Jalen Hurts

0:01Into the wild, the Cartier Panther encounters a shimmering crocodile, a lonely lovebird, a breathless zebra, and a restless tiger.

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0:58Make your move. Order on the Sweetgreen app. A legitimate criticism of Jalen Hurts is that he doesn't show a lot of vulnerability, ever. Fair criticism? Is that criticism? I guess that's my question. Hi, my name is Zach Barron. I'm the Senior Special Projects Editor at GQ, and this is the very first episode of One More Question, GQ's new weekly interview show. Over the years of the magazine, I've written dozens of cover stories and traveled the world to talk to and write about some of the most interesting people in the GQ universe, from Martin Scorsese to George Clooney and Brad Pitt to Outkast's Andre 3000.

1:38Talking to people is kind of my thing, and now I'll be doing it weekly, starting with today's episode, which is a conversation with the quarterback of my beloved Philadelphia Eagles, Jalen Hurts. I'm from Philadelphia and am, as I say in the episode, a degenerate Eagles fan. I do not miss a game or a podcast about a game or an anonymous tweet about the game. I have group chats about the Eagles that would make my parents and my old school teachers weep. So it is fitting, hopefully, that the first episode of this thing, which we taped in Philadelphia in June, is with the quarterback of my favorite team.

2:10Jalen is a fascinating guy. He's been to two Super Bowls and won one. Since he became the team's official starter, they've been one of the best teams in the NFL. But Hurts is often ranked in the second or third tier of NFL quarterbacks by pundits and fans of rival teams, a reputation that goes all the way back to his college years at Alabama when he was benched at halftime in the 2018 National Championship game. And the Eagles have frankly been a weird team in his era, prone to drama and listlessness when not winning Super Bowls. After they lost in the first round of the playoffs last year, an ESPN article came out partially blaming Hertz's, quote, strong preferences and penchant to resist change for the team's lackluster performance.

2:50In June, wide receiver A.J. Brown, whose run in Philadelphia was among the best stretches of any in the history of the team, finally got the trade out of town he'd seemingly been seeking for some time. Notably, on his way out, Brown talked about the way he and Hertz, who was godfather to his daughter had grown apart the last few years. Hertz is also a famously tricky interview subject. He is from the Jordan School of Athletes, meaning he doesn't say much, and what he does say can be hard to interpret. Although, as you will hear, he disagrees with me on this. This ended up being one of the longer interviews he's ever given, and he had a lot of notes about how I conducted it.

3:28In a positive way. Mostly. One other note about this one, usually these are sit-downs, But the way Jalen Hurts wanted to do this interview was to have me come to a private club on the west side of Center City, the Fittler Club, to play pool with him instead. So for the listening audience, half of this conversation is conducted around a pool table, the other half in chairs nearby. If you want to see the amazing behind-the-back trick shot I made, please go to YouTube, where a video of this interview also exists.

4:00It's a bad feeling when the man you're about to play pool with has his own pole cue. Don't be affected by that. Normally, I do these in chairs. Yeah. We're sitting down. We're gazing into each other's eyes. And you were like, we're playing pool. Well, I want to do something that I do. I just like the challenge of the game. It's a lot similar to a lot of the things that we do, you know. And why what? You know, I compare it to quarterback. I think there's a science to it. There's a component where you get on the table and we may play this game and you may think you may not have a shot. when in reality there's always a shot on the table.

4:53So I think about that at the quarterback position where you're always trying to solve the piece to a puzzle. You're always trying to connect the dots and make it right. We can't keep standing here. You got to break. I'm just going to let you do the honors. No, no, no. My game is finesse is not velocity. So I want you to try that. That has nothing to do with the break. Either you know how to strike it or don't. All right. See, I'm going to set you up right here. Oh, okay. Okay, okay. You go. Okay. All right, here we go. You've done this before. So I should confess that I knew before we go any further, which is that I'm like a degenerate Eagles fan.

5:35And I'm sorry about that. We're just gonna have to work through it together. You know, maintain my professionalism, but you know, it just, I grew up in this town where we are right now. and yeah, we're gonna work through it together. It's nothing to work through. You know, it's a great city. It's a great city. You come from a great place. I'll say that. I appreciate that. I appreciate that. A gritty place. I'm sure you have those qualities. I'm sure. You're very kind to say it. Do I? You're about to find out. So when we were playing pool before, right at the end, you were talking about, I don't want to say idols, but people that you looked up to or who were models for you.

