Cardinals’ Kyler Murray announces ‘Call of Duty’ partnership, evoking memories of brief contract study clause

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray is balling out right now.

He’s fresh off powering the Cardinals all the way back from a 23-10 halftime deficit at the 2023 NFC champion San Francisco 49ers for a 24-23 win in Week 5 that improved Arizona’s 2024 record to 2-3. Murray accounted for 278 total yards (195 passing on 19 of 30 attempts and 83 rushing on seven attempts) and two touchdowns (a two-yard passing score and a 50-yard rushing score) in the victory. That improved his expected points added (EPA) per play figure to the eighth-best in the NFL among qualified quarterback. Simply put, Murray is playing like a top-10 quarterback. 

That’s why Monday couldn’t have been a better time for him to announce his partnership with the first-person shooter video game franchise “Call of Duty.’ Murray infamously once had an independent study clause in the five-year, $230.5 million he inked with Arizona in 2022. The clause mandated that he conduct a minimum of four hours of independent football game study per week, inferring that Murray was failing to do something most NFL starting quarterbacks do unprompted in order to prepare for their upcoming games. Murry then called an impromptu press conference to rip into the critique of his work ethic that was going on at the time. Arizona removed the clause in his contract hours prior to Murray’s presser. 

“I feel it’s necessary (to talk), with what’s going on regarding me, and the things that have been said about me,” Murray told reporters in 2022. “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 passion and not take this serious, is almost disrespectful, and it’s almost a joke.”  

Back in 2021, Sports Illustrated reported that Murray joined the gaming group FaZe Clan, and in a separate 2021 feature with the The New York Times, the quarterback was quoted as saying the following: “I’m not one of those guys that’s going to sit there and kill myself watching film. 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.”

Kyler Murray 2024 season

* Among 26 QBs with 10 or more rushes this season

Murray pulled a video game-like move on Sunday at San Francisco, throwing up the peace sign five yards into what turned into his 50-yard touchdown run that gave the Cardinals an early 7-0 lead. 

As long as those types of plays continue happening on the football field, it’s likely the Cardinals won’t pay any mind to what Murray is doing on the virtual battlefield in his free time.