Earl Campbell meets with finalists D'Onta Foreman, Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes II at Willow Brook Country Club during the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award at Willow Brook Country Club in Tyler Wednesday Jan. 11, 2017. (Sarah A. Miller/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

NFL quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts have long been winners, but on Jan. 11, 2017, they both lost out.

The two met in Super Bowl LVII in 2023 and again in Super Bowl LIX on Sunday night, but in Tyler on that night eight years ago the two stars finished behind the 2016 Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award winner, D’Onta Foreman of the University of Texas.

The three were finalists for the fourth-annual award, along with Oklahoma junior quarterback Baker Mayfield and Oklahoma wide receiver Dede Westbrook.

Foreman was a junior running back for the Longhorns while Mahomes was a junior quarterback at Texas Tech. Hurts was a freshman QB at Alabama.

Mahomes, Hurts and Foreman were all in attendance at the gala at Willow Brook Country Club in Tyler.

The Tyler Rose himself, Earl Campbell the 1977 Heisman Trophy winner from the University of Texas and Pro Football Hall of Famer, was on hand to present the award.

On Sunday, Hurts came out a winner this time as he carried the Eagles to their second Super Bowl championship in franchise history. The Eagles defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22 at Super Bowl LIX in the Caesars Superdome.

Foreman is still active in the NFL as well. The Texas City native is a running back for the Carolina Panthers.

The Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award, announced in 2012 by the Tyler Chamber and SPORTyler, recognizes the top offensive player in Division I football who also exhibits the enduring characteristics that define Earl Campbell: integrity, performance, teamwork, sportsmanship, drive, tenacity and community; specifically tenacity to persist and determination to overcome adversity and injury in pursuit of reaching goals.

In addition, the nominee must meet one or more of the following criteria: born in Texas and/or graduated from a Texas High School and/or played at a Texas-based junior college or four-year DI Texas college.

Voting is by a nationwide panel of sports writers and broadcasters.