Pro Football Hall Of Fame Welcomes Kyler Murray (Sort Of)

The Pro Football Hall of Fame every year inducts the greats of the game into its hallowed halls and on Wednesday that process begins for 2025 when the nominees for the 2025 Class are announced. But Kyler Murray has beaten all those nominees into the Hall already.

Sort of.

Courtesy: Arizona Cardinals

Murray Stuff In Hall Of Fame

The Hall this week is putting on display a football used by Murray and the Arizona Cardinals in Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams – a game the Cardinals dominated, 41-10.

Murray signed the football and the Cards sent the quarterback’s jersey to the Hall of Fame to put on display.

The Hall sometimes collects artifacts of pro football history to place on display in Canton, Ohio and Murray’s stuff has made the cut. So welcome to the Hall of Fame, Kyler Murray.

And that leads to the question, why is the Murray’s gear now in the Hall of Fame? Well, Murray had a pretty terrific game on Sunday.

You might say a perfect game.

Kyzir White of the Arizona Cardinals celebrates with head coach Jonathan Gannon following a win against the Dallas Cowboys at State Farm Stadium on September 24, 2023 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Mike Christy/Getty Images)

Gannon: Murray ‘Lights Out’

“He was lights out,” Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon said. “He’s a premium player for a reason. You take him against anybody. That’s how I feel. That’s what he did.”

What Murray did was deliver a game in which his quarterback rating finished at 158.3. That, by the way, is a perfect QB rating.

Murray completed 17-of-21 pass attempts (an 81 percent completion rate) for 266 yards, with 3 TDs and no interceptions. 

Murray also rushed for 59 yards on five carries, but that wasn’t it. That was merely an add on.

The perfect rating is the thing. It marks only the second time in Cardinals franchise history a quarterback finished a game with a 158.3 rating.

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – St. Louis Cardinals quarterback Jim Hart (17) in action against the Philadelphia Eagles at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals defeated the Eagles 24-14 on Sept. 28, 1980. Photo: Herb Weitman-USA TODAY Sports

Murray Performance For Ages

Jim Hart didn’t do it.

Neil Lomax didn’t do it.

Carson Palmer didn’t do it.

Murray joined actual Hall of Famer Kurt Warner in the perfect rating club. 

This is the second time Murray artifacts grace the Hall of Fame. In 2022, he became the first player in NFL history to run for a touchdown, pass for a touchdown, convert a two-point conversion with a run and complete a two-point conversion pass.

And what does all this mean beyond it being a nice honor?

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (1) throws a pass against the Los Angeles Rams on Sept. 15, 2024 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. Photo: USA Today/Arizona Republic

Murray Among NFL Leaders

It means Murray is enjoying a good start to the 2024 season. Yes, the player who missed significant parts of the last two seasons because of a knee injury, is playing like he’s good as new.

Maybe better than new.

Murray is fourth in the NFL with a 122.9 passer rating. He’s tied for second in the NFL with 4 TD passes and is the only one among those top four QBs without an interception.

So we’re well past last year’s stories about trading Murray before his return from that knee injury.

We’re beyond the dynamics of his relationship with previous coach Kliff Kingsbury.

And we are way, way past the criticism leveled at Murray for the infamous homework clause in his original contract extension of 2022.

We can look up and it’s 2024. And Kyler Murray is suddenly a very good quarterback. 

At least the Pro Football Hall of Fame thinks so.