Arizona Cardinals' homework clause for Kyler Murray creates unnecessary story of NFL summer
BOSTON -- Think about this one: In all of your life, from birth until this exact moment, how many times have the Arizona Cardinals really grasped your consciousness?
How often have the goings-on of the American football team in the desert captured your attention? Put a little more bluntly: Have you ever given a single speckle of dog dung about the Arizona Cardinals?
Sure, there was that Super Bowl run in 2008, a brief foray into our collective consciousness. That was a fun night.
Over the years, you might have had Larry Fitzgerald, Carson Palmer, Kurt Warner or David Johnson on your fantasy team.
Rod Tidwell had a good run, though that was technically fictional.
Fans of a certain age might have a memory or two of the St. Louis Cardinals. Fans of an even more certain age may have a foggy memory of the 1947 Chicago Cardinals winning an NFL championship. But that's hardly relevant.
The point is, in America's most relevant sports league, the Cardinals have a case as being its most irrelevant franchise. (The Jaguars, Texans and Falcons may have something to say about that, though.) The reasons for that are plentiful, but we all caught a glimpse behind the curtain this week with the embarrassment that was the Kyler Murray homework clause.
The team tried to put an end to the bad week by removing the clause -- which required four hours of "independent study" from their franchise quarterback every week -- from Murray's contract on Thursday. By then, though, the damage of such an inclusion was done.
The issues arose on Monday, when reporters caught wind of the clause in Murray's new five-year, $230.5 million contract extension. It stated that Murray must "complete at least four (4) hours of independent study (as defined below) each week (excluding any bye week) during each playing season (as defined below) during the term of the contract."
It stood out for two reasons.
For one, an NFL quarterback spending four (4) hours watching film of the opponent feels like a bare minimum requirement of the job.
For two, putting a bare minimum requirement in writing like that ... would seem to indicate that it wasn't getting done.
Murray's own comments from last season would seemingly confirm those suspicions.
"I think I was blessed with the cognitive skills to just go out there and just see it before it happens. I'm not one of those guys that's going to sit there and kill myself watching film," Murray said in a New York Times feature story. "I don't sit there for 24 hours and break down this team and that team and watch every game because, in my head, I see so much."
Murray started last season with a 73.5 percent completion rate, a 9.0 average yards per attempt, 17 touchdowns, five interceptions, and a 116.8 rating as the Cardinals opened the year going 7-0. Surely, he felt as though he was seeing plenty before it happened.
Then, he threw no touchdowns and two picks in a nationally televised loss to the Packers. Then he missed three games with an ankle injury. His passer rating dropped to 86.5 over his final seven games of the year. The Cardinals went 2-5 in those games.
Then came the playoff disaster. Murray was 19-for-34 (55.9 percent) for 137 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions in a blowout loss in L.A. against the Rams. Even those numbers were a bit inflated, with seven completions and 64 passing yards coming in the fourth quarter, after the Cardinals trailed by 23 points. That deficit was in large part due to ... this:
The Cardinals fell behind 28-0 early in the third quarter. Their offense had gained 30 yards in the entire first half. It was ... an unprofessional showing.
What happened after that was likewise a bit unprofessional, with Murray unfollowing the Cardinals on Twitter (eye roll) and scrubbing any and all images involving the Cardinals from his Instagram page (supreme eye roll). But the team and the player figured their stuff out, and they agreed to the mega contract. All was well.
The clause itself didn't seem to rankle Murray all that much, as evidenced by the fact that he signed it. The hubbub -- or hullabaloo, if you will -- that ensued once that clause became public certainly bothered him, though, as he stepped to the podium Thursday to try to dispel some of the assumptions that had been made about his study habits behind the scenes.
"I'm talking today because I feel it's necessary with what's going on as far as regarding me and the things that are being said about me. It's almost, you know, to think that I can accomplish everything that I've accomplished in my career and not be a student of the game and not have that passion and not take this serious, is almost ... it's disrespectful. And it's almost a joke," Murray said Thursday. "To me, I'm flattered, I'm honestly flattered that y'all think at my size I can go out there and not prepare for the game and not take it serious. It's disrespectful I feel like to my peers, to all the great athletes and great players that are in this league. This game's too hard. To play the position that I play, in this league, it's too hard. And I don't do this often, I don't talk about myself, but today I felt like I have to."
Murray then announced that he would be listing his own accolades, which included his record as a starting quarterback in high school, his Heisman Trophy, his draft status in both the NFL (No. 1 overall) and MLB (No. 9), his Offensive Rookie of the Year Award, and his two Pro Bowls.
"I refuse to let my work ethic, my preparation be in question," he said. "I've put in an incomprehensible amount of time and blood, sweat and tears, and work into what I do, whether it's football or baseball. People can't even comprehend the amount of time that it takes to do two sports at a high level in college, let alone be the first person to do it ever at my size. Like I said, this is funny. But to those of you out there that believe that I'd be standing here today in front of y'all without having a work ethic and without preparing, I'm honored that you think that. But it doesn't exist. It's not possible. So that's all I have on that."
Murray also stated: "Of course I watch film by myself. That's a given. That doesn't even need to be said."
Clearly, the team felt it did. That was, of course, until the world found out about it. Then the requirement was removed. All good.
The protest from Murray was a bit much. But what else could he have really done? The team put him in a tough spot this week, and thankfully he opted to speak on the matter instead of playing passive-aggressive social media games this time.
Ultimately, the amount of independent film study Murray has or has not done in his career can't be quantified. How much he does going forward won't be tabulated, either. Not anymore, anyway. He'll be judged going forward on how well or how poorly he performs on Sundays. The heft of that $230 million contract will create a demand where excellence will be demanded. His MLB draft spot and his Heisman Trophy will have no bearing on his future performance.
Yet now, even if one may believe that the clause story line has been blown out of proportion, the situation will not be forgotten. Fairly or unfairly, the Great Film Study Narrative of Summer 2022 will be at the front of viewers' minds whenever Murray makes a mistake or a bad play on the field -- and the nature of the position is such that many mistakes will surely be made.
That's in part because of Murray's own public comments last year and, presumably, a spotty record in the team facility.
It's in part due to the team placing that clause in Murray's contract, in writing, instead of fully trusting their franchise quarterback. And it's in part due to that clause becoming public knowledge.
Ultimately, Murray has a chance to make the whole matter a non-story with his play. The team, however, can't ever put that genie back in the bottle.
On the plus side, it got us all thinking and temporarily caring about the Arizona Cardinals ... albeit not in the way the franchise might have wanted.
You can email Michael Hurley or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.
