Choate Alum and Times Columnist Harry Hurt ’68: ‘Jet for a Day’
By Charles Lebovitz ‘10
News Staff Reporter
Harry Hurt III ‘68, Choate News sports editor and New York Times columnist, added “Paper Jet” to his list of titles recently when he quarterbacked for the New York Jets. During the Jets’ bye week, Hurt took three snaps under center for the Jets during one of the team’s scrimmages. He led the offense on one running play and two passing plays.
Hurt, in earning the title “Paper Jet”, was not the first newspaper columnist to ever play for a professional football team and then write about it. The most famous writer, before Hurt, was the late George Plimpton, who was a friend of Harry Hurt’s. Plimpton took five snaps for the Detroit Lions in an intra-squad game. Plimpton then went on to publish his adventure in a book in 1965 called “Paper Lion” which became a best seller.
Hurt’s football career started at Choate Rosemary Hall, in a football tournament. He then led the Prescott Knight house team to the semifinals.
His pro football career was just as successful as his Choate career. In his three snaps for the Jets, Hurt actually got a first down, which is equivalent to ten yards. This was much better that the trailblazing Plimpton who fumbled multiple times for a loss of 29 yards. On his first play, Hurt handed the ball off to rookie Jets running back Leon Washington. Hurt then proceeded to throw an incomplete pass. The closest person to the pass was a linebacker. On his last play, Hurt threw a strike to wide receiver Justin McCareins for the first down. With a passing percentage of 50%, Hurt has a better completion rate than Oakland Raiders quarterback Andre Walters and is tied with Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young.
Although Hurt played football at Choate, his main sport was golf. Hurt was a “four year letter man” at Choate, and was captain of the team for two years. Hurt has not visited Choate since the early 70’s. The only teacher he can recall that still teaches at Choate is Mr. Yankus, a long-time English teacher. Hurt said his dream job was to be a lawyer. He remarked that he “probably should have stayed in college to go to law school.”
Hurt could only describe his quarterbacking experience as “surreal”. When asked what his favorite part of the experience was, Hurt said “running the plays over center” ranked supreme among his football moments. To Hurt, playing in the game “was like being in a dream.”
Reactions on campus to Hurt’s exploits as a “Paper Jet” were positive. All who were asked definitely would have liked to quarterback for the Jets. One student fantasized, “going to a game as a spectator, then during the game jumping onto the field, replacing the quarterback and throwing a completed pass for the winning touchdown.”
Hurt’s career might not be over. He is open to playing for the Giants if they ask. Right now though, Hurt is a Jets fan. Quoting the musical “West Side Story”, Hurt says “When you’re a Jet. You’re a Jet all the way.” “At least,” he says, “until someone offers me a better salary.”
