Eagles parade updates; ESPN analyst apologizes to Jalen Hurts, who's on a media blitz

After the Eagles' dominant 40-22 win over the Kansas City Chiefs, A.J. Brown said he would make a special visit to 10-year-old Andre "Tre" Howard III, who was hospitalized with severe head injuries from the Northeast Philadelphia plane crash. On Wednesday, Brown kept his word, making a visit to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Brown came bearing gifts and even surprised the real-life superhero with a call from Saquon Barkley. Andre’s mother, Lashawn “Lala” Hamiel, posted photos of Brown and Andre together from his hospital room on her Facebook page. Andre can be seen wearing a kelly green Brown jersey, an Eagles chain, and a Super Bowl LIX championship hat as they pose with the Lombardi Trophy in front of a table full of Eagles gear.

“Thank you for being a man of your word,” Andre’s mother wrote. “By great surprise on this day my son was beyond grateful to meet you. Caught us all by surprise. For Someone “(ANDRE)” my son who usually talk so much, you had him smiling from ear to ear and mute. I felt his heart pounding through his chest. The amount of of love and support you gave being so patient and calling Saquon Barkley for him was beyond appreciated. Thank you for everything and bringing that WIN home for “TRE” the world’s greatest SUPERHERO. From my family to yours I so humbly want to say thank you and we love you and hope and want nothing but the best for yours!!!!”

Politicians sometimes have to weigh in publicly on controversial events that may hurt their credibility with some constituents, and sports is no exception.

Elected officials in Pennsylvania and New Jersey made their stances known before, during, and after the Eagles Super Bowl win against the Kansas City Chiefs, showing off their “#ootd“ and “inner excellence.”

Some stood by their roots, and others decided to switch sides or be bipartisan. Some showed that their support went further than words.

Brother vs. brother games are always a bit awkward, but especially when it’s the Super Bowl.

On the latest episode of New Heights, Jason Kelce got emotional sharing how challenging it was for him to watch Super Bowl LIX, wanting the best for both his brother, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, and his former Eagles teammates and friends.

“I did not anticipate it being that hard,” Jason Kelce said.

Continuing his media blitz Wednesday, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts made a guest appearance on The View.

Hurts, who played golf with former President Barack Obama a week before the election, wasn’t asked about politics during his appearance. Instead, talk focused on the Eagles’ dominant Super Bowl victory against the Kansas City Chiefs, sealed late in the game with the 46-yard touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith.

“Smitty, he didn’t practice all week because be was battling with an injury, and then ends up leading the team in receiving yards,” Hurts said. “That’s just at testament to him.”

The Philadelphia Museum of Art is preparing for its special date on Friday — not for Valentine’s Day, but the Eagles’ Super Bowl victory parade. The green celebration will land right on the PMA steps, so the museum announced that it will close its doors, as well as the doors of the nearby Rodin Museum, which PMA runs, on Feb. 14.

“Congratulations to the Philadelphia Eagles,” the museum said in a statement Wednesday. “The PMA and Rodin Museum will be closed on Friday, February 14 due to the city-wide road closures for the Philadelphia Eagles celebration.”

The museum will issue refunds to museum ticket holders who planned to visit that day.

ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky was wrong about Carson Wentz. Turns out he was also wrong about Jalen Hurts. 

Following the Super Bowl, the former NFL quarterback turned ESPN star apologized for, among other things, describing Hurts as a “liability" lacking the same level of talent as the league's other top quarterbacks.

“Listen, I owe, publicly, Jalen Hurts an apology,” Orlovsky said on First Take Monday. “I was probably one this year who’s been the hardest on him. I’ll go back to a couple of weeks ago when I said the passing game’s not good enough right now, and I don’t think it’s going to get better.”

For his next stop on the talk-show circuit, Hurts swung by the TODAY Show early Wednesday morning.

With the number of stops Hurts has made since winning Super Bowl LIX, there’s barely been time to let it sink in. But Hurts’ “most memorable moment” was the locker room celebration with his teammates.

“You meet people and you hear the word champ, and you just think about how hard you worked for that,” Hurts said. “It really kicks in when you’re able to celebrate with your teammates. … The focus we had going in, and the fun we had leaving.”

Eagles linebacker Zack Baun was one of the surprise stars of the Birds’ Super Bowl run.

On a one-year contract with the Eagles, Baun was named to his first Pro Bowl and nabbed his first All-Pro selection, capping his incredible season by intercepting Patrick Mahomes during the Super Bowl.

On Tuesday, Baun attended the Sixers game along with teammates Oren Burks, Cooper DeJean, and C.J. Gardner-Johnson, where the Eagles linebacker explained how he was preparing for the team’s Super Bowl parade.

SEPTA Regional Rail riders should plan ahead on their path into the city for Friday's parade.

Riders will not be able to purchase tickets for any Regional Rail trains on the day of the parade, SEPTA said in a statement. Cash and credit cards will not be accepted, and alternate forms of payment — such as a pre-loaded SEPTA Key card or existing SEPTA pass — will need to be used.

Additionally, the Chestnut Hill West and Cynwyd lines will not have service Friday, but all other Regional Rail lines will be running, the agency said.

Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, and the entire Eagles offensive line appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon Tuesday, where they shotgunned beers and discussed their Super Bowl victory against the Chiefs.

During the roughly nine-minute interview, Hurts revealed the photo wallpaper on his cell phone is a picture of him walking off the field following the Eagles’ loss to the Chiefs in the 2023 Super Bowl, blanketed by yellow and red confetti. 

Despite having won Sunday, Hurts said the photo is “going to remain” on his phone, something he described as a “humble reminder” to keep him motivated on the next game. 

The NFL office has not set the official salary-cap number for 2025. Last year, that happened closer to the start of the combine. However, NFL Network reported in December that teams are preparing for a salary cap in the range of $265 million to $275 million, which would be an increase of about $10 million to $20 million over the $255.4 million cap in 2024.

The leaguewide salary cap is an unadjusted number. Each club faces various factors that will impact their individual, adjusted salary cap, including cap carryover, and incentive adjustments. For the sake of this exercise, we are using Over The Cap’s projected unadjusted salary cap of $272.5 million as the starting point for 2025. Including its accounting of any potential adjustments, Over The Cap is estimating the Eagles’ cap at $279.3 million, leaving them currently with $18.1 million in cap space.

That number does not yet factor in the cap space the team will require to sign its incoming rookie class. It’s also worth noting that the Eagles currently have 49 players under contract in 2025 (including four pending unrestricted free agents with a void year in 2025), and the top 51 contracts count against the salary cap after the new league year. After they sign at least 51 players to the roster and the rookie class, Over The Cap is projecting an effective cap space of $13.9 million.

Eagles fans are still riding high after the team’s dominant win in the Super Bowl. But as Jalen Hurts said, “The work continues.” Here are some important offseason dates to know, from the parade to the start of next season, as the Birds look to go back-to-back.

Feb. 14: The Eagles’ victory parade

For fans, this is the most important day of the year — after Sunday, of course. Eagles fans will head to Broad Street on Valentine’s Day and celebrate the Eagles’ big win, starting at 11 a.m.