What was the coolest element of the Philadelphia Eagles’ Super Bowl LIX win over the Kansas City Chiefs? If you ask ESPN, they will say it was the the skin color of Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts.
In the build up to the Super Bowl, the network did a good job of not inserting racism into the narrative of this title game clash. This was rather surprising, given that its employees specialize in inserting racial narratives in sports. Case in point: the last time Hurts and Patrick Mahomes faced off in the Super Bowl (in 2023), they couldn’t stop talking about the (largely irrelevant) fact that it would be the first time two Black quarterbacks would play against each other for an NFL title.
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But once the game was over, they just couldn’t restrain themselves anymore. The day after the Eagles routed the Chiefs for their second title in franchise history, they posted a graphic with the caption “Black Excellence” to highlight that Hurts is just the third Black quarterback to win a Super Bowl.
Black excellence 👑
— ESPN (@espn) February 10, 2025
Jalen Hurts joins Patrick Mahomes, Russell Wilson and Doug Williams as the only Black QBs to win a Super Bowl 💍 pic.twitter.com/fQHIeELuaT
I still don’t get how they don’t see this as counterproductive. ESPN claims it doesn’t want racism to exist (which is good), but its solution is to segregate athletes and turn their accomplishments into talking points for narratives that will inevitably divide people.
I’m not the only one who saw it this way, either. Lots of fans shredded ESPN for choosing to focus on this element of Philadelphia’s win.
Attributing an individual’s success to excellence across an entire racial group is incredibly bizarre.
— Eduardo Neret (@eduneret) February 10, 2025
Can anyone imagine ESPN tweeting “white excellence” if Nikola Jokic or Luka Doncic were ever to win Finals MVP in a predominantly black sport? https://t.co/WI0sNfFxSY
When are they going to stop mentioning the skin colour? I would have thought after the first black winner they would have stopped but I guess they want to cling on to the racial attention for a bit longer 🤦🏼♂️ https://t.co/RM4SY6N2OG
— "Blue Nose" Panda (@BlueNosePanda) February 10, 2025
This is cool, but why bring race into it? Just appreciate greatness. Who cares what their skin color is https://t.co/E66P1eixdV
— Nick Poulos (@NickPoulos91) February 10, 2025
Why does this have to be about race????
— William Case (@casew9610) February 10, 2025
I don't get the racism. Stop it. https://t.co/5mC8pjMd1r
If we want to stop creating narratives that divide people, stuff like this needs to go right now. ESPN has yet to figure that out.
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CBS resorts to fearmongering DOGE without any evidence.https://t.co/NcyRWkwJgv
— MRCTV (@mrctv) February 11, 2025
