For Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, 2023 has been a pretty good year.
Since January, Hurts led his team to a Super Bowl appearance, became one of the highest paid football players in league history, signed a contract with Air Jordan, and was named one of five finalists for the NFL’s MVP award.
As of Wednesday, he can now add to those accomplishments the distinction of being named to not only to Time magazine’s prestigious Time100 Next list, but also made the cover.
Jalen Hurts (@JalenHurts) is fueled by his doubters #TIME100Next https://t.co/v2acHWl8NS pic.twitter.com/0sawpHzD3b
— TIME (@TIME) September 13, 2023
Peyton Manning, who met Hurts for the first time at Manning’s summer football camp this year, spoke highly of the young quarterback in Time.
“I first met Jalen Hurts — who led the Philadelphia Eagles to the Super Bowl earlier this year — when he was in college and a counselor at the Manning Passing Academy, a summer football camp for high school players,” said Manning. “I’ve admired him ever since. I strongly respect his willingness to learn. He’s always thinking about getting better.”
Manning said he appreciated their rapport.
“For example, he will sometimes text me questions about plays that his team can run in the red zone.” Manning said. “Though I sometimes have to remind him I haven’t played in seven years (I have to dig into some old archives to remember plays), I’ve so enjoyed these conversations.”
He also said that Hurts’ ability to lead was a good “investment” for the Eagles.
“Jalen is a natural leader who cares about his job and the organization that he plays for. The Eagles signed Jalen to a record-breaking contract extension this offseason, and he feels that accountability and responsibility to make them glad they made that investment,” Manning said. “He’s not celebrating. He doesn’t see it as a reward. He sees it for what it is: the Eagles are paying him for what they expect him to do now. He’s a model of how to approach a job. This is where the hard work begins.”
Hurts, whose Eagles are 2-0, is a favorite to win the MVP award this season.
Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News.
