In the NFL, you often hear plenty of feel-good stories about players that come from rags to riches, rising from poverty to make it in the league and bring their families to a place of prosperity. You also will hear of stories like that of J.J. Watt. He decided to bet on himself, opting from playing at Central Michigan to walking on at Wisconsin, delivering pizzas for a local Pizza Hut to pay for tuition before earning a full scholarship with the Badgers.
And then you have newly signed Pittsburgh Steelers LB Tyler Murray who was signed to the team’s practice squad earlier today. Murray was an undrafted free agent coming out of Memphis this spring, signing with the Cincinnati Bengals but was later released prior to the start of the season. Murray had been out of the league since then, and reportedly picked up a job working for Amazon while waiting for another opportunity to get back into the league.
That opportunity came yesterday, according to a tweet from Chris Adamski of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Murray getting a call while he was working his Amazon shift that Pittsburgh wanted to bring him in for a workout. The workout went well enough for Marry to get signed to the team’s practice squad, meaning that his job at Amazon will have to get put on hold as he attempts to make his NFL dreams come true.
Murray bounced around a lot during his time in college, spending time at Troy, Charlotte and Memphis. Murray started all 13 games for the Tigers last season, recording 67 tackles, six tackles for loss, two interceptions, three quarterback hurries and two pass breakups. Prior to his time at Memphis, Murray was a two-year starter for Charlotte and a team captain in 2021. In his two seasons in Charlotte, Murray recorded 128 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, two interceptions, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and five quarterback hurries, earning third-team All-Conference USA honors. Murray also saw extensive time as a starter at Troy prior to transferring in 2020, recording 64 tackles, eight tackles for loss, 3.0 sacks, four interceptions, three forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries, and five pass breakups.
Murray finds himself in great position to make a name for himself in the midst of Pittsburgh’s adversity as the Steelers look to overcome losing LBs Cole Holcomb and Kwon Alexander for the season. Murray finds himself alongside fellow practice squad linebackers Tariq Carpenter and Mykal Walker, who look to help round out the depth in the room behind Elandon Roberts and Mark Robinson, likely seeing some play time to complement the incumbents’ downhill play style. Murray likely won’t be promoted from the practice squad before Walker and Carpenter as he is new to the team. But he now has the opportunity to quickly pick up Pittsburgh’s defense and showcase his ability in practice, hopefully putting himself in position to get elevated down the road if he does enough to impress the coaching staff.
