When Jalen Hurts takes the field for the Philadelphia Eagles on Feb. 9 at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, he’ll be four days older than Tom Brady was when the New England Patriots quarterback made his second Super Bowl start.
The only other quarterbacks who will have made two Super Bowl starts at a younger age than Hurts – 26 years and 186 days -- will be Russell Wilson and Patrick Mahomes, the opposing QB for Hurts’ first Super Bowl start.
Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs defeated Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 in Super Bowl LVII on Feb. 12, 2023.
That’s the matchup again for Super Bowl LIX.
Hurts is the seventh starting quarterback to return to the Super Bowl as a starter after losing in his first appearance in the big game. Five of the other six to do so – the Kansas City Chiefs’ Len Dawson, Miami Dolphins’ Bob Griese, Minnesota Vikings’ Fran Tarkenton, Denver Broncos’ John Elway and Buffalo Bills’ Jim Kelly – are members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The other QB is Craig Morton, who made his first Super Bowl start for the Dallas Cowboys and his second for the Broncos.
Since Kelly reached his second Super Bowl to cap the 1991 season, none of the 20 quarterbacks – from Stan Humphries to Brock Purdy -- who lost in his first Super Bowl appearance had returned to the game as a starter. But it’s no longer “none,” and the list has 19 names with Hurts breaking through with another opportunity to win the NFL championship.
With Hurts off the list, there have been 29 quarterbacks who lost in their first Super Bowl start and have not returned to another Super Bowl as a starter.
Asked during a Friday press conference for his most vivid memory from his first Super Bowl appearance, Hurts said: “Next question.”
Hurts found the next question – What did you learn from that game and how can you apply it this time? – more to his likely.
“There we go,” Hurts said. “I think hindsight, you know, from a perspective that everyone’s not really experienced that before -- everything that comes with the week -- I think that it’s something that’s big. It’s just being a good influence on the guys that haven’t been there before, being able to answer questions and open that door so everyone’s that much closer when we go out there and experience it because, in the end, it’s a business trip, and it’s an opportunity that we’ve worked for to have, and we want to take advantage of it.”
Hurts said his advice from having experienced a Super Bowl week has been: “Go take it a day at a time, be diligent, put forth the effort and just work throughout the week.”
The demands and distractions of Super Bowl week before the NFL championship game kicks off at 5:30 p.m. CST Feb. 9 are something that “comes with the profession,” Hurts said, “and it becomes a part of our duties and our responsibilities. It comes with the job.”
In his first Super Bowl appearance, Hurts became the first NFL player with 300 passing yards, 70 rushing yards and three touchdown runs in the same game. The former Alabama quarterback also threw a touchdown pass against Kansas City in Super Bowl LVII.
“I moved on,” Hurts said on Friday about getting over the Eagles’ defeat despite his stellar showing. “Moved on to the next season and prepared for that. Obviously, you still have different motivations, and you’re motivated by any time you come up short in anything. Having that perspective of just trying to learn from all of your lessons, so no shortcoming is bigger than the other. You just want to learn from them all.”
