Green pompoms waved and chants of “QB1” rang out Monday in front of Clara Barton School, where first graders joined classmates from two neighboring schools to show support for an Eagles quarterback who has given back to their classrooms. Across town at Northeast High School, students went even bigger, arranging themselves in formation to spell out the letters “QB1” on their football field.
The outpouring followed news that Jalen Hurts had been diagnosed with blood clots. CBS News Philadelphia covered the students’ show of support. Students gathered in front of Clara Barton School waving green pompoms and chanting “QB1” and “We love Jalen Hurts!” according to the Inquirer. The first graders joined students from Feltonville Intermediate and Feltonville School of Arts and Sciences to pass along handmade notes to Eagles mascot Swoop, per a report from PhillyVoice.
A Thank-You Rooted in HVAC Donations
The affection isn't random. Several of the participating schools have directly benefited from Hurts' charitable giving. At Northeast High School, the Jalen Hurts Foundation finalized a $600,000 donation to upgrade the school's aging HVAC system — the largest contribution from the charity to date, PhillyVoice reports. That gift is part of a broader pattern: the Inquirer notes that one of the participating schools was among 10 that received air-conditioning units in 2024 thanks to a $200,000 donation from Hurts through his foundation's “Keep It Cool” initiative.
Hurts' foundation's “Keep It Cool” initiative is one example of his charitable giving to schools. The students' pep rallies and cards, then, read as a return gesture from schools that have felt the quarterback's generosity firsthand.
At Northeast High, the show of support extended into the stands. Students there altered their typical Vikings cheers to chants of “Go, Jalen, go,” “Get better,” and “Recover,” per the PhillyVoice account. Administrators at other schools that had received donations from Hurts also held their own pep rallies and wrote get-well-soon cards, the outlet reported, and additional events wishing Hurts well are planned across the district, according to Yahoo Sports.
What the Eagles Have Said About His Condition
Reports on the severity of Hurts' diagnosis have varied slightly in their framing. Hurts will miss the rest of the season, and the Eagles said further testing and monitoring upgraded his diagnosis to deep vein thrombosis as well as bilateral pulmonary emboli, according to 6abc.
Despite the seriousness of the diagnosis, the team struck a reassuring tone. 6abc reported that the Eagles said Hurts is currently stable and has no significant functional limitations. Treatment for the blood clots is expected to take at least three months, the station reported, and the organization said Jalen's prognosis is very good, and they expect a full recovery.
Support Spreading Beyond Philadelphia
The well-wishing hasn't stayed confined to the city. In Channelview, Texas, students sent get-well cards to Hurts, and the school district declared Monday “Jalen Hurts Day,” the Inquirer reported. Closer to home, people have used chalk to write get-well-soon messages onto a mural of Hurts in Fairmount, PhillyVoice noted.
The gestures have even reached Hurts' own family. Some of his mother Pamela Hurts' students wrote cards of support for her and her son following the diagnosis, according to a report from Bleacher Report. Between the classroom tributes, the football-field formation, and the chalk-covered mural, the response across Philadelphia schools has become a citywide expression of hope for a player whose foundation has donated to some of the participating schools.
