Before becoming teammates with the Philadelphia Eagles through a trade this month, quarterbacks Jalen Hurts and Dorian Thompson-Robinson had something else in common – a chess mentor.
“I believe I was one of the first athletes that our chess mentor, Seth Makowsky, had worked with through (coach) Chip Kelly, who brought him in at UCLA to kind of work with the quarterbacks and teach them about chess,” Thompson-Robinson said during an appearance on NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football” on Thursday, “and I kind of took the reins of it. Now he works with a bunch of different type of athletes from Olympians to NFL quarterbacks to different collegiate programs. He’s worked with Jalen a few times. I definitely have to get a game or two in with Jalen once I get in the room just to see the temperature there and see how good he is.”
During his introductory press conference in Philadelphia, Thompson-Robinson explained how he thought chess helped quarterbacks.
“So much of this position is about decision-making,” Thompson-Robinson said, “and so I think that’s really all that chess is. It’s just a board to make decisions on, and every decision means something. You have to be consistent in that. And so I think that’s how it really helps playing quarterback, and really all positions, is just being able to take that same mentality and mindset into the game, and know that you got to be locked in for a full four quarters.”
Thompson-Robinson’s chess advice to remember is CDP.
“It’s a thought process -- control the center, develop pieces and protect the king,” Thompson-Robinson said. “You can use that, obviously, in life. I use that all the time in football. Me being the king, I have to protect me and the ball for all purposes. And developing your players – getting the guys involved, getting the ball in guys’ hands to be able to make plays for you. And then controlling the center, you need that front seven to be as strong as possible. So that’s kind of how I relate if we’re going to go from football back to chess.”
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The Eagles traded quarterback Kenny Pickett to the Cleveland Browns for Thompson-Robinson and a fifth-round choice in the 2025 NFL Draft in a swap of backup quarterbacks.
Thompson-Robinson joined Tanner McKee behind Hurts on Philadelphia’s depth chart.
In his fourth season as an NFL starter, Hurts led the Eagles to a 40-22 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX on Feb. 9, and he won the Pete Rozelle Award as the game’s Most Valuable Player.
“He was one of the first people to reach out to me right after the trade, which I really appreciated,” Thompson-Robinson said, “along with Tanner, who I know through my high school class. I’m really excited to work with both of those guys and can’t wait to learn from Jalen, obviously.”
Thompson-Robinson joined the Browns in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL Draft. Although he’s only one year younger than Hurts, Thompson-Robinson said he’s been looking up to the former Alabama quarterback for a while.
“I think everybody just raves about how professional he is, both on and off the field, especially at such a young age,” Thompson-Robinson said. “And so really just getting to see that approach every day. Again, support him and compete with him in any way I can. That’s only going to make me better, as well as the rest of the room.
“But, yeah, I’ve been a fan and admiring Jalen for quite some time now. I want to say his Alabama days, but it was really his Oklahoma days that really stuck with me and that transition of his career and how he was able to prevail through that and those situations. I’ve been a fan of Jalen’s for a while now.”
While the Eagles went 14-3 in the 2024 regular season and won the NFL championship, the Browns had a 3-14 record last season.
“Obviously, a winning culture,” Thompson-Robinson said of Philadelphia. “They know what they’re doing over there, so definitely excited to join in on that group.”
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at@AMarkG1.