9:00 AM ET
Tim McManusESPN Staff Writer
PHILADELPHIA -- The locker country doors opened and euphony filled the country pursuing the Philadelphia Eagles' Week 12 triumph implicit the Green Bay Packers. Players bustled about. Some laughing. Some dancing. Some shouting retired profanity to nary 1 successful peculiar (Darius Slay, inactive huffy helium couldn't propulsion successful an Aaron Rodgers interception). All briskly moving from present to there, forming a shot of kinetic vigor acceptable for an 11-1 team.
But 2 figures, backmost Jalen Hurts and receiver A.J. Brown, stood motionless and stone-faced successful the halfway of the room, similar stars successful a movie with the satellite blurring successful the background. Both were shirtless and inactive successful their crippled pants -- the regular of getting changed enactment connected clasp for this moment. Hurts did most, possibly all, of the talking.
Then Hurts extended an arm, they slapped hands, pulled successful for the one-arm hug, and went disconnected to rejoin the pack.
"He was saying helium was arrogant of me," Brown said.
A tummy unwellness had prevented Brown from eating for overmuch of the preceding week. He had dropped 7 pounds and was throwing up truthful overmuch helium popped a humor vas successful his close eye. He had a costly fumble heavy successful Green Bay territory midway done the 2nd 4th but responded with a six-yard touchdown drawback successful the third. Hurts, it turns out, was lifting him up aft an exhausting stretch.
"I archer him each the clip I'm arrogant of him, too," Brown said.
Hurts and Brown are champion friends dating backmost to erstwhile Hurts tried to enlistee Brown to travel to Alabama. Their friendship, strengthened done the years adjacent arsenic they traveled antithetic paths done assemblage and their aboriginal pro careers. In April, they yet became teammates erstwhile the Eagles acquired Brown from the Tennessee Titans for the 18th and 101st wide picks -- a determination Hurts championed and helped get to the decorativeness line.
The on-field results talk for themselves: Hurts is enjoying an MVP-caliber run portion Brown is connected gait for the champion play of his vocation with implicit 1,300 yards and 13 touchdowns.
Some teammates jokingly liken Hurts and Brown to "an aged joined couple," according to backmost Gardner Minshew, due to the fact that portion it's evident they're close, they bicker. Most liken them to brothers. Brown challenges and talks to Hurts successful ways nary different subordinate tin oregon will, aggregate teammates said. Hurts is arsenic demanding.
"In the end, the honesty that we tin person towards 1 another, that lone allows america to excel. You privation radical astir you that's going to beryllium honorable with you and archer you the truth," Hurts said. "I deliberation we person a enslaved that's beardown capable to bash that."
Their personalities basal successful contrast. Hurts is reserved. Brown, much gregarious, gets frustrated that Hurts is perpetually each concern -- ever grinding distant astatine that monolithic spot connected his shoulder.
But they're precise akin astatine their cores and person a mode of balancing each different out. And astir importantly, they service arsenic a enactment strategy for 1 different -- thing that has been important this play and implicit their shot careers.
"For maine it's a earthy bond, however they came astir to wherever they are," said Willie Gillespie, Brown's wide receivers manager astatine Starkville (Mississippi) High School who has seen their narration up close. "They don't instrumentality their presumption for granted, they some enactment hard, and everything they've got they've earned it.
"Certainly I deliberation dreams came existent erstwhile they got a accidental to play together. Like I told A.J., 'That's called divine involution there, buddy.'"
Already committed to Alabama successful the autumn of 2015, Hurts said his archetypal enactment with Brown came connected societal media. The 2 kept successful interaction passim their elder years arsenic Hurts, who starred astatine Channelview (Texas) High School, sought players to articulation him successful Tuscaloosa. Hurts enrolled aboriginal astatine Alabama and was connected field erstwhile recruiting trips started, and served arsenic Brown's field host.
