Brock Purdy and His Many Connections to the Eagles

Nick Sirianni, Jalen Hurts, and Matt Leo are familiar with the 49ers' QB, who will try to be the first rookie to win an NFC championship after four others have tried and failed

PHILADELPHIA – Brock Purdy is doing things that no other quarterback in recent memory has done, and that is winning their first seven starts as a rookie.

Tom Brady didn’t do it. Nor did Joe Montana.

Now, it could be said it’s not how you start a career, it’s how you finish, and Purdy has a long way to go.

Still, a 7-0 start to a career is a 7-0 start to a career and impressive in its own right.

If the San Francisco 49ers quarterback finds a way to beat the Eagles in Sunday’s NFC Championship at hostile Lincoln Financial Field, he will become the first rookie quarterback to win an NFC championship game.

Four others have tried but failed:

• Tampa’s Shaun King lost to the Rams in 1999, 11-6

• Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger lost to the Patriots, 41-27 in 2004

• Baltimore’s Joe Flacco lost to the Steelers in 2008

• The Jets’ Mark Sanchez lost to the Colts in 2009

There are plenty of connections to Purdy and the Eagles, beginning with head coach Nick Sirianni and running through quarterback Jalen Hurts to Eagles defensive lineman Matt Leo.

Nick Sirianni is close with Iowa State coach Matt Campbell and watched a lot of tape on Purdy when he entered the draft last year, when Purdy stayed on draft boards until becoming the final selection of the draft, the player known as Mr. Irrelevant.

“Matt is obviously a great head coach, but he got a great quarterback in Brock Purdy, and you saw what he did for that program,” said Sirianni. “And all the things he did for them. I checked the score, Purdy had an awesome game, and they won again. That's what I notice with him, that he's a winner.”

Hurts and Purdy squared off in a 2019 college game when the Sooners played Purdy’s Iowa State Cyclones.

Oklahoma got out to a big lead and then held on tight as Purdy led Iowa State back before missing a 2-point conversion at the end to fall, 42-41.

“Obviously two different teams, two different times,” said Hurts on Wednesday. “I remember getting out early, and then we had like five touchdowns in the first half, and then I think it was something like 35-14 at halftime or something like that, and then they ended up coming back.

“Kennedy Brooks (recently signed to an Eagles futures contract) made a really good run (a 48-yard TD), made it 42-something (42-21). It was a good game, glad we won.

“I have a lot of respect for him. He’s always been a really good player, has a lot of moxie. He makes plays. And he’s been doing that since college, so there’s no surprise to him when he was given this opportunity, to see the success he’s having now.”

Then there’s Leo, a college teammate of Purdy.

“I remember when he came in straight out of high school,” said Leo on Wednesday. “He was allowed obviously to be around the team but he already was working out and working out before the semester even started. Seeing that kind of competitive nature in him, I kind of knew what he was going to bring to the team.”

Here’s something else about Purdy: he was 20-4 in home games for Iowa State and 10-13 on the road. This season, he has played just two road games – at Seattle and Las Vegas.

Sunday’s game at the Linc will be a whole other challenge.

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.