New Eagles WR Hollywood Brown almost stayed in college just to play with Jalen Hurts

Brown even almost stayed an extra year in college just to pair up with Hurts.

On the most recent “Speakeasy” podcast hosted by former Eagles running back LeSean McCoy and former Eagles linebacker Emmanuel Acho, Brown joined the show to discuss signing with the Eagles after spending his first seven seasons with the Ravens, Cardinals and Chiefs.

Brown, who played his last two years of college ball at Oklahoma in 2017 and 2018, told the hosts that he considered staying one more season when he learned that Hurts was transferring there after losing the starting job at Alabama.

“I’ve always been a fan of Jalen Hurts, from even his story back at Alabama,” Brown told the hosts. “I took the long road to where I got, so I always root for guys that went on that journey. When he came to Oklahoma was when I was coming into the [National Football] league and I was considering staying in school to play with him.”

Here’s the clip from the podcast:

For those needing a refresher, Hurts in 2017 led Alabama to the national championship game but was benched at halftime for Tua Tagovailoa, who went on to lead the Crimson Tide back from a 13-0 deficit to a 26-23 overtime win. Hurts then spent the next season as Tagovailoa’s backup before transferring to Oklahoma in 2019 and leading the Sooners to a 12-2 season while finishing as the runner-up to Joe Burrow for the Heisman Trophy.

The Eagles stunned the NFL by selecting Hurts in the second round. By his second season, he became the Eagles’ starting quarterback. 

In 2024, Hurts took the Eagles to the Super Bowl for the second time in three seasons for a rematch against the Chiefs, who had beaten them two years earlier for the Lombardi Trophy. That season, Brown had joined the Chiefs and had missed most of the year with a left shoulder injury that needed surgery but returned for the postseason and played against Hurts in the Super Bowl, which the Eagles won handily, 40-22.

“When he got into the league and just seeing the adversity he had been through and being across that sideline, Super Bowl, and seeing how calm, collected, dialed in he was and the throws that he was making,” Brown said. “You get back to home and you get on the TV and you see people saying what he can’t do and it’s like … you can’t be mad at somebody speaking their opinion, but I personally feel like he’s one of the top vertical passers in the league, like as far as his deep ball is great.”

Now that they’re finally teammates, Brown is looking forward to being on the other side of Hurts’ signature bombs. 

Brown, who went over 1,000 yards for the first and only time in his career in 2021, was limited by injuries to just 28 games over the next three seasons. Last year, he caught 49 passes for 587 yards and five touchdowns.

Also in the podcast, Brown, who is from Florida, said he was an Eagles fan growing up.

“I told Coach [Andy] Reid that when I got to Kansas City,” Brown said. “Glad to make it happen.”

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