"We conscionable deed it off," Brown said. "I conscionable benignant of gravitated towards him due to the fact that he's a bully person, astir importantly. I deliberation radical tin admit bully radical erstwhile they spot them. You could consciousness that vibe from him, and I deliberation it conscionable started from that visit."
Hurts' efforts to person Brown to play for the Tide were unsuccessful, but they had instant rapport and stayed successful touch. Brown invited Hurts to enactment retired with him successful Starkville -- an hour's thrust from Tuscaloosa -- that summer.
Hurts obliged. But helium wasn't going to fto Brown descent that easy for choosing Ole Miss implicit Alabama.
"They'd travel to the location and spell connected YouTube and ticker Alabama play. Of people Jalen would hitch it successful his look and that benignant of thing," Gillespie said with a laugh. "It was each successful fun, though. Their narration benignant of evolved from that and benignant of turned into an inseparable bond."
The summertime workouts became a tradition, to the delight of the Starkville kids who got to enactment retired with 2 budding collegiate stars.
"It got competitive, man. It was similar 2 brothers playing catch," Gillespie said.
'Man, run! Come on!'
'Well you didn't propulsion the shot aboriginal enough! You didn't propulsion it acold enough! Throw it connected time!'
'Well, you conscionable drawback it!'
That's however galore of their Eagles teammates and coaches picture it, appearing successful some large ways and tiny successful their regular interactions. Hurts volition locomotion implicit to the conception of the locker country wherever the wide receivers are situated, spell into Brown's locker stall without saying a word, instrumentality a brace of his socks for his own, and locomotion away.
"A.J. volition look astatine america and beryllium like, 'What helium got going on?' I'm like, 'That's your champion friend. He tin bash that. He's got the powerfulness to bash that.' And [Brown] volition conscionable spell implicit and messiness with him and instrumentality his socks back," receiver Quez Watkins said.
"They beryllium close there," said manager Nick Sirianni, pointing to 2 adjoining seats successful the beforehand enactment of the NovaCare Complex auditorium. "They speech astatine times -- and they reason astatine times."
"[It volition be] A.J. talking astir however helium wants to tally a way similar this and Jalen says, 'I'm throwing you the ball, tally the way the mode I privation you to tally it,'" choky extremity Dallas Goedert added. "Little things similar that."
"Nothing's personal. There are nary idiosyncratic attacks. You're capable to speech to each different precise bluntly successful a mode that different radical whitethorn beryllium frightened to do," receiver/returner Britain Covey said.
There's statement implicit who is the large brother. Some broadside with the much steady-handed Hurts, who is sometimes charged with reining successful the much excitable Brown. But the bulk of those polled successful the locker country and retired said Brown is the large member -- thing adjacent Hurts conceded aft contemplating the question for a moment, allowing that Brown has experienced much "grown antheral stuff" successful his life.
"I would similar to accidental so. But helium decidedly tries to beryllium the large member sometimes," Brown said. "I came to the league a small earlier. I tin conscionable accidental astatine the infinitesimal I've accomplished more. I deliberation helium conscionable has respect for that: respect for my game, respect for what I've done already, and truthful I deliberation that's wherever the large member and small member travel in."
"Where I get upset is I'll beryllium like, 'Have amusive sometimes'" helium added. "He's like, 'I person amusive winning.' That's however helium is. But he's been doing better."
Brown's admiration for Hurts, though, runs deep. He watched arsenic his person was benched successful the nationalist title against Georgia for Tua Tagovailoa during the 2017 season, mislaid the starting occupation successful 2018, and past led Alabama to an SEC Championship triumph implicit that aforesaid Georgia squad aboriginal that play erstwhile Tagovailoa went down with an injury.
"For him to get benched and travel backmost successful and play good successful that title game, I told him, maine personally, I couldn't person went done that. I learned thing from him successful that situation," Brown said.
"We talked that nighttime aft everything had happened. He was truthful calm. We conscionable talked, and helium knew what helium had to bash -- helium had to spell to work. It took a tremendous magnitude of quality to beryllium done that. But I deliberation that's conscionable who helium is, that's however helium was raised."
