Who are the quarterbacks playing in the Super Bowl?
The 2023 Super Bowl is fast approaching, with the showdown between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles taking place in Glendale, Arizona.
In a game where legends are made, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes will look to cement his legacy, while his counterpart, Eagles signal-caller Jalen Hurts, will seek to add his name to the record books when their teams square off in this year's Super Bowl.
It will mark the first time two Black quarterbacks will face each other in the NFL’s marquee game.
There may be no position in sports more scrutinized than quarterback, so let’s go a little deeper to find out about these two men as they hope to lead their respective teams to gridiron glory.
Who is Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts?
Hurts, 24, took a somewhat circuitous route to the NFL. After getting his start as a football coach's son in Channelview High School in Texas, he played quarterback in college at the University of Alabama 2016 to 2018, winning the national championship in 2017. He transferred to the University of Oklahoma for his senior season, leading the team to the College Football Playoff and finishing as the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy. In his collegiate career, he went 38-4, while throwing for 9,477 yards and 80 touchdowns and running for 3,274 yards and 43 scores.
Hurts was selected by the Eagles in the second round of the 2020 NFL draft. He became the starting quarterback for the 2021 season and led the team to the playoffs, becoming the youngest signal-caller in franchise history to do so. This season, the Eagles went 14-3 to earn the top seed in the NFC in the playoffs, where the Eagles manhandled the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers in their two games, outscoring the teams by a combined score of 69-14, with Hurts totaling four touchdowns in the air and on the ground.
It falls in line with the MVP-caliber year Hurts had. He threw for 3,701 yards and 22 touchdowns, while rushing for 760 yards and 13 scores, the most ever in a season by an Eagles quarterback. He potentially could've had even stronger stats had he not missed two games at the end of the year with a shoulder injury.
Who is Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes?
A true superstar, Mahomes, 27, has sports in his genes. His father, Pat Mahomes, played Major League Baseball for 11 years from 1992 until 2003.
The younger Mahomes is currently in his sixth season in the NFL, his fifth as the starter for the Chiefs, the team that selected him with the 10th pick of the first round in the 2017 NFL draft out of Texas Tech University.
After playing sparingly as a rookie in 2017, Mahomes was named the NFL MVP following the 2018 season. He then capped off the 2019 season with a win in Super Bowl LIV over the San Francisco 49ers, the first Super Bowl title for the Chiefs in 50 years. He was named MVP of that game, making him the youngest quarterback to earn the honor.
The 2022 season was vintage Mahomes, as he threw for 5,250 yards and 41 touchdowns, both of which led the NFL, putting him squarely in the MVP conversation. No quarterback has thrown for 10,000 career yards faster than Mahomes, who did it in 34 games.
The father of two, who will be playing in his third Super Bowl, has won a total of 10 postseason games in his career — and his wife, Brittany Mahomes, celebrates each one.
Mahomes and Hurts will lead their teams into battle when the Chiefs and Eagles take the field for Super Bowl LVII on Sunday, Feb. 12, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
