Jalen Hurts is ‘paying it forward’ with his new children’s book, ‘Better Than a Touchdown’
The next stop on Hurts’ first book tour is Friday night at Enon Tabernacle Church.
Jalen Hurts can add a new line to his resume: published author.
The quarterback is the latest Eagles player to pen a children’s book — joining former running back Brian Westbrook and defensive end Brandon Graham — as this week marked the release of Hurts’ first book, Better Than A Touchdown.
The former Super Bowl MVP has been promoting his new project through a book tour, making media appearances, traveling to different locations and signing for fans, and reading to children in their classrooms. The latest stop on the tour, which kicked off Monday with a visit to a New York City Barnes & Noble, will be Enon Tabernacle Church (East) on Friday night .
“It’s been so fun interacting with the classrooms and going and being kind of boots on the ground, and reading to different classrooms on this journey,” Hurts said on CBS Mornings earlier this week. “I’ve been able to answer those questions in person. Kids will ask me — adults will ask me, — ‘How did you do it? How did you come so far? I followed you from Alabama. I’ve seen your whole entire journey.’ And I just say, ‘I was passionate about it. I love the game, it’s just what I love to do and I refuse to be denied.’ That’s my energy going forward and everything as it’s always been.”
Better than a Touchdown follows a young Jalen and his friends as they embark on a journey to save their school’s football team. The book is just another way Hurts is trying to give back to the community, alongside the Jalen Hurts Foundation, which has a mission to strengthen communities by servicing and advancing youth.
“I’m trying to be as consistent as I can be in everything I do,” Hurts said. “With the foundation, with this book, it’s driving the same message. … It’s all these respected figures around this kid that influence him to kind of push through the adversity and the bad news that he gets. It’s very exciting to be able to serve and do something bigger than myself.”
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Hurts’ inspiration to write his own children’s book came from a memory he had at a Scholastic Book Fair when he was young.
“It’s me paying it forward,” Hurts said. “When I was a kid, I had those around me that were able to influence me. I remember going to the library and seeing a book by Tiki and Ronde Barber [By My Brothers Side]; they inspired me.
“Being able to carry that throughout my journey and put something that represents something that strong, and also extend myself. It’s just important to push literacy and the importance of comfortability in reading. When you are able to relate and give readers something that reflects them and their identities and their communities, that makes it even stronger.”
Hurts’ appearance Friday at Enon Tabernacle Church (2800 West Cheltenham Ave.) begins at 7:30 p.m. The event, which is in partnership with Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee & Books, is sold out.