“What are we gonna do?”: Jalen Hurts cried in his dad’s arms after getting benched and fans are feeling it all over again

Everyone sees Jalen Hurts now, poised, elite, and leading the Philadelphia Eagles like a veteran. But rewind to 2018, and it was a much different story. The former Alabama QB had just been benched in the National Championship game, and what happened next was something most fans never knew until now.

The world saw Jalen Hurts benched but only his dad saw him break down

In a resurfaced interview clip going viral again, Hurts shared how he returned to the team hotel that night, sat with his dad, and just broke down in tears. “I cried, asking him what we were gonna do. What was I gonna do?” he said.

It wasn’t a social media moment. It was real, raw heartbreak, one that would go on to define the kind of player (and man) he would become.After Alabama swapped Hurts for freshman QB Tua Tagovailoa during halftime, fans were stunned.

But what no one saw was Hurts, sitting across from his father, Averion Hurts, in a quiet hotel room, his entire career up in the air.The emotions hit hard. He admitted it took courage just to cry in that moment. And his father gave him the only answer he needed: “We’re going to fight.”

From heartbreak to Heisman buzz to Super Bowl spotlight

Instead of folding, Hurts transferred to Oklahoma, balled out, and reminded the world that he wasn’t done yet. That single emotional moment in the hotel became the fire that fueled his entire comeback.

Fast forward: he's now QB1 for the Eagles, a Super Bowl MVP, and one of the most respected leaders in the NFL. That teary-eyed night? It was just the start.It’s easy to celebrate someone’s success. But what makes Hurts’ story hit different is that we now know where it really started, from a dark hotel room, tears on his dad’s shoulder, and the feeling that everything had just fallen apart.Instead of giving up, he turned that pain into purpose and now, he’s living proof that setbacks don’t define you, your bounce-back does.Also read - Texas QB Arch Manning goes viral after casually pulling up to a St. Louis neighborhood fans are calling “the trenches”