Super Bowl LVII: Is Chris Simms changing tune with Jalen Hurts?

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Jalen Hurts has proved his doubters wrong this year, leading the Eagles to the Super Bowl. But, one national media personality has been pretty hard on Hurts.

Chris Simms, an NFL analyst with NBC, questioned Hurts' value back in December. He said he would vote for the three other players over Hurts in the MVP conversation. 

As a result, Eagles fans lit up his social media platforms.

But, CBS Philadelphia caught up with Simms on Monday at Radio Hall in Phoenix, and he's started to change his tune on Hurts.

"I tried to just say it was a really good team at one point. Jalen Hurts is a great quarterback. He's done a lot of great things and he's taken advantage of all the opportunities that have been there. I just said the Eagles would be great and still be really good with Gardner Minshew," Simms said. "And I think people took that as, 'Oh, wow. You're slighting Jalen Hurts.' And I want to remind you, my dad was the quarterback of a team where the backup quarterback won the Super Bowl, so it's a team sport. I wasn't trying to be offensive that way. I have tremendous respect for what Jalen Hurts has done."

Entering the year, Simms had Hurts ranked No. 25 out of 40 quarterbacks. Hurts has certainly proved he's better than No. 25 with his performance this season.

But even before the 2022 rankings, it was really his 2021 rankings that upset Eagles fans. 

Simms didn't even have Hurts ranked in his top 40 quarterbacks entering the 2021 season, and that obviously didn't age well.

Hurts' catchphrase is "The rent is due every day."

And he's been paying that this year, proving his doubters like Simms wrong on his way to leading the Birds to the Super Bowl in his second year as the team's starter. 

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• Super Bowl LVII
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