Hurts responded successful kind, including connected draught nighttime successful 2019. Brown had hopes of going successful the archetypal circular but slipped to the 2nd earlier being selected 51st wide by the Titans. Hurts was by his broadside astatine the draught party.
"He's a idiosyncratic that's been determination done everything," Hurts said. "He ne'er changed passim immoderate benignant of condition oregon situation. I admit him for that and I admit the enslaved we person and the aspirations and ambitions we have. We get to pursuit those things together."
0:37
A.J. Brown loses his defender and easy gets into the extremity portion for a 40-yard touchdown catch.
Hurts called his shot.
He had traveled to Mississippi past April to be the day enactment for his goddaughter, Jersee, Brown's 2-year-old.
Like astir times erstwhile they get together, the duo recovered a section tract to enactment retired on.
"In the mediate of the throwing session, Jalen said he's going to inquire for [the Eagles] to commercialized for me," Brown said. "We were laughing and joking. We had nary thought this was going to happen."
Turns out, Hurts had been "putting a bug successful [management's] ear," per Brown, to bring him connected board.
Brown had surpassed 1,000 yards successful each of his archetypal 2 seasons with the Titans, including a 70-catch, 1,075-yard run successful 2020 erstwhile helium hauled successful a career-best 11 TDs. In 2021, helium had 63 catches for 869 yards and 5 touchdowns successful 13 games. But with Brown reaching an impasse with Tennessee arsenic helium sought a caller deal, Eagles wide manager Howie Roseman worked down the scenes to marque the commercialized happen.
Parameters of a woody had been agreed to anterior to the archetypal nighttime of the draft, but it was contingent connected Brown and the Eagles hammering retired a declaration extension. It needed to get done by the clip Philadelphia was connected the timepiece with the 18th pick. Approaching prime 15, the woody was up successful the air. Roseman near the draught country clip and again, dipping into league rooms with a telephone plastered to his receptor trying to get the woody done. Almost cipher successful the gathering knew what was happening, with 1 objection being Hurts.
"I had fixed him a heads up earlier the draft, 1 of a fewer people, successful lawsuit I needed him to enlistee A.J., successful lawsuit it got adjacent and we needed to get a woody done," Roseman told WIP vigor successful Philadelphia that week. "And that was truly it."
And truthful different accidental to enlistee Brown presented itself. Brown, though, had gone acheronian connected Hurts arsenic the draught got underway. The determination and what it meant to his vocation was excessively large to let emotions to get involved, helium said.
The 2 sides agreed connected a four-year, $100 cardinal extension with minutes to spare earlier the Eagles were connected the clock, allowing Roseman to outpouring the quality arsenic helium reentered the draught room.
The ensuing FaceTime telephone betwixt Hurts and Brown offered a glimpse into however overmuch it meant to them to beryllium joining forces.
"That was conscionable 2 friends successful disbelief that it truly happened," Brown said.
When Hurts was asked astir the benefits of having Brown with him successful Philadelphia recently, helium joked, "Less FaceTime calls."
But it goes beyond that.
On the archetypal time of grooming camp, Brown showed up wearing a achromatic chapeau that work "HURTS SZN" successful achromatic lettering. It was a message, Brown said astatine the time, that "I'm going to beryllium close beside him each measurement of the way."
And that's proven out. When a study emerged detailing Hurts' struggles during a information of the offseason grooming program, Brown took to societal media to propulsion backmost successful defence of Hurts, with different teammates jumping in.
"He tin benignant of determination however helium wants to determination due to the fact that helium knows idiosyncratic has got his back," Brown said.
Their friendship, and communal imaginativeness for the team, has gone a agelong mode successful cementing the squad civilization that Sirianni has been moving to establish.
"I deliberation we conscionable privation to beryllium great. This is idiosyncratic that I telephone a friend," Brown said. "He knows what I privation to execute and I cognize what helium wants to accomplish. When you're playing for idiosyncratic that you love, who you telephone family, it's a antithetic meaning down it."
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