6:17You mentioned Jordan, and it made me think of something. Because Jordan is a famous show no weakness guy. And sometimes I think about you. We were talking about I'm an Eagles fan. I listen to too many podcasts, and a beat writer was on. Guy I respect and I think respects you. And he said, a legitimate criticism of Jalen Hurts is that he doesn't show a lot of vulnerability, ever. Fair criticism? Is that criticism? I guess that's my question. It's not about showing weakness or projecting yourself as someone who's strong. It's about doing a thing that can't be denied. So when you're able to filter through how you feel and define how you feel and then find solutions and do something about it, that's being active towards it.

7:06That's a very second order way to feel that. It's like almost like you're looking above yourself at your own feelings and being like, all right, that one we're going to process into this. This we're going to process into this. But it's like not just feeling the feeling. You know what I'm saying? I think there's a I think that it is exactly what you're saying. It's not. You know, I think everybody just has a different grace period. Everybody has a different process and period of how they process something, how they process a set of emotions. and then their process and their posture and the systems they rely on to actually find solutions in it and manage it.

7:41Everybody's process is different. Mine's has just always been that way. Yeah, very internal, basically. Yeah. Yeah. Would you describe yourself, and again, we really don't know each other. You and I have discussed, I have an impression of you at a distance. Would you describe yourself as an introvert? What is an introvert? you know. Someone who keeps themselves, someone who is not necessarily a huge people person. Is that an introvert? That would be my definition. That's your definition of introvert. Yeah. I would say, I would say, yeah. Here's what I'm curious, because I think the job of quarterback, inherently social job, right?

8:24Like literal leader of men, communicator. do you ever feel okay like my my personality tends towards introverted do you ever feel the contradiction between that and like what your what your job ended up being i think it's evolved over time you know because when i was a younger player when i was coming into college and you know starting as a freshman it was a different time where it was very straightforward and earning the respect of the guys around you You earned it by your actions. You earned it by what you prove to them and the respect that you earn. As you grow, you know, there's a mystique and an outside perspective or a narrative that's built.

9:12And it's not a lot of times built by the person himself, but by what other people project or interpret from that. And so my perspective, my approach hasn't necessarily differed in terms of what's priority, but I am mindful of how the things around me have changed. So do you act differently because of that? I always want to go earn the respect of my teammates about my actions and what I do and how I perform and the work ethic that I show. It's the it's the it's the actions. You know, Coach Saban, Coach Saban would always say what you do speak so loudly. I can't hear what you say. Well, you say I'm an introvert.

9:56I say I'm about action. I'm about doing the things that are required to win. And so. I think that's to one's interpretation. But, you know, you never go wrong doing a thing that can't be denied. And given the things that I've experienced, the great coaches that I've had, the many perspectives and voices that I've had in my area, all of those things have led to me being a more focused individual, a more determined person, and a more mission-driven person. And so all of those things run together. but you know it's easy for one to say something you know in the end and that's unstable in itself sure but I think I think when you don't explain yourself and you were saying this yourself people like project people make what is there to explain there's always something to explain you know why I mean I think I think this is the attitude I'm asking about and I'm gonna say as you don't mean I mean it in like a bad way.

10:58I mean it like a orientation towards life. I honestly want to know why. I think sometimes people, I was saying to you before, and I want to form it as a question rather than a statement, but I was saying to you before, I was like, I don't feel like you're a very well understood individual. And I don't feel like, but I would turn the question towards you. I would say, do you feel like you're well understood? I think it's very easy to understand. You know, I hear what you're saying from your perspective and the point that you're coming from, you know, when you talk about someone understanding something, an object or a person.

11:35Mm-hmm. I think people want to understand, like a fan of the team or probably even a teammate at times. Those things are subjective. But I think, well, a fan is in one category, a teammate's another. But both of them probably, like, I sit around thinking about what does my boss think? You know, there's got to be like somebody on your team that's like, what does my quarterback think about me? You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Let's win. And there's recipes to go do that. You build. You build the relationships. You go through hard things together. You experience the joys, the triumph, and then the shortcomings and the missteps, and you grow from that.

12:15And everybody that's on that team, you think that they have great passion for what they do, and that always triumphs. If it's true.

