Super Bowl media night — or Opening Night, as it’s called now — is more of a spectacle than a serious fact-gathering event. It’s when thousands of media members from the U.S. and all over the world converge on one venue to ask the participating players a dizzying mixture of real and joke questions.
Some players have more fun with the event than others. But even for the best sports, the event can get extremely awkward. We saw that on Monday night when Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was at the Footprint Center podium in Phoenix.
During the Eagles’ availability, a reporter opened his remark by telling Hurts that he didn’t think he’d ever lead the Eagles to a Super Bowl berth. And for that, he wanted to offer a face-to-face apology.
Reporter: “I gotta admit, I didn’t think the Eagles would get to the Super Bowl with you as their Quarterback.”
Jalen: “You’re not the only one.”
Reporter: “So I just wanted to tell you man to man.. I’m sorry.”
Jalen: “Cool.” pic.twitter.com/v40Po1efEY
— Eagles Nation (NFC Champs) (@PHLEaglesNation) February 7, 2023
Hurts understandably could not care less what this person thought of him, so he had the single response of, “Cool.”
It doesn’t get much more awkward than that. Like, what was Hurts even supposed to say there? But at least the chuckle served as a solid transition into someone else’s question.
Fans also had thoughts about that entire exchange.
This was how Twitter reacted
Like you matter😂 https://t.co/s89qHyegdh
— Brandon Jenkins (@BJenkins247) February 7, 2023
Going to a Super Bowl media day would be me posting the Ben Affleck meme 500 times until I finally stepped out and smoked the first cigarette of my life. https://t.co/oVoaJbvxNx
— Joey Wagner (@mrwagner25) February 7, 2023
…reporters using this space to make it about themselves – garbage as old as time. https://t.co/BjIJO5t3PB
— Ben Fennell (@BenFennell_NFL) February 7, 2023
???? Why would the reporter say that out loud lol https://t.co/5QHLSQfGTx
— Madeline Adams (@MadelineAdamsTV) February 7, 2023
This is such weird behavior what in the world https://t.co/RNeK5JEBlq
— Ben Glassmire (@BenGlassmireNFL) February 7, 2023
Alright, didn’t think we needed a rule for this but here it is.
New rule: no telling players to their face you didn’t think they were good enough. https://t.co/HNVd91LvJ4— Kyle Dvorchak (@kyletweetshere) February 7, 2023
I’m pretty surprised how many people are mad at the reporter?
He owned up to it face to face.
That’s real respect.
In the world of Skip’s or Colin’s, you can count on one finger where a reporter was like hey man I was wrong good luck. https://t.co/j8T5OrRpLX
— Justin (@MurphyFergusonn) February 7, 2023
Imagine being a credentialed reporter at the Super Bowl and being given the opportunity to ask one of the league’s best players a question at the podium…
And then wasting it by making the question all about yourself and not the player https://t.co/6qyOrZxffo
— Zach Hicks (@ZachHicks2) February 7, 2023
Not sure if this is an unpopular opinion or not, but athletes making it to the pinnacle of their sport shouldn’t have to deal with reporters selfishly making it about themselves? https://t.co/9wk0o770Ot
— Anand Nanduri (@NanduriNFL) February 7, 2023
I’m sure Hurts was happy to end that interaction.
