At halftime of the 2017 College Football Playoff title game between Alabama and Georgia, Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban made a tough decision, benching starting QB Jalen Hurts for backup Tua Tagovailoa.

The rest, as they say, is history. Tagovailoa led the Tide to a comeback win, claiming a national championship for Alabama. Hurts eventually spent the 2018 season as Tagovailoa’s backup before finishing his career at Oklahoma.

In an “Outside the Lines” segment on ESPN, Hurts relived that pivotal moment:

“I’m a competitor and I would’ve loved to come back and bring the team back like I’d done many times before,” Hurts said. “But it happened the way it did and we were national champions at the end of it. Put emotions to the side. I’m not a robot, but you (grow) out of yourself and into the team.

“Me being emotional, what good would that have done to the guys around me? The joy of being able to hold up a national championship trophy and achieve that goal as a team regardless of how I got there, it’s a joyful moment.”

That’s a classy thing for Hurts to say, and ever since that moment following the 2017 season, he’s shown that he truly means what he says. In fact, he even added that he stayed in touch with Tagovailoa this past season.

Hurts is an easy guy to root for.