12:29What you thinking right now? What am I thinking right now? Yeah. I'm thinking this is a remarkably deliberate process and I would have hit a ball like 30 seconds ago, if I'm telling you the truth. Why is that? Because I'm an impatient human being. I don't even really know how to characterize the last Eagle season. How would you describe it? As a fan or? No, as a man who played in every single one of those games. Yeah. Yeah, it was a season of learning. It was a season of experiences, I believe a season of formative experiences. That's what I've always called them. You know, you go into it and sometimes I forget about what has happened before because honestly it doesn't matter if you continue to press on.

13:16You gotta carry the lessons from those things. You gotta be able to manage the emotions throughout your experiences and just continue to pursue their excellence. You know, the goal was coming in and off of winning the championship and saying, okay, let's go do this again. And you learn about how critical things are, how important the little things are, the details and the importance of

13:58a team playing together, working together, you know, having structure, having all of the things that you need to play fishing ball. And so, you know, it was a it was a test. It was a test for us. But I think it's something that taught me a lot.

14:21Slow down, girl. No!

14:30Into the wild, the Cartier Panther encounters a shimmering crocodile, a lonely lovebird, a breathless zebra, and a restless tiger.

14:51to help you get the most out of your workout and get back to your best self. What propels you? Propel with Gatorade Electrolytes. Fall has never looked or tasted this good. Sweet Green's fall harvest menu is back with seasonal favorites dressed to impress and made to be devoured. Warm roasted sweet potatoes, crisp apples, maple glazed Brussels, and crave worthy flavors in the autumn harvest bowl, maple glazed salmon plate, and roasted bacon Brussels side. the season's most desirable menu has returned to Sweetgreen, featuring Fall's best dressed. Make your move. Order on the Sweetgreen app.

15:35In the aftermath of the season, like, there's the usual, like, apportioning of blame, right? Yeah. And, like, you know, some people blame your offensive coordinator, and, you know, you have a new one now. Yeah. Some people blame A.J. Brown, and he's since been traded, you know? And then there's people who blame you, right? I know you don't read reporting about yourself. This is something, am I right about this? Yeah. Yeah. So I was trying to think about how best to summarize this because I'm like, I know he hasn't read it. But I think if I could best summarize it, the blame that fell to you was like, the offense looks the way you want it to look.

16:11Yeah. And it didn't look great all the time last year. And that's on Jalen. fair criticism? I take ownership because it's my job. You know, it's my responsibility. My job, I've always saw the perspective of, saw it from a perspective of go out there and lead the team and find a way to win the game, most importantly. And so, you know, we're going to be judged off of that. And I think accountability and ownership and responsibility you know those are all important factors when you play the quarterback position you have to have those qualities you have to be able to own it you got to be able to respond you have to be able to be resilient you know like winning and losing doesn't really care about feelings it's about doing what needs to be done you know the game is an honest game and so there's sometimes where you figure it out there's sometimes where you don't but in my eyes I never look at anything as a

17:24as a failure necessarily if you take action and being able to learn from it right but like do you have like an opinion on the claim of like hey it looked the way that way because he wanted to look like you know the truth of that no I don't I don't it comes with the territory of it you know There's a price for leadership, there's a price you pay when you have the responsibilities I have. And so I just own those things. You know, those things. Own it and keep it moving. Those things don't, you know, change or make me waver. Well, I saw that and I'm like, he's the coach's son, right? Because the implication is like, coaches want it one way and the other wants another.

18:02I'm like, isn't like, yeah, you're laughing, right? Because you've been coach your entire life. Yeah. I mean, I'm a coach's kid. I come from structure. You know, my father means everything to me and has meant everything to my development and my upbringing and, you know, my values and the principles that I carry. And so those are all things that have been constant. Those are the things that have been able to push me to excel that have allowed me to feel triumph and then allow me to overcome and have a sense of resolve about myself and rise above many challenges. And so it's not about placing blame and it's not about proving anyone wrong.

18:49There's a point in time where I used to say, it's not about proving anybody wrong, it's about proving myself right. Well, my position on that is a little different now, because it's really about just continuing the mission. Mm-hmm. Continue the mission, work, and continue the mission. Yeah. I mean, that's one of those things is, I said this to you earlier, we were talking, I'm going to continue the mission right here. See if I can do this.

