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Jalen Hurts took up one armor last summer, went after the grill at FoodChasers Kitchen and attempted to cook his first cheesesteak. And the quarterback, who looked flawless at times this season while leading the Eagles to the Super Bowl, revealed his weaknesses as a short-order cook.

“He wanted to put mozzarella on it,” said Maya Johnston, who owns the Elkins Park restaurant with her twin sister Kala. “We said no. He’s like, ‘But I like mozzarella.’ This is Philly. You can’t.”

He called out sounding hurt, swapped the mozzarella for Cooper’s sharpie, and went to work. It includes cheese steak as well as fried onions and mayo and has become a menu item aptly named “Jalen’s Special”.

Hurts was at the restaurant — which he opened in October 2021 after his sisters stepped down as principals in the Philadelphia school district — to shoot Pepsi commercials and his attempts to make a cheesesteak got an extra wrinkle after he stepped into the kitchen.

As he leaves, Harts pulls the twins aside and tells them that he will continue to support them.

“We thought he was going to come back and buy a cheesesteak,” Maya Johnston said.

He was, rather, more.

Diehard fans

Isaac Johnston took his kids to Eagles training camp every summer, driving from Mount Airy to West Chester, listening to sports talk on the radio the whole way. Johnston was a diehard until his son, Lance Johnston, was drafted by the Raiders in 1996.

The Eagles starred at Germantown High and Temple before playing 11 years in the NFL as a defensive end, going over Johnston twice. His father was enough to transfer the birds. Johnstone’s other son, Brent, reminded his father that 29 other teams refused to draft his son. It was nothing.

“We said, ‘We’re sorry to hear that, but we can’t jump ship,'” Maya Johnston said.

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When Lance Johnston returned to Philly with Minnesota in the 2004 playoffs, the twins rooted for the Eagles and prayed for their brother to do well. In the year Their father, who died in 2012, is still troubled, but even their brother understands.

“He was like, ‘I grew up an Eagles fan, I totally get it,'” Kala Johnston said. “Dad is just being a dad.”

Lance Johnston retired after the 2006 season, and the entire family — even their father — was once again rooting for the Eagles.

‘It changed our lives’

As he leaves, Harts pulls the twins aside and tells them that he will continue to support them. He posted the ad on his Twitter account and tagged the restaurant. He mentioned FoodChasers in October when he was there Monday night football‘s ManningCast and told the NFL a month later Thursday night football The interview was to be filmed at his favorite location on Montgomery Avenue, which is just down the road from the Elkins Park Regional Rail Station.

The quarterback’s signing, the Twins said, brought their small trade a big buzz. But that wasn’t it.

That Pepsi commercial earned them a $10,000 grant. He then connected the twins with Trust Bank, which donated $5,000 to the Sisters Foundation, which donates lunches to Philly students. Louisiana Hot Sauce, which recently released Hearts Sauce, now wants to partner with FoodChasers. Hurts even offers marketing ideas for sisters.

» Read more: Eagles beat writers in Super Bowl LVII matchup with Chiefs Patrick Mahomes

“He’s a good guy,” Kala Johnston said.

Lance Johnston had warned his sisters before the announcement that Harts would probably be a jerk. He’s crossed paths with enough NFL superstars to think Harts will be just like the rest. So Johnston felt vindicated when, while shooting the commercial, a production assistant told the twins he needed a private room.

But when the aide asks the twin nephews to turn off their video games and leave the room for Hearts, the quarterback steps in and tells the boys to stay put. Cons would sit on the couch and hang out with them and play PlayStation until he was ready.

“My brother is like, ‘Okay. It’s not too bad,’ ” Maya Johnston said.

When he returns to shoot the damage Thursday night football In an interview, Lance Johnston said Hurts was growing on him. And when Trust Bank called to tell the twins that the Hearts were letting them choose how to give back to the community, Lance Johnston finally admitted that this superstar was different from what he knew. Hearts agreed to the Twins’ proposal to have lunch with the Roxboro High football team after first baseman Nicholas Elizalde was killed in September.

“He was like, ‘Okay. Okay, I like him. He’s my man,'” Maya Johnston said. “He said, ‘That’s why I love him so much.’ He is at the peak of his career and sharing the stage. That doesn’t happen very often.’ “

The FoodChasers kitchen – open Thursday to Sunday from 10am to 3pm – is thriving with Horts down the middle. “It really changed our lives,” said the Eagles QB.

“Dad, you couldn’t believe what was happening,” Maya Johnston said. “This is unbelievable. It’s a dream we didn’t even have for ourselves. It’s putting us in a room with people we swear we’ll never meet. We got laughed out of the bank when we tried to open it.

Always call people ‘the twins. Call the twins. Call the twins.’ “

Championship party

Hurts’ marketing agent texted the sisters to see if the restaurant would open for Hurts and his family if the Eagles won the NFC championship. Of course they did. They prepared the food early in the morning, took the wide street lane to the links and cheered like crazy for the birds as they were preparing food for the quarterback when they found out they had won.

“We cheer really hard,” Kala Johnston said.

» Read more: Where to find Eagles-themed food ahead of the Super Bowl

They hurried back to Elkins Park and jumped into the kitchen. A few hours after the win, Harts — the reigning NFC champion with his hat on — arrived at FoodChasers with 15 friends and family.

They stayed until midnight as they ate dinner that included ribs, chicken, sweet potatoes, “Jalen’s Pasta,” macaroni and cheese, wings named after the Harts, and of course, Jalen’s Special Cheesesteak.

His sisters said they were crying. The Eagles punched their Super Bowl tickets and the quarterback chose their restaurant — a Black-owned business that opened two years ago and had dreamed of owning for years — for the celebration. They told Horts how grateful they were. Stop them.

“He said, ‘I see what you’re doing with the kids in the community,'” Maya Johnston said. “I really appreciate you. It’s a big dream I want to give up. Now let’s do something big. I’ll give you something and you’ll give it to someone else.”

A day later, they brainstormed ways to meet the QB challenge and pay it forward. Their relationship with Horts inspired them to pursue their dreams. And so began the mistake of putting mozzarella on a cheesesteak.

“That’s the only flaw we have with Jalen and we don’t even think about that flaw,” Kala Johnston said. He can’t always have a perfect game.

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