And then there were two.
The NFL’s final four teams were all in action on Sunday as the Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers, Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals competed against one another in their respective conference championship games.
Heading into the day, 11 total former Sooners who finished their career with Oklahoma were on the rosters of the remaining clubs – with nine of which being on their team’s active roster, the most of any college football program.
For a program as rich in tradition as OU, being the first to do something becomes increasingly difficult as time goes on – but that is just what former quarterback Jalen Hurts managed to accomplish on Sunday.
Leading his Eagles to a dominant 31-7 win over the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game, Hurts became the first former Oklahoma signal-caller to lead his team to the Super Bowl (not including Troy Aikman, who closed his collegiate career with UCLA).
While the 2019 Heisman runner-up didn’t have a monster day statistically, he avoided mistakes with no turnovers against arguably the best defense in the sport in San Francisco while also punching in a rushing score.
The touchdown on the ground for Hurts was his 15th of the year including regular season and postseason – the most of any quarterback in NFL history.
At just 24-years and 175-days old, he is the youngest quarterback in Philadelphia franchise history to lead the team to the big game, as he hopes to bring home the Eagles’ second championship in two weeks time.
Hurts’ improbable journey to this point has been well-documented, having begun his collegiate career at Alabama before being benched in favor of current Miami Dolphins’ quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
The Texas native then elected to transfer to the Sooners for his final college season, where he put up historic numbers in Norman that saw him elevate his draft projections from virtually non-existent to a second round pick by the Eagles.
After biding his time waiting for an opportunity, his chance to run the show eventually arrived with him showing flashes enough to be given the full reigns last year taking the team to the playoffs where they were eliminated in the Wild Card round.
This season, Hurts turned a massive corner throwing for 3,701 yards and 22 touchdowns while also rushing for an additional 760 with 13 more scores.
His play helped the Eagles earn the No. 1 overall seed in the NFC and catapulted himself into the MVP conversation, with the culmination of his journey now leading to the biggest stage in American sports in the Super Bowl in a couple of weeks.
Also certainly not to be overlooked in Philadelphia’s run are the exploits of former Oklahoma offensive lineman Lane Johnson, who helped shut down the 49ers’ vaunted pass rush from his right tackle spot despite playing on Sunday with a torn groin.
Johnson, who was a key member to the Eagles’ 2018 Super Bowl title, will now have the opportunity to capture another ring to add to his likely Hall of Fame resume.
Next up, Hurts and Johnson will battle fellow former Sooners Orlando Brown, Creed Humphrey, James Winchester, Blake Bell and the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 57 set for Sunday, Feb. 12 in Glendale, AZ.
In addition to Hurts and Johnson with Philadelphia, two more former Sooners will suit up for the Eagles in tight end Grant Calcaterra and Trey Sermon – although they don’t go down as OU representatives since they finished their careers at other schools.
As for the rest of the Sooners in the NFL, here is a recap of how they did on Championship Sunday:
(Failed to Reach Playoffs)
(Failed to Reach Playoffs)
(Eliminated in Wild Card)
(Eliminated in Divisional Round)
(L 23-20 at Kansas City)
(Failed to Reach Playoffs)
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(Eliminated in Divisional Round)
(Failed to Reach Playoffs)
(Failed to Reach Playoffs)
(W 23-20 vs Cincinnati)
(Failed to Reach Playoffs)
(Eliminated in Wild Card)
(Failed to Reach Playoffs)
(Eliminated in Wild Card)
(Failed to Reach Playoffs)
(Eliminated in Divisional Round)
(Failed to Reach Playoffs)
(W 31-7 vs San Francisco)
(Failed to Reach Playoffs)
(L 31-7 at Philadelphia)
(Eliminated in Wild Card)
(Failed to Reach Playoffs)
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