Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts had a memorable Super Bowl 57 performance, and he completed a shocking feat for a former Alabama player.
On Sunday, Feb. 12, 2023, Super Bowl 57 took place at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. The Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles battled to win the coveted Lombardi Trophy. It was a game filled with thrilling back-and-forth action that ultimately saw the Chiefs pick up the 38-35 victory after trailing 24-14 at halftime. Even in defeat, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts shined.
Hurts threw for 304 yards and one touchdown after completing 27-of-38 pass attempts, and ran for 70 yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries.
Speaking of the three touchdown runs, one of them occurred on the very first drive of Super Bowl 57, which was a one-yard dash at the goal line. With that touchdown run, Hurts became the first former Alabama player to cross the goal line for a touchdown in the Super Bowl.
Jalen Hurts makes Alabama history in Super Bowl 57
That’s right, despite the ridiculously deep pipeline from Alabama’s football program to the NFL, no player had scored a touchdown by crossing the goal line in the big game before Hurts. It really is insane, considering the amount of elite talent to make it into the NFL and play in the Super Bowl.
Hurts started off his collegiate career at Alabama in 2016. In his second season, Hurts was benched in the second half of the College Football Playoff National Championship Game in favor of Tua Tagovailoa, who led the team to victory in overtime. The next season, Tagovailoa took over as starter, but Hurts did enter in relief of him in the SEC Championship Game due to injury, and led them to victory over the Georgia Bulldogs.
In his three years with the Crimson Tide, Hurts threw for 5,626 yards, 48 touchdowns and 12 interceptions while completing 62.9-percent of his passes.
After the 2018 season, Hurts transferred to Oklahoma. In his lone season with the Sooners, Hurts recorded 3,851 passing yards, 32 passing touchdowns, and eight interceptions on a 69.7 completion percentage, while running for 1,298 yards and 20 touchdowns on 233 carries.
Hurts was selected by the Eagles in the second-round of the 2020 NFL Draft. After his rookie season, Hurts took over as starter. Then, this season, he was a runner-up for the NFL MVP award and put on possibly one of the best Super Bowl performances in history, despite losing the game.
So there you have it. The first former Alabama player to score a touchdown by crossing the goal line is Hurts.
For more College Football news, analysis, opinion and unique coverage by FanSided, including Heisman Trophy and College Football Playoff rankings, be sure to bookmark these pages.