1 minute ago, Diehardfan said:

He'll obviously cool off, but he should play until he does 

They can sit Castro...  That guy hasn't done anything yet.  0 for 9, with 5 Ks since he's come over.   Add in a misplay and an error in the field.  Not an impressive start.  Really wish they had added a right handed bat to the bench...  Maybe Wilson becomes that guy!     Guy has ice water in his veins.  Scored 3 runs tonight!  

From The Athletic
 

Jalen Hurts made a "special” cheesesteak and transformed twin sisters’ family business
 

Quote

 

Three days before the Super Bowl, Jalen Hurts faced a question that could split a fan base: "Where’s the best place in Philly to grab a cheesesteak?”

Politicians are prepped for how to answer this one. Fearing conflict, other star athletes have tried to abstain. "Well …” Hurts started.

He paused, smirked, then continued — and changed the lives of twin sisters chasing a dream.

"So I have a cheesesteak that I made at FoodChasers,” Hurts said. "It’s in Philly. And it’s called ‘The Jalen Special.’ I put my little ingredients on it. I made it just right. So if you ever want to go try one, go to FoodChasers.”

FoodChasers’ Kitchen, a restaurant in the Philadelphia suburb of Elkins Park started during the coronavirus pandemic by Kala and Maya Johnstone, was not known as a cheesesteak destination. Before Hurts’ public endorsement, its most popular dishes were breakfast items, and the restaurant used about 10 pounds of meat a week for cheesesteaks. When Hurts’ comments at the news conference went viral, FoodChasers chopped through 100 pounds of beef over the next three days, grilling so much that they had to call their supplier for more.

Hurts first visited the restaurant in June 2022, when his signature cheesesteak was created. It was on the menu for six months before the Super Bowl news conference. In the five months after, sales of the sandwich increased by more than 300 percent.

"When Jalen comes into your life and says: ‘You’re valuable, you’re good enough to be on the stage with the big boys in Philly to sell cheesesteaks, and you girls’ voices should be heard … so come with me, get in my articles, get on TV,’ we just cry about it, because we grew up not seeing ourselves like this,” Kala said. "He changed our lives. You couldn’t put money on it. You can’t put it into words. He literally changed our lives and he added value to us. And not just Maya and I. He added value to Black women. Because so many women come in and say, ‘You guys’ story inspire us.’”

---

The Johnstones share two passions: food and the Philadelphia Eagles. Their father used to take them to training camp at West Chester University, where they would wait for autographs from Randall Cunningham and Reggie White. The allegiance was tested when their older brother, Lance, played 11 seasons in the NFL for the then-Oakland Raiders and Minnesota Vikings, but the twins remained devoted Eagles fans.
 

They have long dreamt of owning a restaurant together; more than a decade ago they began crafting a potential menu. They also started a social media account documenting their favorite foods from around the world and the dishes they created — from pasta to catfish to chicken wings and, yes, cheesesteaks.

During the pandemic, they retired as principals determined to chase their restaurant dream. They leased space in a brick building with a front patio on a triangular block steps from the local train station. Walk inside, and you’ll see a black wall with a white outline of Philadelphia’s skyline and the restaurant’s logo that includes the message "Love, Eat, Travel.” They fed their first customers in the winter of 2021. The following June, a Pepsi rep visited seeking a Black-owned restaurant to feature in a commercial. She came on a particularly hectic day, and by the end of her visit, FoodChasers was selected. They were told Hurts would star in the commercial.

Lance advised his sisters to curb their enthusiasm. After a decade in the NFL, he crossed paths with some quarterbacks who were jerks.

Hurts arrived at the restaurant sans entourage and could have been any customer. At one point, the commercial’s producers requested a back room be cleared for Hurts to use. One problem: The Johnstones’ nephew was in there playing a video game. "No, the kid stays,” Hurts said. The commercial was supposed to only include a brief appearance. Hurts stayed five hours.

"You want to make a cheesesteak?” the Johnstones asked at one point.

Hurts donned an apron and went to work. The only faux pas came when Hurts asked for mozzarella cheese. He might be the quarterback of the Eagles, but the Johnstones don’t use mozzarella on their cheesesteaks. That’s when Hurts was introduced to their Cooper Sharp cheese.

That’s how he came up with his blend.

Hurts combined the seasoned steak, Cooper Sharp, fried onions and mayonnaise on a roll for a creation that went on the menu as "The Jalen Special.” The Johnstones showed him the proper way to grill the steak and flip it on a roll. "Now welcome to Philly!” they told him. He spent time with everyone in the restaurant, listening to their stories and even comparing his Griddy dance with some kids’ attempts.

"If you didn’t know he was the No. 1 quarterback and an Eagle, especially in this city, you wouldn’t know,” Brent Johnstone, the twins’ brother who also helps with the restaurant, said before employing some Philly slang. "He’s just that boul Jalen.”

