Jalen Hurts has a fan base that spans several states — not just Philadelphia — especially after leading the Philadelphia Eagles to their second Super Bowl in franchise history, defeating the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX.
Hurts' has a long-spanning and successful football career, one that saw him emerge as a blue-chip recruit out of Texas before elevating two traditional college football programs. He already has replicated that in the NFL with the Eagles, winning Super Bowl MVP in February 2025.
That should be no surprise to those who have followed Hurts from high school through college into the NFL: He has excelled at every stage to this point. After beating Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs — stopping Kansas City from winning three straight Super Bowls — he has solidified himself as one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.
With that, The Sporting News looks at Hurts' background: where he's from, where he played in high school and in college, and where he was taken in the NFL draft.
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Where is Jalen Hurts from?
Hurts hails from Channelview, Texas, a 22-minute drive east of Houston. He played at Channelview High School, where his father Averion was coach and where his older brother, Averion Jr., was also a starting quarterback.
Jalen Hurts took over as the Falcons' starting quarterback as a junior in 2014, a season in which he became the first Channelview quarterback to beat district rival North Shore. According to the Houston Chronicle, he accomplished that with a 36-yard touchdown pass as time expired to beat the Mustangs 49-48 in 2014.
The following season, Hurts led Channelview to its first playoff berth in 22 years (though the team suffered an early exit from the 6A Division 2 playoffs with a 71-21 thrashing at the hands of Manvel). Here are his stats from those seasons, per MaxPreps:
| Year | Cmp-Att (Pct.) | Yards | TD-INT | Rush yards (TDs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 117/205 (57.1) | 1,987 | 15-4 | 806 (17) |
| 2015 | 99/159 (62.3) | 1,536 | 18-3 | 941 (17) |
Hurts' two-year stint as a starter was enough to secure his status as one of the can't-miss products of the 2016 recruiting class. He was listed as the No. 4 dual-threat quarterback in the class per 247Sports' Composite rankings, as well as the 29th-ranked player in the state of Texas. A four-star recruit, he finished as the 192nd-ranked player in 2016 coming out of high school.
The Chronicle also notes Hurts was a celebrated powerlifter for the Falcons, reporting him to have squatted 570 pounds, bench-pressed 275 pounds and dead-lifted 585 pounds at a meet when he was just 16 years old. He also competed in shot put during track season.
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Where did Jalen Hurts go to college?
This is a point of contention among college football fans, as Hurts is a celebrated player at both Alabama, where he played three seasons and was a two-year starter, and Oklahoma, where he finished his collegiate career and enjoyed his greatest individual success.
Below is a rundown of his time with each program:
Alabama (2016-18)
| Year | Cmp-Att (Pct.) | Yards | TD-INT | Rush yds (TD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 240-382 (62.8) | 2,780 | 23-9 | 953 (13) |
| 2017 | 154-255 (60.4) | 2,081 | 17-1 | 854 (8) |
| 2018 | 51-70 (72.9) | 765 | 8-2 | 183 (2) |
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Hurts in 2016 became the first true freshman to start for the Crimson Tide since Vince Sutton in 1984. He led the Crimson Tide to a 14-0 record before falling to Clemson in the 2017 College Football Playoff championship game.
The following season, Hurts led Alabama to an 11-1 regular-season record and second straight CFP berth. After beating the Tigers 24-6 in the Sugar Bowl to avenge the prior season's loss, Hurts was benched at halftime vs. Georgia in the 2018 CFP title game. His backup, Tua Tagovailoa, led the Crimson Tide to a 26-23 overtime victory.
Hurts returned the following season as a backup to Tagovailoa, but was called into action in the 2018 SEC championship game after Tua was injured vs. the Bulldogs. Hurts led two scoring drives to beat Georgia 35-28 in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where the year prior he was benched for Tagovailoa in the championship.
Hurts' final season at Alabama ended with a loss to Clemson in the 2019 CFP title game.
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Oklahoma (2019)
| Year | Comp-Att (Pct) | Yds | TD-INT | Rush yds (TD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 237-340 (69.7) | 3,851 | 32-8 | 1,323 (23) |
Hurts, a 2018 graduate of the University of Alabama, transferred to play at Oklahoma in 2019, his final season of collegiate eligibility (and was able to play immediately since he was considered a graduate transfer by the NCAA).
In Norman, Hurts not only finished as the Heisman Trophy runner-up, but also led the Sooners to Big 12 championship and third straight College Football Playoff berth (becoming the first and thus far only QB of the CFP era to lead two different programs to the Playoff). Hurts' final season ended with a Peach Bowl loss to LSU, who went on to win the national championship.
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What pick was Jalen Hurts in 2020 NFL Draft?
Following his final season of college football, Hurts became a second-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. The Eagles took him with their second pick of the draft (53rd overall) as a backup to Carson Wentz. In just his second year in the league, Hurts became a full-time starter and led the Eagles to the playoffs, where they eventually lost to Tom Brady and the Buccaneers in the wild-card round.
One year later, Hurts led the Eagles to a Super Bowl victory — unsurprising, considering the level of success he has enjoyed at every stage of the game, from Houston to Tuscaloosa, Norman to Philadelphia.
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