It’s time: The Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles are facing off in the 2023 Super Bowl for the championship Vince Lombardi trophy. While fans deal with the anticipation of seeing if their team will ultimately win, all eyes have been zeroing in on one of the most unsuspecting stars taking the field this Sunday night — Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts. The 24-year-old Houston native has led the Philadelphia Eagles through a stellar 16-3 season, taking them back to the Super Bowl since 2017 when they took the win home.
But it’s not just the “Will he? Won’t he?” question that has everyone talking about Jalen. His rare appearance with girlfriend Bryonna “Bry” Riverra Burrows, 26, after the NFC Championship game on January 29 also has the internet bursting with questions. The couple, who is extremely private, don’t share much about their relationship, but here’s what we do know about Jalen and Bry.
Although it’s never been officially confirmed, the two seem to have met at the University of Alabama when they were both students starting around 2015, according to People. The couple began dating in 2016 and have been on and off since, per New York Post. At the time, Jalen was the starting quarterback for Alabama until he was benched his junior year and replaced by Tua Tagovailoa, who is currently the quarterback for the Miami Dolphins.
He went on to graduate from Alabama in December 2018 with a degree in public relations and minor in communication studies. He then started a master’s in human relations at the University of Oklahoma in 2019 where he also played football. However, there’s no record of him graduating yet.
Meanwhile, according to Bry’s LinkedIn, she earned a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and political science in 2017, and then went on to earn her MBA at Alabama while Jalen was at Oklahoma. During her time at Alabama, she was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, several honor societies, served as the MBA class vice president and was a candidate for homecoming queen, Today reported.
When Jalen got drafted as the 53rd pick by the Eagles in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft, Bry moved to Texas and joined IBM, where she has worked since June 2019. She is currently an Artificial Intelligence Partner based out of Dallas, a role she has been in for a little over a year. According to People, in the off-season, Jalen often resides at his family’s home in Houston, a mere 240 miles away from where Bry lives.
Throughout these life changes, the duo has tried their best to remain under the radar. Jalen rarely posts anything that isn’t about football or his philanthropic efforts, and Bry’s Instagram is set to private. It wasn’t until the Eagles’ recent win at the NFC Championship that fans officially got confirmation that Jalen was even dating someone. After securing his first Super Bowl spot, he walked hand-in-hand across Lincoln Finacial Field with Bry, who wore large black sunglasses, a heavy beige coat over a matching jacket, scarf, black pants and boots.
Jalen, who is an anomaly for having an all-female management team in the world of professional football, has credited the strong female support system around him for helping him achieve success — and it’s clear that Bry is unofficially a part of that. “I have a team of straight hustlers,” he told Sports Illustrated last October. “And that’s how I am on the field and off the field.”
He went on to say: “I admire anyone who puts their head down and works for what they want. And I know women who do that daily, but they don’t get the same praise as men — they don’t get the praise that they deserve … I see it all the time. And they deserve their flowers too.” We’re sure just as Jalen champions his personal team, Bry will be giving the energy right back and cheering him on in Arizona during Super Bowl LVII.