If you win in Philadelphia, you’re a legend for life.
Just ask Nick Foles.
If you lose, not so much.
Just ask Carson Wentz, Doug Pederson, Vince Young, and perhaps even Donovan McNabb.
The latter is viewed more fondly by Birds fans, but there was a time when he was universally viewed as the reason Philadelphia didn’t win a Super Bowl under Andy Reid. His shortcomings were a big factor in Philadelphians’ love-hate relationship with the former face of the franchise.
Still, nowadays, you see plenty of No. 5 jerseys at Lincoln Financial Field and the tailgates in the Jetro Lot.
Suffice it to say there’s a fine line. And Eagles fans quickly switch up on a player when they don’t deliver. And if Jalen Hurts doesn’t deliver the team its second Lombardi Trophy in franchise history this Sunday, Maggie Gray believes the faithful will start to turn on him.
“If Jalen Hurts loses two Super Bowls to the Chiefs, and their three-peat has two Eagles Ls on it, I think that the Philly fanbase is going to say, ‘Enough with this guy.’ They’re going to question,” Gray explained. “They’re going to wonder if he cost them a shot at a title.”
Gray’s cohost on Maggie & Perloff, Andrew Perloff, quickly disagreed. Formerly a Dannette on The Dan Patrick Show, McLovin is also a diehard Eagles fan (he doesn’t hate the Kansas City Chiefs). With the pulse of the fanbase on his side, Perloff argued that Hurts is merely a cog in the operation.
“I disagree with your premise — it is not the era of the quarterback,” said Perloff. “The era of the quarterback died this year. Now, it is the era of the running back. I think this team, if they’re going to win the Super Bowl, the Philadelphia Eagles, is going to be a Saquon Barkley show. They want to hand him the ball 30 times because they do not want Patrick Mahomes to have the ball. So, I think — this is going to sound weird — Jalen Hurts is a role player in some sense. He’s like a six-man.”
“If Jalen Hurts loses two Super Bowls to the Chiefs… I think that the Philly fan base is going to say enough with this guy.”
Maggie thinks Jalen Hurts has the most at-stake in this year’s Super Bowl, but Perloff says the Eagles QB has been relegated to a “role player” pic.twitter.com/OMIJApxJ7g
— Maggie and Perloff (@MaggieandPerl) February 5, 2025
Gray said it was impossible.
But is it?
If the Eagles win, Hurts cements his legacy.
If they lose, Gray believes the questions will start.
And in Philadelphia, once those questions begin, they rarely go away. Just ask the quarterbacks who came before him.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.