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History will be made at this year’s Super Bowl. The Eagles’ Jason Kelce and the Chiefs’ Travis Kelce will be the first brothers to play each other in the Super Bowl. It will also be the first time that both starting quarterbacks, Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes, are black athletes.

Jalen Hurts played his college football at the University of Alabama during his freshman and sophomore years (2016, 2017). His freshman year he led Alabama to the College Football Playoffs.

He was benched in 2018 when quarterback Tua Tagovaoiloa became a rising star on the football field. Jalen and Tua reportedly had a close friendship. Hurts came off the bench for an injured Tua during the SEC Championship in 2018, leading Alabama to another conference title.

Hurts eventually transferred to Oklahoma, where he led the Sooners to a Big 12 Championship in 2019. The Philadelphia Eagles drafted Jalen Hurts in the second round. He became a starter during his rookie season in 2020 and full-time starter in 2021.

Hurts has been outspoken about his faith. He has posted his favorite verse (John 13:7) on social media and commented on it during press conferences. It’s a verse he says stuck with him during his college years until now. It reads, “Jesus replied, ‘You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.’” Hurts was referring to circumstances we do not understand while we are going through them.

In an article for Christian Headlines, “He says he wants to be a good example for children who are watching him and to be ‘remembered as someone who made a difference’ in the lives of others off the football field.”  He funded shoes, jerseys, shorts, and equipment for a basketball program for a school in his hometown.

Hurts also said, “… I keep God at the center of everything.  I give Him all the praise. I lean on Him all the time. And I know that everything unfolds the way it’s supposed to. … I just want to set the right example, and I want to be remembered [as] someone who made a difference. You know – that’s an everyday thing. It’s something that I think about every day.

“That’s something that I’ve just matured in and realized – that God is everything and He’s worthy of praise.” You have to put Him in the center of everything that you do. And that’s what I believe. … I’ve been blessed to grow, learn things, and just mature. And I know God has been there the whole entire way.”

On his Instagram page last fall, he posted a picture of himself wearing his Philadelphia Eagles uniform and kneeling on the football field, adding the words, “He Who Kneels Before God, Can Stand Before Any Man.”

I am not a pro-football fan of any NFL team. But I am thinking I’ll cheer for the Philadelphia Eagles as quarterback Jalen Hurts plays the biggest and most important game of his football career.

— Jan White has compiled a collection of her columns in her book, “Everyday Faith for Daily Life.”