Jalen Hurts played quarterback for two Blue Blood football programs, but only one can claim him as their own.
Hurts on Sunday will lead the Philadelphia Eagles against the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX. It's the second time Hurts has quarterbacked the Eagles to the Super Bowl since they drafted him in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
But before Hurts emerged as a star QB in the NFL, he spent his college career at two different schools before the transfer portal even existed.
From Channelview High School in Texas, Hurts first chose the Alabama Crimson Tide as a four-star recruit. By the second game of his college career, Hurts was the first freshman starting quarterback at Alabama in 32 years.
As a freshman in 2016, Hurts led the Crimson Tide to the College Football Playoff Championship Game, where they lost to Clemson. Hurts then got Alabama there again the next season, but that was as far as Nick Saban let Hurts go.
Down 13-0 at halftime of the national championship game, Saban replaced Hurts with freshman Tua Tagovailoa, who mounted a comeback and beat Georgia to get Alabama another national title.
Tagovailoa then started the next season as QB1 with Hurts as his backup. Before his senior season, though, Hurts left for Oklahoma in 2019.
Hurts was his best as a Sooner, even if it was for just one season. Immediately in his debut, Hurts broke Oklahoma's single-game yardage record with 508 total yards of offense against Houston. The performance easily surpassed Baker Mayfield's previous record of 396 total yards.
He eventually led the Sooners to a Big 12 title and to the College Football Playoff, where they lost to maybe the best college football team ever in the LSU Tigers with Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase and more.
Hurts finished the season with 3,851 passing yards and 1,298 rushing yards, totaling 5,149 yards of offense. He also threw 32 TDs and ran for another 20.
Every stat was a career-high for Hurts as he was named Heisman Trophy runner-up behind Burrow. Tagovailoa finished 10th in Heisman voting that year.
That lone season at OU under Lincoln Riley transformed Hurts from a questionable draft prospect likely to go undrafted, into a second-round pick who was a starting NFL quarterback as a rookie.
All that, including two Super Bowl trips, is thanks to Hurts' time in Oklahoma. That is where his opportunity came.
Hurts will give credit to both stops, though, famously stating, "Roll Sooners," even during his Sunday Night Football intro.
“Jalen Hurts. Roll #Sooners” pic.twitter.com/tSkkLq4V9g
— John E. Hoover 🌮 (@johnehoover) November 25, 2024
It's true, Hurts likely would not be the player he is today without both programs. However, he certainly wouldn't be without OU.
How can a program claim a player's success when it was ultimately what was in the way?
Had Hurts stayed at Alabama, he would have backed up Tagovailoa another season and probably went undrafted as some NFL franchises clamored for him to switch positions in order to succeed as a pro.
Without Hurts going to the Sooners, there is no Hurts going to the Super Bowl, especially as a starting quarterback.
There's respect for Hurts paying homage to both programs, but, ultimately, only one gets to claim the Super Bowl quarterback.
Texas Tech does not claim Baker Mayfield. Texas A&M does not claim Kyler Murray. Heck, Sooner Nation doesn't even want to claim Caleb Williams, even as the No. 1 overall pick in last year's NFL Draft.
And Alabama should not claim Jalen Hurts. Jalen Hurts is a Sooner.