“I know it’s something we all feel and it impacts everybody. … We have to change.” Eagles QB Jalen Hurts addressed the recent string of gun violence in the country.
The comments about his offseason could wait. His observations on A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith could wait. Football could wait because Jalen Hurts had an important message to share.
Hurts devoted 8½ minutes of his 16-minute media availability Friday to gun violence, finding ways to get guns off the streets and making a difference in the community.
His words were passionate and heartfelt.
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“When I sit back and think about what’s happened in Buffalo, Uvalde, in Tulsa, whether it’s a grocery store, a hospital, an elementary school, those are no places of fear,” he said. “Fear doesn’t belong in those places.
“And me sitting here, a big brother, a big cousin, I can’t even imagine my little cousins not coming home from school. My little sister not coming home from school. My dad not coming home from work.”
Hurts spoke on a day the Eagles wore orange shirts at practice — the color hunters wear to protect themselves — to mark National Gun Violence Awareness Day. The jerseys will be auctioned off to raise money for charities related to gun safety.
“You see what we’re doing here at the Eagles, trying to bring awareness to it,” Hurts said. “It’s a real thing and I know there are a lot of people out there in this community and the world that can relate to that.
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“I just want to own my impact with that because I know it’s something that we all feel and I know ultimately it impacts everybody. Everybody is impacted by it one way or another. Everyone sitting here may have kids, may have someone they love, and it all matters, so whether that just be spreading love, appreciating what you have but ultimately getting this artillery off the streets and making true change and that’s something that we urge in all our communities and the community of Philadelphia.
“Forty people getting shot in Philadelphia just this week. It’s gotta change, you know? It’s gotta change.”
There are probably some out there who believe Hurts should stick to football, but as a starting quarterback in the NFL, he has a platform that he believes can help effect change in the community.
“I think it’s my duty,” he said. “It’s the least that I can do. The least I can do is to try to bring awareness to it. It starts with every one of us and everybody has their own unique way that they can make change but ultimately what are you doing to try to make the right things to be done?
“That’s why I find so much joy going to James Rhoads Elementary School in West Philly [49th and Parrish], doing the autism awareness events, even in Alabama, working in the community, Oklahoma, working in the community, doing all this service. Because it matters.
“We’re all … blessed with this opportunity to come to work, but outside of this workplace, there’s real things going on in the world and they’re in our hearts. Everybody in this building. They’re in my heart. And simply want to spread love. Being able to spend time with a kid, that means the world to me. Because that’s me giving him hope. That’s me giving him a sense of uplift that he can be where I am.
“It’s a world full of hatred out there, negativity out there, and we have opportunities to spread hope, love, encouragement and uplift those around us. I take that to heart.
“Some kids out there, they get to a point where they lose hope and there’s so much negativity out there and they feel that’s the easy route to go. But it doesn’t have to be like that. That’s what it’s all about. … Showing them that you care. Showing them some love. (The future doesn’t) have to be the way you think it’s going to be. It can be whatever you want it to be. Achieve anything you want.”
There will be plenty of time this summer for Hurts to talk about football. But on Friday, his heart was with the families of the victims of the recent shootings and on how he has the power to try and help things change.
“It is just a game and it’s something we love to do, but the more important thing is the platform we have and the opportunity we have to impact the people around us,” he said. “That’s the biggest thing and that’s the bigger picture.”
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