Jalen Hurts COVID Clots Might Push Him Out of Football and Into Presidential Spotlight (2036) | Ep 1264

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

All right.

Jason Whitlock (0:01)

I say this a lot.

And you should believe me every time I say it, but this show today is going to be so unique, so different, so ahead of the curve of every other conversation you're going to hear about Jalen Hurts, anyplace on the internet, anyplace in corporate television. No one wants to really unpack this Jalen Hurts deal. I can't even believe what I'm about to do. When I thought of it this morning and yesterday, just like the implications of this Jalen Hurts controversy, these blood clots first in his legs, now in his lungs, and the way the media spun this out.

And my initial instincts were like, hey, I'm not blind all of this demonization of the Philadelphia Eagles.

That it just doesn't make sense that the Philadelphia Eagles were this foolish in their handling of Jalen Hurts.

And then I went even a cut deeper and I'm going to unpack this today at the beginning of the show. And then we'll talk about other things going on in the sports world. We'll bring in Charles and Scapp and Maurice. And we'll talk about the NBA opening the season. But I first want to give you the most ahead of the curve, provocative take on Jalen Hurts and the significance of it. And yes, it involves Jalen Hurts running for president in 2036

Sounds crazy. But let me take you back in time. This is not the first time I've made reference to Jalen Hurts as president of the United States. I want to take you back to 2018, December, early December, December 1st, 2018 Alabama and Georgia are playing in the SEC championship game. And this is during the season when Jalen Hurts is coming off the bench or backing up to a tongue viola. The previous season, Tua replaced Jalen Hurts in the national championship game and saved Alabama and then came into this new season as Tua the starter and Jalen the backup. And then they get to the SEC title game and they're down 28-21 in the fourth quarter. And Jalen Hurts has to come off the bench and replace Tua tongue viola, who's injured his ankle.

Comes back, I think Jalen takes the field, cause this was on third and 10, they punt the ball and Jalen takes the field with about 11 minutes to go down 28-21, throws a touchdown pass to Jerry Judy to tie the game up at 28-all. And then comes back and scrambles in for the game tying touchdown, or no, I'm sorry, the game winning touchdown with about a minute and four left. He scrambles into the end zone. This is Fernando Mendoza before anybody had heard of Fernando Mendoza with the game winning touchdown. And Jalen Hurts in one of the greatest moments, I think in college football history, in a scene, in a moment that could be made into a movie.

21, 20 year old kid playing in Alabama, benched for two at Tongue Viola.

It should have all been over, but this kid decides to stay at Alabama, back up to a, he comes off the bench all season because Alabama's blowing everybody out. So he gets some playing time during the regular season, but he's allegedly lost his dream. He sticks it out. He helps them win the SEC title, Upset of Georgia, the comeback over Georgia.

And then he transfers to Oklahoma for his final season, finishes as a Heisman runner up. It's just an amazing story. And this is the first time I make reference. This is on the night of December 1st, early morning of December 2nd. I tweeted out, I tweeted out, I hope Jalen Hurts is president one day. Whether he plays another down of football, that young man will be a success in life. Hurts is why I love sports. It builds men who can survive adversity. Hashtag Jalen Hurts 2036 This is me in 2018 Hashtag Jalen Hurts 2036 I can already see the story, the narrative, the Jalen Hurts, what a leader he is, what an incredible story this is, how mature he is. And then on that Monday, on December 3rd, 2018, and we watched this whole segment, one of the greatest segments in sports TV history, me and Marcellus talked about and celebrated Jalen Hurts. And it's an incredible conversation. Me and Marcellus going back and forth. I've edited out the Marcellus portion of this, and it's just me talking about Jalen Hurts.

And I did this for time constraints, because it's about a six minute segment. And I spoke for, I get two minutes and 45 seconds to that six minute segment. And it's just the stuff that I said that I'm about to play of what I was saying about Jalen Hurts in 2018 Let's play the clip. I think that that game this weekend justified, solidified his decision as the right one. I think Jalen Hurts is the gold standard for what I would want a young man to play college sports to be. I just, what an amazing performance. It damn near brought me to tears. I was so proud of that kid. And I think that moment justifies his decision to stick around at Alabama. It's not about a legacy. I heard the kids' comments after the game when his father, when they were crying after the National Championship game. He lost his job, two comes in, does a great, they're crying. And his father said, you know what we're going to do? We're going to compete, because that's what we do. And it reminded me when he told that story, I tried to quit my sixth grade football team. Because I was the only good player, and we got our butts kicked every game. And my father was like, what? You know, no way. And looked at me with such a look of disappointment, and I went back, and we played. I think we ended up winning one game that whole year. But to me, I just, Jalen did his family, did his name. His name is Gold, everywhere in America, because of what he accomplished this year. If he goes and plays in Illinois or some other lower level, it doesn't match what he just did this past Saturday, helping Alabama defend their national title. You go to college, and I believe this kid did because of, he's got great parents. You go to college to develop into a great young man. Yes. And so, going to the NFL, I know a lot of guys go with that mentality at 18 But by the time he gets to age 20, 21, 22, like Jalen Hurts, you should see a bigger picture. And I think he does see a bigger picture. His development as a young man has been incredible through this experience. Sometimes this kind of adversity will serve you for the rest of your life. For the next 50, 60 years of his life, will serve him. I tweeted this out and I believe it. One day, if this kid ran for president, I would be on board 20, 30 years.