment, for twice he led Alabama into the college football championship game, then pushed Oklahoma into the tournament, too. And that would have been him, playing close to flawlessly, in a 38-7 victory last week over the Giants.
“Playing in big games is why you want guys like that from those types of programs,” Nick Sirianni said. “It’s because they have played in the biggest spotlight in college for the biggest prize.”
Hurts remembers those college games, how tense they were and how difficult they were to win, no matter how the final score looked. And important as those college games were, some football prizes are bigger than others.
“Every moment is teachable and valuable,” Hurts said of his college success. “This is a new moment. So I think you don’t want to look at the past or even to the future. You just want to be ready for this game.”
The Eagles will have the better quarterback in the 3 p.m. Sunday game, even with Brock Purdy on a 6-0 roll to start his career. But that’s not how the history is going to read if Purdy plays in a Super Bowl and Hurts only came close.
Those are the rules.
If Jaworski never went to a Super Bowl, he’d be just another football analyst. If McNabb never went to a Super Bowl, he would barely be applauded when introduced from the front row of a Sixers game. If Foles never went to a Super Bowl, he’d be barely above the Carson Wentz treatment.
Jalen Hurts may have plenty of opportunities to play in a Super Bowl. He’s young enough. For the sake of his legacy, though, he must prepare as if he will have just one chance.
Contact Jack McCaffery at jmccaffery@delcotimes.com
Source: Berkshire mont
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