In the past month the College Football Playoff title game and Super Bowl 52 have given us two stirring finishes and tales of two remarkable quarterbacks emerging from the shadows to deliver championship-winning performances.
They have also provided two heartfelt examples of class and camaraderie where teammates embraced each other’s triumphant moments, even when they came at their positions or expense.
Sunday night, amid the cascading confetti in Minnesota, Carson Wentz and his Super Bowl-winning replacement, Nick Foles, shared a moment of mutual acknowledgement and then a hug in the wake of Philadelphia’s 41-33 victory over New England.
Earlier in Atlanta, where Alabama won the CFP with an overtime victory over Georgia, there was season-long starter Jalen Hurts and the understudy who replaced him, Tua Tagovailoa, doing the same thing.
There are a number of other ways these two dramas could have played out and we’ve seen them before: lukewarm handshakes, petulance, pained expressions and outright sulking.
But these two cases, on the biggest stages at their levels, had none of that. Instead, there was the epitome of grace, warmth and humility.
Wentz, the starter who led the Eagles to an 11-2 start before suffering a season-ending ligament injury in Week 14, got a pat on his cap and a hug from Foles in recognition of a shared championship.
Wentz had spent the week helping prep Foles for the game while also providing encouragement, internal and external. On his @cj_wentz account, Wentz tweeted, “… Told y’all my boy @NFoles_9 was gonna shine tonight! Well deserved my bro! #AO1 #flyeaglesfly.”
For his part in the CFP, the selfless and supportive Hurts seemed as genuinely thrilled by Tagovailoa’s exploits as if they had been those of a brother. And, indeed, that’s how they had come to refer to each other in voice and on social media as “#BigBroLittleBro.”
When Tagovailoa came off the bench to start the second half and began making big plays with his arm and his feet the cameras flashed on Hurts as if asking a question of whether emotions might betray him. They did not and there would be no sign of clenched teeth or resentment.
When Tagovailoa completed the 41-yard touchdown pass for the game’s decider, Hurts was the first person to meet him on the field.
Afterward, knowing full well that Tagovailoa’s performance might have spelled the end of his own reign as the Crimson Tide’s starting quarterback despite a gaudy 25-2 record, Hurts did not wave off the ESPN crew seeking comment, as many in the NFL might have.
Especially for someone so young, the 19-year-old Hurts stood tall and gave testimonial-worthy praise of Tagovailoa, saying, “He’s destined for stuff like this. He’s built for stuff like this. He has that ‘it’ factor. I’m so happy for him and for this team.”
And when some fans denigrated Hurts in the game’s aftermath, Tagovailoa stood solidly behind his teammate, tweeting,“Tired of people not appreciating the fact that this man led us to the National Championship. And for all the fans that are against Jalen, you against me too. You either WITH US or AGAINST US. Love you 2 #BigBroLittleBro.”
Hurts Tweeted, “Love You Too Lil Bro! Proud Of You! #NationalChampions.”
What we have witnessed in the Super Bowl and CFP were two games for the ages made even more memorable by the level of class with which these principals handled their parts in the drama.
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.
