When Jalen Hurts heard he was named Super Bowl LIX MVP, the Philadelphia Eagles' quarterback's immediate response was, "Super Bowl champ." Now, Hurts will grace the iconic orange box of the "Breakfast of Champions."
Hurts will be featured on the newest cereal box of Wheaties, General Mills announced in a press release Thursday, before the 2025 NFL season begins.
"Wheaties was a staple in my childhood," Hurts said in the press release. "To go from grabbing a bowl of Wheaties and following the icons on the box to now being featured myself is truly humbling and surreal."
General Mills says the Hurts' Wheaties box will be available nationwide in November.
Hurts' story is one of perseverance. He was benched for Tua Tagovailoa in the 2018 national championship game as a sophomore at Alabama, stayed ready and replaced an injured Tagovailoa to lead the Crimson Tide to a comeback win over Georgia in the SEC Championship Game in 2019. He transferred to Oklahoma, finishing as the Heisman Trophy runner-up in his final collegiate season.
The Eagles drafted him in the second round in 2020, when they still had Carson Wentz as their franchise quarterback. His selection didn't come with much fanfare. In time, Hurts took over as the Birds' starter and established himself as the franchise QB.
Hurts led the Birds to Super Bowl LVII in 2023, arguably outplaying Patrick Mahomes in a 38-35 loss to the Chiefs. Two years later, he outplayed Mahomes with no arguments in the Big Game, leading the Eagles to their second Super Bowl win in seven years.
Still, Hurts' standing among NFL quarterbacks continues to be the center of debate among pundits. Hurts barely cracked a top-10 list of NFL quarterbacks by ESPN and came in as No. 9 on a ranking from The Athletic. At the start of training camp, Hurts responded to a question about whether he pays attention to how the sports world and his peers rank him.
"I'm just focused on being the best I can be," Hurts said, smiling before his answer. "Purely focused on being the best I can be."
The best he can be is good enough for Wheaties.
Tom Dougherty
Tom Dougherty is a digital content producer for CBS Philadelphia. Before joining CBS Philadelphia, Tom covered sports for NBC Sports Philadelphia. He currently covers breaking news and sports.