Tag: Lane Johnson

Former Oklahoma Sooners quarterback [autotag]Jalen Hurts[/autotag] had an incredible performance two years ago in Super Bowl LVII. He played a nearly flawless game, but his Philadelphia Eagles lost 38-35 against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Now two years later, Hurts and fellow former Sooner, offensive lineman [autotag]Lane Johnson[/autotag], have another chance to make history in Super Bowl LIX. His Eagles are once again matched up against the Chiefs in the final football game of the 2024 season. Kansas City has won another Super Bowl since they last met, and now Philadelphia is the only thing standing between them and the NFL’s first three-peat since the Green Bay Packers won three straight championships from 1965 to 1967.

Hurts is looking to make a little bit more history in a couple of weeks as well. If he can lead the way to a win on February 9, he’ll become the first former OU quarterback to win a Super Bowl as a starter. He became the first of that prestigious group to start a Super Bowl two seasons ago.

In fact, up until running back Joe Mixon threw a touchdown pass on a trick play three years ago in Super Bowl LVI for the Cincinnati Bengals, no former Oklahoma player had ever thrown a TD in the big game.

As great as OU’s quarterback history is, the Sooners ran triple option offenses like the Split-T and the Wishbone for most of their history until 1999. Those option quarterbacks weren’t players who translated to playing quarterback at the next level. In the last 26 years, Oklahoma has run a version of the spread or Air Raid offenses.

In the modern era, players like Josh Heupel and Jason White didn’t have much in the vein of NFL careers. Sam Bradford never stayed healthy enough to have the impact he could’ve. Landry Jones was never a full-time starter.

But over the last decade, Oklahoma has put three quarterbacks into the league who were the starters for their teams in 2024 (Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, and Jalen Hurts). In addition, the Sooners have had two more players that played at OU, but didn’t finish their collegiate careers as Sooners that started games this past year (Spencer Rattler and Caleb Williams). Another player who spent time in Norman but finished up elsewhere, Dillon Gabriel, may get drafted in April.

Despite that, no former Sooners QB has ever won a Super Bowl as a starter. Troy Aikman, who played for Oklahoma but finished his career at UCLA, won three rings with the Dallas Cowboys in the 1990s, but if Mayfield, Murray or Hurts were to pull it off, they’d be the first to officially do it from Oklahoma.

Hurts obviously has the best shot at it, and if he can help dethrone the NFL’s current dynasty, he’ll make history in more ways than one.