19:25You had a quote, I think it was two years ago after a game. You said the offense is going to look the way Jalen Hurts wants to look. Right after a game, thoughts are scrambled. Is that like something that you, like when you said that, what did you mean by it? And do you feel like you still stand by it? So that was actually something I said during a week, during my press conference, preparing for a game. And the reality is, you know, I've always had to adjust to the change, you know, in the voice in my ear, the play caller, quarterback coach in the room. And those are the challenges that I've always embraced.

20:02I've always welcomed it. I've always sought to get hip to hip with the coaches so they can teach me and in many ways store where I'm supposed to go and give me good direction. And, you know, you get to a point where you see so much change going on around you. You see that you're, you know, the constant. And that goes for a lot of my teammates as well. Yeah, yeah. You navigate that and it's, it comes from a place of taking responsibility and ownership for the reality that you touch the ball every play you've got the fate of the city in your hands and that's

20:52that within myself I have to be able to discern I have to be able to study and prep and rep I think people took it literally People are like, okay. All these different things to try and just go out there and find a way to win because that's the mission. Yeah. And so I can see how that's something that's, you know, that was taken literally. Yeah. At the same time, you know, I said what I said and there's no retracting, you know, what I said. Well, it's clarifying. Yeah. Well, you know, it's the ultimate team game. Yeah. And I think it's just from the perspective of truly taking ownership. I've always admired those who have taken ownership for the things that they don't control they can't control I have nothing to do with that, but you know what?

21:38No, I have a humility about myself to say hey, no, I could have been better right here I could I could do that and I think that's that's where that comes from Hang on There you go Losing season some mildly critical articles after the season, you know, I guess I'm asking about the response to that Well, the response is to go out there and work. Go out there, prepare. Go out there and work. Anchor down and go perform. And that's where the focus always is. And ultimately, go win. I was saying this to you before off camera, where I think part of the thing is that people like to put everyone in a narrative, particularly an athlete, right?

22:22And I think an interesting thing about you and your career is that people have never found like a tidy story to tell about it. You know, I think for a while it was you were an underdog. Right. And that was kind of based on your experience at Alabama and the national championship game. And you get benched in that game and you have to build yourself back as a player, as a person. And first of all, like. What was that like to have to do that? When you said something key there, you were talking about building yourself back up, you know, reinventing yourself. Well, you usually have to reinvent something when something changes.

22:58Yeah. And I've endured change in all spaces. And I've had to adjust to be able to find success. but it's always an ongoing thing of having to reinvent myself because I'm always working with someone new. You know, the teams change every year in this league and you just got to grow and evolve. And I think that's the, you know, before getting to that specific point about the game, I think that's the most important thing in this. And I think that's one of the things that drives me because it's just a constant quest. It's kind of like shooting pool and there's always a shot on the table. How do I figure this out?

23:50You know, the amount of taking away, you know, my childhood experiences and what I've been exposed to as a coach's kid and what the game has showed me. The moments that I've shared with the game. I mean the amount of head coaches, OCs, defensive coordinators, past sports champions, Hall of Fame quarterbacks, Hall of Fame players that I've reached out to just to try and get a nugget of information just to improve. That's for growth. That's for consistency. That is for a pursuit of excellence. And that's always been useful for me. It's always been very helpful. I'm always asking myself, how do I show up and be the best that I can be for the team today?

24:33How do I do my job to the best of my ability so we can win on this day you know and that's that's always been helpful so it's it all runs together you've alluded a couple times to different coaches different coordinators this year sixth offensive coordinator is that no I don't count but it's it's been a bunch and I feel like in the past you've alluded to like Like, it's not, this level of change is not easy. How do you feel about it? I'm where I am. Yeah. You know, I embrace it as it comes in. Yeah. One thing that will be very different is A.J. Brown traded. We talked about it before. That will make, I imagine, the team feel very different and the offense feel very different.

25:26You imagine? I guess I'm asking. Yeah, I mean, you can't replace the greatness that we have achieved and the presence and success that he's had on the field. But we've got to go to work. What happened there from your perspective? As far as what? As far as him ultimately wanting to be traded and wanting to leave the team, because it seems like that's what happened. I mean, it's a game where, you know, we've all got to have a shared mission. We all got to, you know, be in pursuit of the collective. And, you know, it's not something I can speak on from his behalf. But I can tell you my focus has always been to pursue the mission.

26:23he gave an interview and said he was surprised about the amount of scrutiny that your relationship got meaning the friendship between you guys yeah um and he said like we we grew apart he just like said it straight up um do you feel the same way do you feel like you guys grew apart