Alabama Football: Jalen Hurts represents everything that is right
By Ronald Moody
Alabama football junior quarterback Jalen Hurts is vastly unappreciated. Thirty years from now, fans will reflect back and realize how special Jalen was to Alabama football, as a player and a person.
The viral video of Alabama football quarterback Jalen Hurts squatting 600 pounds is quite simply poetic. The barbaric yell heard before he lifts the barbell off the rack with strength coach Scott Cochran directly behind him is the most emotion he has displayed to anyone outside the locker room. However, the mild-mannered six-foot-two, 218-pound player squats the weight with relative ease in the same way he whacks away negative criticisms.
During his short time on the Capstone, no matter how big the game is, Jalen is always as calm as a Navy SEAL sniper on the battlefield. Alabama football fans have never witnessed any signs of panic on his face. The pressure of being a quarterback during the Saban dynasty is overbearing, yet he always keeps his composure. Ultimately, all you ever observe with Hurts is a well-spoken and humble player that handles himself perfectly both on the field and in post-game interviews.
After Tua Tagovailoa’s heroic heave into the end zone for a national championship victory, Jalen Hurts represented himself, his family and Alabama fans with class.
As the confetti fell, ESPN reporter Tom Rinaldi scurried to interview Hurts. The demoted quarterback did not mope about being removed from the game. Furthermore, he did not bash the coaching staff that had just removed him from the grandest stage of college football. Instead, Hurts praised his counterpart and his teammates. A marvelous class act considering the attitude of many of today’s me-first attitudes.
A man of his word
Jalen cut his trademark dreads after he agreed to remove them if he won a championship. He also made good on his bet with Charles Barkley. The bet required the loser of the Iron Bowl to wear the winning team’s jersey. Check out the video below of Jalen paying up. The smile at the end says despite the loss and the jersey, Jalen regained the upper hand in the bet.
Charles responded on television, “Well done young man.”