Jalen Hurts Exclusive: Eagles Star Talks Madden, Michael Jordan, Winning More Super Bowls

Jalen Hurts wants to win more Super Bowls.

The Philadelphia Eagles quarterback is coming off of a sensational season, capped by a dominant Super Bowl LIX victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. The 26-year-old quarterback won Super Bowl MVP honors after posting 221 passing yards and 72 rushing yards to go along with three total touchdowns in the win.

However, Hurts is turning the page towards this season. The two-time Pro Bowl quarterback isn’t wearing his Super Bowl ring because he’s “moved on” to the new year.

Hurts has a friendship with the ultimate winner in six-time NBA champion Michael Jordan. The two had conversations in the offseason as the young quarterback sought advice from the Chicago Bulls legend on how to maintain his drive towards winning more championships.

“That’s been a growing relationship and growing friendship,” Hurts told Esports Insider in an exclusive interview. “And obviously the mentality he’s had, what he’s meant to competitive sports, speaks for itself. That’s something that I’m able to lean on.”

The Eagles franchise quarterback says he’s also spoken to other champions about what it takes to continue to win. However, he wouldn’t go into full details what greats he’s spoken to as he looks to win his second Super Bowl.

“Yeah, you have conversations with some pretty good people, pretty cool people, successful people,” says Hurts when asked if he’s spoken to other greats outside of Jordan. “I keep that intimate. I know obviously the relationship with MJ is out there, so I’ll be respectful to the other ones.”

Hurts is known for his calm, cool and collected approach at all times. He very rarely shows emotion during games and never really shows much emotion during interviews and postgame press conferences.

The Texas native says he’s always been like that during his football career and has always been a verbal leader.

“I’ve always had a pretty consistent temperament and approach to the game from a standpoint of setting the right example and having integrity in your work,” says Hurts. “Having integrity in your attention. I’ve always tried to carry myself in that way. I will say that, over time, the desire to win changed. The desire to win was only enhanced because of different experiences of failure coming up short. I think competitively, that’s something that drives me.”

A big reason why the Eagles are the defending Super Bowl champions and why they’re favored once again to win it all is because of the presence of Saquon Barkley. The reigning Offensive Player of the Year had one of the best seasons ever for a running back after he posted over 2,000 yards last season.

Barkley had an opportunity at breaking Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record — he was 101 yards away from eclipsing the record — but sat out the regular season finale to prepare for the playoffs. The move paid dividends as he helped lead the Eagles to their second Super Bowl win in franchise history.

“He brings a special element to us, and we obviously saw that last year,” says Hurts of Barkley. “He’s a hell of a player, hell of a leader. He’s a force on the field.”

Barkley will grace the cover of Madden NFL 26, becoming the first Eagles player since Donovan McNabb (Madden 06) to don the cover of the Madden series.

“We’ve talked about it. I know he was very excited about it,” says Hurts of Barkley donning the cover of Madden. “It was a dream of his, and I’m happy to see him fulfill that dream.”

While Hurts is happy to see his teammate fulfill a dream of becoming a Madden cover athlete, you probably won’t see the quarterback face off against Barkley in many Madden games this year. That’s because Hurts isn’t much of a video game guy. He says he’s actually more of an NCAA Football guy than a Madden player.

“I’m not much of a video game guy,” says Hurts. “Honestly more of an NCAA guy. I grew up playing that a bit, so I resonate with NCAA more so than anything.”

With the Eagles starting training camp last week, Hurts is looking to improve in all areas. He says there’s not a specific area he’s looking to get better at, it’s “all aspects” of the game.

“There’s not one specific area,” says Hurts. “I think if you ask any player, you know they’re trying to improve all aspects of the game. That’s exactly what I’m trying to do is trying to be better in all aspects of my game. And find ways to help my team and in the way I can help my team win.”