It doesn’t seem like it was very long ago that Kyler Murray was dominating the college football world at Oklahoma, but he has now been with the Arizona Cardinals for six seasons. Murray was the first overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft after winning the Heisman, and he has spent his entire career with the Cardinals. Before he was drafted, he worked out for multiple teams, and one of them was with Jon Gruden and the Las Vegas Raiders.
Former Raiders GM Mike Mayock recently appeared on the Rich Eisen Show, and he discussed that workout with Kyler Murray. The Raiders wanted to keep things secretive, but Jon Gruden might’ve blown the cover.
“When I was with the Raiders we did a couple clandestine workouts my first year there with Kyler Murray and a couple of other guys,” Mike Mayock said. “After we worked out Kyler Murray, we were trying to keep it quiet. Coach Gruden went into the shop at the airport on the way in and he bought all these Oakland Athletic hats because that’s who Kyler Murray was owned by in baseball and he got Kyler to sign all the hats. We’re wearing them out of the workout like we’re really clandestine on the way to the airport autographed by Kyler Murray.”
Mayock went on to discuss some other aspects of the workout that really highlight Gruden’s character. Murray didn’t even get to enjoy his peace in his hotel because of Gruden.
“Jon was great in those situations,” Mayock continued. “He had him up in the hotel room, we met him in his hotel room and Jon had him barking out signals in the Marriott, in his hotel room. And yelling at the kid for not being loud enough, and now he’s barking, and Jon would have some footballs that had laces, other footballs didn’t have laces, and he wouldn’t tell the kid which one. He’d flip it to him and expect him to get the ball out of his hands quickly, with or without the laces.”
It sounds like Gruden had a lot of fun working with Murray during that workout, but there was never a chance for the Raiders to draft the young star. Murray was the first player off the board as he went to the Cardinals, and he is building a successful career in Arizona.
Jon Gruden’s coaching career has since come to an end, and he now works for Barstool Sports. Kyler Murray is getting ready to begin his seventh season with the Cardinals.
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