Jalen Hurts

Kansas City Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes and Philadelphia Eagles' Jalen Hurts will be the first Black QBs to face off in a Super Bowl.

McNair became the first Black QB to win MVP in 2003. Only one QB can win the Super Bowl. Hurts aims to become the fourth Black QB to win the Super Bowl, joining Williams, Mahomes and Russell Wilson. Jackson said a scout from the Los Angeles Chargers asked him to run routes at the NFL combine in 2018. "When we experience some painful times and some tough times, we always found a way to overcome. Mahomes can become the first two-time winner if he leads the Kansas City Chiefs to victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Feb.

The Eagles, who won the Super Bowl five years ago, will try to do it again by defeating former Eagles coach Andy Reid's Kansas City Chiefs. By Dan Gelston/The ...

The Eagles will play in the fourth Super Bowl in franchise history when they face the Chiefs on Feb. He broke three tackles on a 23-yard touchdown run that made it 7-7 in the second quarter. Purdy left the game with an elbow injury after he was drilled in the arm by Reddick on San Francisco’s first drive. Smith popped up and frantically waved the Eagles to the line. The Eagles won 31-7. Terry Bradshaw, left, reacts as Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Fletcher Cox, second from left, hoists the George Halas Trophy as quarterback Jalen Hurts, center, holds a microphone after the NFC Championship NFL football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Jan. “We’ve got a chance to go out there and win it all,” Hurts said. Philadelphia police greased traffic and light poles in what proved again to be a futile attempt to slow the postgame revelry. Miles Sanders ran for two touchdowns and linebacker Haason Reddick made the hit that forced 49ers rookie quarterback Brock Purdy out of the game with an elbow injury. Hurts had a modest game by his standards after a season in which he was a finalist for MVP. He was 15-of-25 passing for 121 yards and ran for 39, improving to 16-1 as a starter this season. His rendition of the team fight song was a tad off-key.

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes celebrates after the Chiefs defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 in the AFC Championship Game at GEHA Field ...

Just to see that those guys are the first two to do it, and the guys they are, it couldn’t make me happier.” Roundly criticized by league observers after stumbling at times as a passer before this season, the first-time Pro Bowler has proved his doubters wrong by succeeding spectacularly in the pocket throughout the Eagles’ run to Super Bowl LVII. He had a rushing touchdown Sunday in the Eagles’ victory at Lincoln Financial Field. “Nope,” Williams said, his comment punctuated with a hearty laugh. Again, Mahomes (326 passing yards, two passing touchdowns) found a way for Kansas City, which has hosted the AFC Championship Game every season since he became the Chiefs’ starting quarterback. “When you have two Black quarterbacks get to this point, the guys leading the best two teams, you can’t deny what we can do. After Williams broke through in 1988, Russell Wilson, while playing for the Seattle Seahawks, became the second African American passer to win a Super Bowl title, accomplishing the feat 26 years later. For most of the NFL’s history, team owners had as much interest in permitting Black men to play quarterback as they did in paying capital gains taxes. With Mahomes well out of bounds, Bengals defensive end Joseph Ossai pushed the five-time Pro Bowler. He has only been the Chiefs’ starter for five seasons. This season, Mahomes, now 27, led NFL in passing yards, passing touchdowns and Total QBR. man, yeah, it means a lot for all of us,” Williams said.

He was benched in the college football national championship game. Now he's in the Super Bowl.

Asked about his path to the Super Bowl after the victory against San Francisco, [Hurts dropped his favorite Bible verse](https://www.al.com/sports/2023/01/eagles-qb-jalen-hurts-hopefully-people-understand.html). One school gave him the tools to compete, and the other put him back in the ring. He’s in the Super Bowl by way of Alabama and then Oklahoma. [he was doubted when he was drafted by the Eagles](https://www.al.com/sports/2020/04/philadelphia-eagles-gm-catching-heat-for-drafting-jalen-hurts.html). You can find him on Twitter [@JoeGoodmanJr](https://twitter.com/JoeGoodmanJr). When Philadelphia and Kansas City meet in Super Bowl LVII on Feb.12 in Glendale, Arizona, Hurts will be the first former Alabama quarterback to start in the Super Bowl in 47 years. Hurts is healthy, and I’m not betting against a team with Landon Dickerson on the offensive line and DeVonta Smith at receiver. And that’s saying a lot because the other guy is Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes and Kansas City had a tougher time in the AFC championship game, needing some help along the way in the Chiefs’ 23-20 victory against Cincinnati. I’m not saying Hurts is the new Tom Brady. For Hurts, for the biggest sporting event of the year, I’m making an exception. He was “built by Bama” alright, but in a more meaningful way than the billboards could ever advertise.

Jalen Hurts is only on season two as the starting quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles, and he's already taking them to a Super Bowl.

(Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images) Gardner-Johnson #23 and Reed Blankenship #32 of the Philadelphia Eagles celebrate a play against the San Francisco 49ers during the third quarter in the NFC Championship Game at Lincoln Financial Field on January 29, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - JANUARY 29: Fred Warner #54 of the San Francisco 49ers and Miles Sanders #26 of the Philadelphia Eagles hug following the NFC Championship Game at Lincoln Financial Field on January 29, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Brown #11 after defeating the San Francisco 49ers to win the NFC Championship Game at Lincoln Financial Field on January 29, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - JANUARY 29: Jalen Hurts #1 of the Philadelphia Eagles celebrates after defeating the San Francisco 49ers to win the NFC Championship Game at Lincoln Financial Field on January 29, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - JANUARY 29: Jalen Hurts #1 of the Philadelphia Eagles celebrates after defeating the San Francisco 49ers to win in the NFC Championship Game at Lincoln Financial Field on January 29, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The matchup is proof of the changing role of QB in the NFL.

Yet, the hesitation to buy in on the authenticity of the new and improved Hurts persists. [30th-best quarterback](https://theathletic.com/2727336/2021/07/28/2021-nfl-quarterback-tiers-50-coaches-and-evaluators-rank-the-leagues-starters/) in the entire NFL. ](https://theathletic.com/2727336/2021/07/28/2021-nfl-quarterback-tiers-50-coaches-and-evaluators-rank-the-leagues-starters/)In the estimation of NFL institutionalists, he was somewhere between Carson Wentz and Baker Mayfield. [What Mahomes does](https://deadspin.com/patrick-mahomes-kansas-city-chiefs-ankle-injury-jaguars-1850016384) is tougher to replicate. Hurts has morphed into an offensive motherboard whose triple-threat ability to read coverages, run and pass, and decide in an instant which would demobilize the defense, transformed the Eagles into a three-dimensional offense that shattered rushing touchdown records. face-planted by describing [Hurts as a Taysom Hill-type gadget player](https://www.al.com/alabamafootball/2018/01/what_espns_mel_kiper_thinks_of.html).

With the Chiefs and Eagles' victories on conference championship weekend, the Super Bowl will have its first-ever meeting between two Black quarterbacks.

If you want to fully understand the significance of that, you should definitely read— Patrick Allen (@RPatrickAllen) Mahomes has completed 67.1 percent of his passes for 5,250 yards and 41 touchdowns to 12 interceptions in the regular season, adding 358 rushing yards and four touchdowns. Both the Chiefs and Eagles enter Super Bowl 57 on Feb. It's appropriate that both Mahomes and Hurts are NFL MVP candidates who have been driving forces for their teams' success this season. I was sitting here on pins and needles to see if it would happen. “Man, after Jalen won earlier, I was pulling for Patrick.