One day you’re leading the Philadelphia Eagles to a Super Bowl victory with an MVP performance and the next you’re riding a float through Disney World alongside Mickey, Goofy and one of the two Chipmunks.
After completing 17 of 22 pᴀsses for 221 yards and two touchdowns in Sunday’s win over the Kansas City Chiefs, Jalen Hurts resurfaced in Orlando on Monday for the traditional post-Super Bowl parade.
It’s safe to say that Hurts was running on very little sleep after celebrating his first NFL тιтle with teammates and long-time partner Bry Burrows in New Orleans on Sunday. What’s more, Hurts and Burrows ignited marriage rumors after she was seen hugging the 26-year-old quarterback with a large ring on her finger.
It’s unclear if Burrows journeyed with Hurts to Orlando, but someone matching her description was seen with the quarterback aboard one ride.
Regardless of her whereabouts, Hurts seemed to enjoy himself atop the float with Mickey, and riding one of the theme park’s many roller coasters. It’s a dramatic departure from 2017, when he was benched in the middle of the national championship by then-Alabama coach Nick Saban.
Hurts would transfer to Oklahoma and resurrect his once promising future with the Eagles after being drafted in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft. And even since then, he’s been criticized as a pᴀsser by many talking heads around the NFL.
After completing 17 of 22 pᴀsses for 221 yards and two touchdowns in Sunday’s win over the Chiefs, Jalen Hurts resurfaced in Orlando for the traditional post-Super Bowl parade
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) poses with the Vince Lombardi trophy
Here Hurts is seen riding one of Disney World’s many roller coasters on Monday in Orlando
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All those doubts helped fuel Hurts along the way and now he will be forever known as a Super Bowl MVP.
‘I’ll always be the same guy,’ Hurts said. ‘I was telling someone that I’m the same kid that came to a national championship and lost, went back and got benched and had to transfer and had to go through this unprecedented journey. That kid always kept the main thing the main thing and always was true to his vision of what he saw.
‘It all began with greater leadership and doing it the right way.’
While Hurts wasn’t asked to do too much on a dominant defensive night for Philadelphia, he came through at nearly every opportunity when he was needed as the calm he has shown throughout his career was evident on football’s biggest stage.
‘Dealing with everything that came with the last Super Bowl, still leaving empty a little bit because as great as the performance was, it wasn’t enough to win,’ Hurts continued. ‘Going through those emotions, and processing those emotions and processing those things lit a great flame in me. It enhanced my desire to win significantly.’
Hurts was outstanding in that game, throwing for 304 yards and a TD and rushing for 70 yards and three more scores but could only watch as Harrison Butker kicked a go-ahead field goal with 8 seconds left for a 38-35 win.
Hurts turned that year into a $255 million, five-year contract the following offseason, but it didn’t quiet the critics who questioned whether Hurts was holding back the Eagles offense at various points the past two years.
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts may have already tied the knot with partner Bry Burrows
Outside of an early interception against the Chiefs — his first since Week 10 against Dallas — Hurts was nearly flawless against Steve Spagnuolo’s defense.
‘The criticism of him blows my mind, because I think he’s so special,’ coach Nick Sirianni aid. ‘I mean he won so many games and works his ʙuтт off and just continues to get better and block out everything and just focus on the task at hand of getting better, putting himself in a position to win each week.’
He converted scrambles when he faced pressure and kept finding open receivers, with his 46-yard deep sH๏τ to DeVonta Smith making it 34-0 in the third quarter, providing an exclamation point to a lopsided Super Bowl win.
‘In the biggest moments, when there’s the biggest haters or doubters, this man just, I don’t know, just outshines and takes command,’ left tackle Jordan Mailata said.
Hurts also threw a 12-yard touchdown pᴀss to A.J. Brown late in the first half and scored on a 1-yard tush push for the first score of the game, leading to a statistical performance achieved only by Hall of Famer Joe Montana in Super Bowl history.
The two are the only quarterbacks to throw for at least 200 yards and two TDs, rush for at least 50 yards and a score with Montana doing it in Super Bowl 19 against Miami.
Hurts is now just the fourth quarterback to lose his first Super Bowl start and go on to win one as a starter later in his career, joining Hall of Famers John Elway, Bob Griese and Len Dawson.
‘We can’t rewrite history or do anything about the past, but we can make it even,’ Brown said.
