Kyler Murray of the NFL Arizona Cardinals signed a $230.5 million contract that brings him through the 2028 season. He was about to start the last year of his contract, but his club clearly wants him to know of their commitment to him. Murray turned 25 yesterday (Happy Birthday, Kyler!) and stated after his team’s playoff loss to eventual Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams, “I’m going to continue to grow and get better.”
This young man (yes, he is still quite young) knows that he must get better and that being an NFL quarterback is no longer just a fun activity, is nothing like college ball, and that he has more than just his own future riding on his shoulders. His QB rating has gone up each of his three seasons, which is something few other QB’s have been able to say about their first three years. He clearly deserves this new contract, for his first three years rank quite high up among the greatest first three years ever (not really close to Mahomes, Rodgers, or Marino, but clearly better than Manning, Elway, Brady, and Brees).
Yet, what gets almost all of the press is one addendum in the contract that seeks to dictate how Murray spends four hours per week during the season. He must spend four hours each week studying for the upcoming game, without other distractions like internet surfing, gaming, or video-watching. That’s right, FOUR (4) HOURS-A-WEEK, for about 26-30 weeks, depending on how long the team’s season is. Why so much press? Well, initially because it’s odd, not normal for a contract of this magnitude to have such a clause in it. Then, once talk shows, newspapers, and know-it-all sports “insiders” got ahold of it, they were questioning why in the world Murray would agree to such a stipulation and why the Cardinals felt like they needed this type of “babysitting” for their star player. These conversations morphed into such ridiculous theories which gave Murray a poor work ethic and even accused the Cardinal’s organization as racist.
At the risk of being simplistic and for the love of keeping things out of the headlines that shouldn’t be there, allow me to propose another thought here: Kyler Murray wants to get better and is willing to take the advice of his employer regarding one way that he can get better.
What if it is as simple as that? Well, first, that’s not really headline grabbing, so we choose not to go down that road. Secondly, though, very few of us want to admit that we have lots to learn, and even fewer of us will go to the length of putting things in place to keep us learning. Proverbs 30:2 (a book of some of the wisest sayings ever penned) is a self-declaration that each man, woman, and child should learn to utter for the rest of their days: “I am more stupid than any other person, and I lack a human’s ability to understand.”
From this one verse, there are two things we can learn from God and human history:
1. We are not the sharpest tool in the shed. You will grow more and learn more when you are of the mindset that most people are smarter than you.
2. We are limited in our capacity to understand. You are not God, there is only one God, and the one God has full understanding that He’s willing to guide us with.
Though I’m sure it’s out there, I hadn’t located any writers or sports talkers that supported Kyler Murray’s willingness to be held accountable for something that he needs to get better at. How about a shout out to his employer (the Arizona Cardinals) for having a wholistic approach to protecting their investment by making sure that this young man develops this important part of his job (and future jobs, as well, whenever he’s done playing football). Oh, and let’s add a third thing that God teaches us and that, if we’re honest, we know to be true: We need each other in so many ways.
So, find an employer that cares about you as a person then be loyal to that employer to the point that you willingly admit your weaknesses and develop your strengths for their benefit. This type of humble approach to life does EVERYBODY good, including yourself.
UPDATE: The Cardinals chose to take the clause out in order for it not to be a distraction. It's funny how somebody else's brief obsession with what they THINK they know (the press) can dictate how an individual or organization runs their own stuff after giving it alot of thought.
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