Hurts shares brotherly love for Philly star Harper

PHILADELPHIA -- There might not be two bigger stars in Philadelphia right now than Jalen Hurts and Bryce Harper.

Harper just watched Hurts and the Eagles play Sunday in the Super Bowl in Arizona. Hurts caught Harper and the Phillies in the World Series last fall.

Hurts did not miss a beat recently when a reporter asked him to name his favorite Phillies player.

“Bryce Harper,” Hurts said. “I love Bryce Harper. I remember he hit, uh, I don’t know, was it a grand slam? He hit a grand slam out of nowhere. I mean, it was crazy. I had baseball dreams long ago. But, yeah, Bryce Harper. The energy he brings, the passion he plays with, that’s what Philly is about. He embodies all of that. So a lot of respect for him.”

A year ago, Harper recreated a 1987 Phillies media guide cover that featured Mike Schmidt.

Harper has a true appreciation for sports history, which is why he also wanted to recreate a famous poster of Schmidt and Steve Carlton. It might have happened, too, if Zack Wheeler had won the 2021 NL Cy Young Award. (He finished second.)

It might be cool to recreate another iconic Phillies sports photo. Back in 1980, Tug McGraw, Julius Erving, Ron Jaworski and Pete Peeters got together at the Art Museum for a photo for Life Magazine’s year-end issue.

The caption read, “With teams like these, who needs brotherly love?”

How about Harper, Hurts and Joel Embiid in a 2023 version? At the very least, the Phillies need to get Hurts to the ballpark to throw out a ceremonial first pitch. The home opener, perhaps?