Hurts explains his mixed emotions on day to celebrate his huge contract originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Eagles rolled out the midnight green carpet for Jalen Hurts on Monday morning.
Three years to the day after they selected him in the second round of the NFL draft, the Eagles held a news conference to celebrate Hurts’ five-year, $255 million contract extension, which makes him the highest-paid player in NFL history.
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Hurts, 24, is happy. He’s grateful.
But it was also clear that he was a tad uncomfortable talking about himself and his massive payday. He’d rather talk about the work that got him to this point and the work that is going to continue.
“I think money is nice, championships are better,” Hurts said.
Hurts was asked questions about the structure of his massive deal, the no-trade clause that’s included in it. But all that stuff isn’t what Hurts wanted to talk about. He just wanted to make it clear that the work doesn’t end with this payday; in a lot of ways, the work is just beginning.
That mindset is a big part of the reason why Howie Roseman and Nick Sirianni were so emphatic last week that this money will not change Hurts.
“I have mixed emotions right now. I have mixed emotions,” Hurts said. “I am grateful, I am thankful. But … ain’t no buts. But I’m just so hungry. As I said, the hard work continues and the fire continues to burn.”
Monday morning was a moment that meant something to Hurts. After a relatively brief introduction from Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie, Hurts and the billionaire owner shared an embrace before Hurts himself sat behind the microphone in a stylish green suit.
He thanked God. He thanked the organization, naming Lurie, Roseman and Julian Lurie. He thanked his coaches, he thanked his teammates. He even got slightly emotional as he individually thanked members of his family.
It was a big moment for the franchise, but especially for Hurts. This contract is a realization of all he’s worked toward in his life but he wanted to make one thing abundantly clear again: The work is not over.
This is not a finish line.
“There is no point where I will have arrived. This is not an arrival point,” Hurts said. “This is just a stop in the journey. This is just a point in the journey. And the journey continues. And for us and what we want to accomplish as a team, we just want to continue to grow. As individuals on the team, we want to continue to grow so we are strong together when we fly together.”
Hurts said the Eagles showed courage three years ago when they picked him. It was a confusing pick at the time, of course. The Eagles already had a franchise quarterback but eventually things fell in line. Hurts started at the end of his rookie season, got better in Year 2 and became a legitimate MVP candidate in Year 3.
As he prepares to enter Year 4, Hurts is the Eagles’ franchise quarterback with the contract to match.
Lurie on Monday praised Hurts as a player but more importantly as a person.
“It’s remarkable that somebody can combine the talent that Jalen has, the personal qualities and the ability at such a young age to be a culture-setter,” Lurie said.
As Lurie and Hurts spoke, several Eagles players and coaches sat or stood at the back of the auditorium watching the press conference unfold, watching their stoic quarterback talk about the fire that burns even after signing the line on a contract worth over a quarter of a billion dollars.
Hurts said he was “out West” working out last week when he found out his long-term deal was finalized. He hopped on a few FaceTime calls with some of his coaches and members of the Eagles’ brass. There was no lavish celebration beyond that.
“Then I went back to work,” Hurts said.
Of course he did.
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