This is an opinion column.

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The NFL Draft is this weekend, which means it’s time to pull out the receipts and slap them on the table of shame.

From the City of Brotherly Love, it’s time to collect a debt, and from ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, and maybe even Nick Saban, too.

What were y’all thinking?

With Saban, at least there was an excuse. He had Tua Tagovailoa at Alabama, of course, and no one could deny Tua’s irresistible potential. But Philly deserves no clemency for its contempt and lack of faith in quarterback Jalen Hurts.

You, dummies.

You, dopes.

Hurts was named one of the world’s 100 most influential people in 2025 by Time Magazine. Philly didn’t want him.

No city has ever deserved a championship less than Philadelphia in 2025. Maybe Houston when Michael Jordan went to play baseball. Maybe Cincinnati in 1919 when the Chicago Black Sox threw the World Series. Maybe Moscow in 1972 after the Soviets won their dubious Olympic basketball gold.

Sometimes cosmic forces align for a championship team and its city. Sometimes it truly feels like providence plays a role. With the Eagles, the team’s quarterback won to spite the fanbase.

Five years ago this week, the Philadelphia Eagles drafted Hurts in the second round. Anyone with a heart was happy for Hurts. In Philly, though, the pick was immediately condemned. Critics and fans hated it. Talking head Stephen A. led the way. Radio donkeys had content for weeks.

The uproar was immediate and then mutated into a 700-pound cheesesteak of disdain.

Eagles general manager Howie Roseman was ridiculed for months.

“I think the magnitude of the reaction was a little surprising to us, and I think that just the conversation around it for weeks and months to come kind of surprised us a little bit,” Eagles general manager Howie Roseman said back in 2023. “I’m not saying we would not have chosen (Hurts) if we had known that. We were just surprised by how much life it took on.”

Draft week is here and Hurts’ story is a fun reminder. First, there’s the obvious. Nothing outside of SEC Media Days receives more unnecessary attention than the NFL Draft.

ESPN’s exhaustive programming fills dead hours in the spring. As sports fan, we’re grateful for the round-the-clock coverage of how, for example, the Seahawks might use their fifth-round picks, but let’s be honest about the entire production. It’s mostly a fashion show for dudes.

Never forget. There were people who said Hurts shouldn’t have been drafted at all.

I’ll remind myself of that when Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe comes off the board earlier than expected. Many projections have him going on Day 2, but I’m hoping for a first-round splash for Mr. Roll Tide.

Milroe struggled at times for Alabama but the potential cannot be denied. Some think he’s going to be a better running quarterback in the NFL than Lamar Jackson.

Think it’s ridiculous to pick Milroe in the first round? How many “experts” had former Oregon and Auburn quarterback Bo Nix going 12th overall to the Denver Broncos in 2024?

Quarterback is the toughest position to forecast in sports. Play it safe or take a risk? There’s a reason why Saban couldn’t make it in the NFL. His team picked the wrong quarterback when he was coaching the Miami Dolphins.

Want good TV? Disney Inc. will dedicate hundreds of hours to its draft coverage. Most of it will be put me to sleep. I love listening to Saban, though. He’ll once again be featured as a draft analyst on ABC. Saban is great on camera, but there’s a question he’d probably like to avoid.

This being the five-year anniversary of the 2020 NFL Draft, someone should ask Alabama’s former coach if he would have picked Hurts to be the quarterback of his NFL team. Saban chose Tua over Jalen Hurts at Alabama. No one will ever fault the GOAT for that decision. Looking back, though, maybe it was the wrong choice.

But would Alabama have two more national championships if Saban believed in Hurts the way the Eagles believed in Hurts?

For his fourth season of college football, Hurts had to wave so long to the Crimson Tide. In his fifth year with Philadelphia, Hurts cemented his name as a legend.

He’s Philly’s real-life Rocky, and the city didn’t want him on the day that he was drafted.

BE HEARD

Got a question for Joe? Want to get something off your chest? Send Joe an email about what’s on your mind. Let your voice be heard. Ask him anything.

Joseph Goodman is the lead sports columnist for the Alabama Media Group, and author of the book “We Want Bama: A Season of Hope and the Making of Nick Saban’s Ultimate Team.”