Jalen Hurts’ life-changing experience and other moments from Eagles’ pregame Super Bowl speeches

For the second time in franchise history, the city of Philadelphia welcomed Eagles players back with a Super Bowl parade after they beat up on the Kansas City Chiefs in a one-sided 40-22 victory in New Orleans.

But what inspired the Eagles to put on a master class performance over the two-time reigning defending champions? Was it the fact that they’ve been in this position before with the same team — and failed? Or was it the players’ speeches ahead of the big game?

On Sunday, those speeches were revealed. The team released its latest “Unscripted” video, showing 10 players speaking in front of the team the night before the big game — including Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, and Lane Johnson. Here are some of the best moments.

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The memory of walking off the field after the Super Bowl LVII loss to the Chiefs two years ago is a hard one to forget — especially if it’s your phone’s lock screen. The last time Hurts was in the big game, he finished with 374 total yards and three rushing touchdowns, but the Eagles suffered a narrow 38-35 loss to the Chiefs.

“Last time being here, that [expletive] changed my life,” Hurts said. “It changed my life and it changed my mentality and it changed everything. For so long I was thinking ‘what would I do if I got this moment again? What would I do when this opportunity met me again, on the biggest stage with everybody watching?’ I didn’t get benched. I put on a good show. And I couldn’t have done that without you guys but I left that [expletive] so empty.

“Don’t [expletive] else matter but winning. And when you talk about team sports and you talk about everything that we’ve gone through, that’s been the mission this whole [expletive] time. So, for all the hard work and everything that we’ve been able to do to this point, let’s take it one play at a time … and ask yourself how you want to be remembered.”

Barkley, a three-time Pro Bowler and this season’s AP Offensive Player of the Year has accomplished a lot this year, including setting the franchise single-season rushing record and becoming the ninth player ever to log 2,000 rushing yards in a single season in his first season with the Eagles.

Ahead of his first Super Bowl appearance, the running back displayed nothing but confidence in his teammates. “I want to start off by saying thank you to everyone in this room,” Barkley said. “I just want to thank you guys for welcoming me in and showing so much love and so much support.

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“I think you hear the common theme up here, right? I think every single one of us brings up team. And as I watch film throughout the whole week, my confidence continues to grow even more and I hope you guys are feeling the same thing. These guys can’t [expletive] with us. They really can’t. I don’t care how many times they’ve been here, I don’t care how many times they won it, they haven’t seen a team like us.”

When the Eagles and Chiefs met two years ago, the Birds defense finished with zero sacks. Because of this, Chiefs offensive linemen taunted the Eagles during their Super Bowl parade, wearing celebratory shirts emphasizing the stat.

Johnson didn’t forget. In fact, the offensive tackle wanted to remind everyone of the incident with a powerful message.

“They will get [expletive] up,” Johnson said. “And they’re going to get [expletive] up tomorrow. Just remember them [expletive] shirts they had on, on their parade a couple years ago. Keep that in mind as y’all keep [expletive] annihilating his [expletive] [Patrick Mahomes] tomorrow.”

It’s safe to say the speech worked. The Eagles sacked Mahomes six times and finished with two interceptions, including a pick-six by Cooper DeJean.

Gardner-Johnson has a way with words — especially when he’s trash talking. But an emotional Gardner-Johnson choked up during his speech, speaking as tears slightly formed in the 27-year-old’s eyes.

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“A lot of y’all been through a lot of [expletive],” Gardner-Johnson said. “A lot of [expletive]. We ain’t got to say [expletive] if we win it because our story is gonna tell itself. I get emotional because I know we’re all winners, bro. Why not have a chance to express that on the biggest stage of them all.”