On the way out, Hurts turned back to the sisters.

"I’m going to support y’all,” he told them.

They didn’t know what he meant. They looked at each other and thought, maybe he’ll come back with the offensive line.

"We’re going to get (Jason) Kelce!” they joked.

Kala and Maya attended training camp last summer and were caught in a crowd of crazed Eagles fans screaming toward the quarterback. Security around Hurts can be tight, but he spotted familiar faces and went right up to them.

"That’s my girls!” Hurts said.

In October of last season, Hurts appeared on ESPN’s "ManningCast” with Peyton and Eli Manning during a Los Angeles Rams–San Francisco 49ers"Monday Night Football” game. They showed the clip of Hurts on the grill making the cheesesteak. Eli Manning asked about the process. Before Hurts answered, he used this national stage to give a plug.

"Shoutout to my people at FoodChasers, the twins at FoodChasers,” Hurts said.

"I know they have a lot of top places in Philly for cheesesteaks, but mine was pretty legit,” Hurts added later on the broadcast.

The Eagles kept winning, and as Hurts’ profile swelled like the midsection of a cheesesteak taste tester, he took FoodChasers along for the ride. Before Philadelphia’s Thursday night game against Hurts’ hometown Houston Texans in November, Amazon wanted an interview with the Eagles quarterback. He agreed — so long as it was at FoodChasers. Hurts sat at the restaurant with reporter Taylor Rooks, eating, subtly offering free promotion for the sisters’ enterprise.

"We didn’t want to overstep our bounds, but we were like, ‘Oh, it’d be dope if he teaches her how to make a cheesesteak,’” Kala said.

They know their quarterback. Hurts made his way to the grill, showing Rooks how The Jalen Special was made.

"You can see in that little moment why he’s great as a quarterback, because he processes it,” Brent said.

"And he’s coachable!” the sisters added together.

In December, Hurts visited a school following the fatal shooting of a 14-year-old at a high school football game. The visit included a catered lunch for the students. When a national publication followed Hurts along for the appearance, the quarterback made sure the reporter mentioned FoodChasers in the article.

Leading up to the NFC Championship Game, a representative of Hurts reached out to the sisters with a message: Keep this quiet because no one wants to jinx anything, but should the Eagles win, Hurts wants to come by for his postgame meal with his family. The sisters prepared for his visit — crawfish, catfish, macaroni and cheese and lamb chops, in addition to their typical menu staples. They weren’t sure it would happen but figured the food could be sold the next day if needed.

The twins attended the game. They celebrated with everyone during the Eagles’ 31-7 blowout. What they didn’t tell anyone in their section was that the star quarterback everyone was cheering for might eat their food after the game. They raced to the subway to make it back to Elkins Park. (It’s about 30-40 minutes when driving, traffic depending, longer on the subway.)

Around 8:30 p.m. ET, Hurts came through the door still wearing his purple suit and championship hat. He celebrated with friends and family with a spread cooked specially for him.

"You didn’t have to do this,” he said.

"Yeah, we kind of did!” Maya said.

 

 

1 hour ago, Utebird said:

I'm not a pro when it comes to OL and DL eval but it looks to me that Davis has a pretty good initial step and move but Dickerson gets underneath his pads and lifts him up neutralizing his power.

Which is no easy feat In itself but dickerson is no chump.

Still like to see Davis play lower.

 

That was the very first thing I saw last year when I watched Davis for the first time. Not sure if it was before the draft or after the Eagles had picked him. "Wow, he looks powerful, but OhmyGod he doesn't bend his knees and he gets upright all the time. Hope that's something he can improve upon."

High praise from Gowton and Kempski for Steen. Saying he looks very good. And has owned Nolan Smith in 1 on 1’s. And Smith has owned Driscoll.

1 hour ago, mattwill said:

From The Athletic
 

Jalen Hurts made a "special” cheesesteak and transformed twin sisters’ family business
 

 

Hurts is just as special off the field as he is on it.

Not sure eagles fans yet realize how lucky they are to have this dude.

Go Birds!

On 8/8/2023 at 10:38 AM, QuinnWR4 said:

What has bugged me all offseason is, that fumble doesn’t happen if Seumalo doesn’t false start the play before that. 

I’m more for cutting through the bs and calling a spade a spade, the play before the false start had the field been in Super Bowl quality conditions and not compromised by Goodell to further insure a close game Gainwell would’ve easily had that first down by planting and driving for that extra half yard needed instead of planting and slipping. That field was planted … sabotage

5 hours ago, Sack that QB said:

High praise from Gowton and Kempski for Steen. Saying he looks very good. And has owned Nolan Smith in 1 on 1’s. And Smith has owned Driscoll.

