👀👀👀👀@JalenHurts: "No one came up to me the whole spring, coaches included, no one asked me how I felt. No one asked me what was on my mind. … Now when we're trying to handle the situation now, for me it's kinda late. It's too late. The narrative has already been created." pic.twitter.com/adJS7UxmdL
— Alex Byington (@_AlexByington) August 4, 2018
The story of Jalen Hurts has been one for the books. His Freshman year, he was seen as one of the top players in the country and was a Heisman Hopeful. In his second year, he led Bama all the way up to the National Championship. But then it happened:
Tua took over the Bama team and the rest is history. So, with the new season less than a month away, one of the biggest QB battles remains undecided. Jalen or Tua? Personally, I believe that Hurts is the better option for a number of reasons, but that’s a decision that I don’t have to make.
Now, QB Battles can seem like they are harmless and that the media overhypes them to create clicks for articles or views on a video. The real truth behind QB battles is a constant stress, intense, internal battle that is fought both on the field and in the players mind. I went through one in high school, and *just like* with Tua and Hurts, it started from the end of the last season and wasn’t decided until the bus ride to the first game of the season.
A QB is the most important position in all of football, needing to know what every offensive player will be doing on 100+ plays, memorizing audibles, being able to read and pick apart a defense, and most of all, be able to throw a ball. And it is not just on the field; it is everywhere from the locker room, film room, and hell even in the presence of other players. Film with trying to fix mistakes or adapt to new plays, weight room with trying to out do one another, or just playing the popularity game with reporters and the media. The part that takes a toll on the QB mentally is with the locker room. When you can tell other players or even coaches have a favorite picked out and are against you, it almost has a feeling that you’re being alienated and don’t know who you really can trust as a brother.
So, when Hurts came out and said that no one has been asking how he has been doing or what his feelings are like, I, like many other ex-QBs, understand what he means. In my case, my old head coach would specifically go over to the other QBs house for dinners while my QB coach would do the same for me. Football is becoming a lot like politics (No, not like kneeling or all that crap). The person with the best talent doesn’t matter in today’s society I.E. Hurts. Instead, teams would rather have the bigger name I.E Tua in the position instead to help promote, bring in more fans, recruits, etc.
When Jalen states that “The narrative has already been created”, he truly means it. It isn’t a decision for Saban and Co. to make at all. They are going to go with Tua because he is the “savior” of the Natty and won them the game. They will forget about Jalen, who led them to that game and one before that and didn’t create any problems off of the field. So yes Jalen, it is too late, but it is not your fault, it is just how football is nowadays.