This is an opinion column.

Of course they both made big news in the same week, though in very different ways that no one could have or would have predicted when they stood on the same sideline in Tuscaloosa. Three full seasons after their final college games, Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa remain linked in a way that few former teammates are, as competitors and supporters, consummate team players and favorite sons.

Hurts created headlines Monday when he agreed to a contract with the Philadelphia Eagles that will make him the highest-paid player in NFL history by average annual salary at $51 million per year. If it seems like too much, too soon for a third-year player with one runner-up finish in the MVP race and the Super Bowl, no one who knows his story would begrudge him a nickel.

Around here, everyone knows his story and respects the decision that normally would earn a player a place in Alabama infamy. Instead Hurts has become the most beloved former Crimson Tide player to leave the program and play his final college season elsewhere.

In his case, wisely, it was Oklahoma, but Alabama fans still claim him, proudly, and they will fight you if you question their right to do so. Inside and outside this state, that contract simply solidified Hurts’ already legendary status as someone who believes in work, hard work, whether you believe in him or not.

That phrase about work may be part of Auburn’s creed, but it’s a universal truth, and no one in recent memory has personified it quite like Hurts. He lost his starting job at Alabama to Tua but kept working. He was taken as the 53rd pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, 48 spots lower than Tua at No. 5, but kept working.