Why Eagles Fans Should Relish in the Continued Disrepect of Jalen Hurts

Jalen Hurts is the most disrespected superstar in the NFL.  Every summer, publications roll out their “best player” lists, and every summer the Philadelphia Eagles‘ quarterback winds up lower than he deserves, much lower.  ESPN just ranked him No. 38 overall. Pro Football Focus put him at 19th. That’s not just too low it’s insulting for a quarterback who just beat Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl, throwing two touchdowns and rushing for another to secure Super Bowl MVP honors.   The funniest thing, because all of it makes me laugh, is that he’s six spots lower than last year’s pre-season rankings in the ESPN list and I’ll have to check again but I’m pretty sure he’s the reigning Super Bowl MVP.

The disrespect has Birds Nation going indiscriminatley crazy, and i get the knee jerk reaction but it’s actually counter-intuitive for a number of reasons.  Hey knuckleheads, don’t you get it yet?  It’s that disprespect that fuels your QB1.  You want him to get trashed by the pundits and “experts” as often as humanly possible.   Jalen Hurts has made a career out of proving the critics wrong.  He thrives on it  It drives him.  Besides who cares what others think of your quarterback.  Just sit back and watch him secure a few more Lombardi trophies.  That’s all you should care about.  All the other nonsense is just your collective egos getting bruised.  Don’t sweat the Love Hurts Hate.  To be quite honest I enjoy it immensely when Hurst makes the talking heads look silly.

What ESPN Said

The criteria and proccess was this:

ESPN asked 10 NFL analysts and insiders — Aaron Schatz, Ben Solak, Dan Graziano, Jeff Legwold, Jeremy Fowler, Liz Loza, Matt Bowen, Mike Clay, Seth Walder and Stephen Holder — to rank players based on expected performance for the 2025 season. Their rankings are based on predicting potential greatness rather than past performance. They used those 10 sets of votes to come up with their consensus top 100 list.

Here’s ESPN’s own explanation for slotting Hurts 38th:

“Hurts’ 361 pass attempts last season was by far his lowest tally since taking over as the starter in 2021, as the Eagles molded their offense around running back Saquon Barkley. But Hurts showed once again that he’ll answer the bell when called upon, as he did with a three-touchdown MVP performance in Super Bowl LIX. Where he ranks among QBs is hotly debated every offseason, but with a 46-20 regular-season record and two Super Bowl appearances, his résumé is becoming harder to deny.” — Tim McManus, ESPN

They even spotlight his signature stat: Hurts had 15+ touchdown passes and 10+ rushing touchdowns for the fourth straight season in 2024. No other player in NFL history has more than two such seasons (Josh Allen, Cam Newton).

So ESPN admits Hurts is rewriting record books and winning MVPs on the biggest stage and still slides him behind names like Puka Nacua, Dexter Lawrence, and Bijan Robinson oh yeah and Derek Stingley Jr. at number 28 (can’t make it up.).  

The Resume Is Untouchable

• Only QB in NFL history with 15+ passing TDs and 10+ rushing TDs in four straight years.
• Two Super Bowl appearances in three seasons.
• One Super Bowl MVP performance, outdueling Mahomes on the biggest stage.
• 46–20 regular season record as a starter.
• Only player in NFL history to have rushed for 10 TDs and thrown 10 TDs in post-season history and has only been a starting quarterback for four seasons.

That’s not the resmue of “No. 38 on a list.” That’s a franchise QB on a Hall of Fame trajectory.

The Truth?  Hurts is Boring

Here’s the truth: Jalen Hurts doesn’t play the media’s game.

Joe Burrow might show up in a funky Versace ensemble straight off a Milan runway. Hurts shows up in a tailored business suit, carrying a briefcase like he’s clocking into work. No flash, no circus, no social media runway. Just business.

After winning Super Bowl MVP, when he was asked by teammate Jordan Mialata how he raises his game when the stage is biggest and the lights are brightest, his response was simple, raw, and real:

“It’s just what the f-ck I do.”

That’s Hurts in a sentence. Excellence isn’t a performance. It’s a grind. And a grind looks boring.

Excellence is Boring

Excellence may be boring but boring is beautful as the championship mindest goes.  Boring is the highest form of discipline. It’s the reps no one sees. It’s the hours in the film room, the weight room, the recovery tub. It’s stacking wins until the world has no choice but to take notice.

Nick Sirianni preaches it. After winning the Super Bowl, he told his team to “treat praise like perfume. Sniff it, but don’t drink it.”  Translation? Don’t get drunk on the hype.  Stay in the grind.

Saquon Barkley lives it. His offseason workouts are legendary, the sweat, the sled pushes, and the sprints when no one’s watching.  It’s the same engine Hurts runs on.

Excellence is repetition. Repetition is routine. Routine is boring. And boring, done long enough, becomes greatness.

Hurts doesn’t need to light up Instagram with an outfit or a hot take. His swagger isn’t on the runway. It’s on the scoreboard and the scoreboard never lies.

The Legacy in Progress

Hurts lost his first Super Bowl to Mahomes, then came back two years later to beat the same Chiefs team with three total touchdowns in a 40-22 leave-no-doubt-demolition.  That’s redemption. That’s epic swagger. That’s legacy. 

So when ESPN and PFF drop him into the teens or 30s, it says more about the lists than about the man in the arena. Because Jalen Hurts doesn’t need the spotlight to validate him, he makes the spotlight follow him.

And if Jalen Hurts is boring then more power to him because boring wins Super Bowls.

Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.

This article was originally published on Heavy Sports

The post Why Eagles Fans Should Relish in the Continued Disrepect of Jalen Hurts appeared first on Heavy Sports.