Steen being good at tackle, and in particular left tackle, would be absolutely huge for this team. It basically saves them a roster spot since you don’t need Kelly anymore, who was nothing but a stopgap anyway. 

This is why training camp stats mean nothing to me. This is a sack?

 

7 hours ago, Sack that QB said:

High praise from Gowton and Kempski for Steen. Saying he looks very good. And has owned Nolan Smith in 1 on 1’s. And Smith has owned Driscoll.

Steen was very good at Alabama, but he would open the gate too often. If Stoutland can fix that, he's a legitimate LT. 

Did we find another Herremans that can play 4 OL spots😁

30 minutes ago, bpac55 said:

This is why training camp stats mean nothing to me. This is a sack?

 

Not saying you should put stock in those stats, but the tweet claiming it is a sack was written by a Giants fan.

10 minutes ago, RLC said:

Steen was very good at Alabama, but he would open the gate too often. If Stoutland can fix that, he's a legitimate LT. 

Did we find another Herremans that can play 4 OL spots😁

He’d be an outlier at LT with his arm length. That’s why he was drafted as a guard. 

8 minutes ago, ManuManu said:

He’d be an outlier at LT with his arm length. That’s why he was drafted as a guard. 

For sure. But he can the backup LT this year. 

29 minutes ago, RLC said:

For sure. But he can the backup LT this year. 

Ahh. I thought you meant as a legit good starter. Yeah, I’m fairly confident he can be a backup LT in the league. 

Looking towards playoff matchups... I really hope the Fish can pass the Giants.  I'd rather matchup with them in the WC Round for 3 games.   And the Giants could potentially win their matchup as the 3rd WC.  Meaning, they'd matchup against the Braves in the divisional round.  Phillies would draw the Dodgers.  I like that matchup better.  And it has a lot of good memories, going back to 2008 and 2009 as well.

35 minutes ago, RLC said:

For sure. But he can the backup LT this year. 

13 minutes ago, ManuManu said:

Ahh. I thought you meant as a legit good starter. Yeah, I’m fairly confused dent he can be a backup LT in the league. 

If the backup OTs are Steen and Driscoll this year, we're going to have to hope for great health for Johnson and Mailata.  Neither one has long enough arms and so spot duty would be the most we'd want to see them play.  Then again, that seems to be where we are now.  I miss the days of having a swing OT that could be counted on to step in and the offense wouldn't miss a beat.  I also miss the days of Tra and Runyan where they just started almost every game year in and year out!  

I can't believe the whining from BLG and Eagles fans over this Barnett-Dickerson scuffle.  A total completely non-issue and story.

1 hour ago, ManuManu said:

Ahh. I thought you meant as a legit good starter. Yeah, I’m fairly confident he can be a backup LT in the league. 

The backup situation will be weird this year.

If Mailata gets hurt, does Steen play LT?
If Kelce/Jurgens get hurt, does it mean it's Kelce-Steen or Jurgens-Steen instead of Andrews-Jurgens?
If Lane misses time, does Dennis Kelly get first up?

Not as clear-cut as last year.

1 minute ago, RLC said:

The backup situation will be weird this year.

Not as clear-cut as last year.

Yup. Losing BOTH Seumalo and Dillard is not a trivial matter. Fortunately there was some foresight there by drafting Jurgens last year, and then drafting Steen this year. But for sure, our depth is kinda shaky. Not saying it won't work out but the confidence level just cannot be that high.

IMO, we have 6 legitimate starting-caliber linemen.

We can easily survive one injury to any spot, as Steen can theoretically play all 4 OL spots.

Once we get 2 injuries to OL at the same time, that's when it gets dicey. 

I never worry about OL that much cause of Stoutland University.  I feel like he can coach up anyone to at least be serviceable.  I don't think we'd ever have a Winston Justice giving up 7 sacks sort of situation with him around.  

It will be interesting to see how the second team oline does against the Ravens versus how they are performing in practice. My gut tells me that not every team has the depth and talent the eagles do on the dline, and that a lineman struggling in one of our practices is not the end of the world. The fact that Dennis Kelly isn't a top 10 guy on our depth chart tells me that there isn't a lot to worry about. 

He seems like the kind of guy who could coach at some point. Although he's got enough going on off the field to keep him busy without it I suppose.

28 minutes ago, RLC said:

IMO, we have 6 legitimate starting-caliber linemen.

We can easily survive one injury to any spot, as Steen can theoretically play all 4 OL spots.

Once we get 2 injuries to OL at the same time, that's when it gets dicey. 

 

Yeah but the same goes for every team in the NFL if they have two starters along the offensive line get injured.

39 minutes ago, mikemack8 said:

I never worry about OL that much cause of Stoutland University.  I feel like he can coach up anyone to at least be serviceable.  I don't think we'd ever have a Winston Justice giving up 7 sacks sort of situation with him around.