Football towns forge deep relationships with their quarterbacks. Most of them become obsessed and highly toxic.
Few can match the Kyler Murray experience in Arizona.
Our NFL quarterback has been gifted with mid-level greatness. He was exalted as a schoolboy phenom and hailed as one of the greatest high school athletes in American history. He is a diminutive athlete with a Texas-sized legend, idolized for nearly a decade during his most impressionable and formative years.
Now time is running out on Murray, the only player ever drafted in the top 10 picks of the NFL and MLB draft.
That includes his time in Arizona, his quest for NFL greatness and the opportunity to become a real icon, the football version of Steph Curry, inspiring a new generation of undersized quarterbacks to dream well beyond the tape measure.
Entering Year 7, what Murray needs most is a playoff victory.
The NFC West is full of asterisks and question marks. Murray must ascend above Sam Darnold, Brock Purdy, and a compromised Matthew Stafford. He must suppress any uprising in San Francisco, a team with an astonishingly easy schedule, and the team most likely to go worst-to-first in the NFL.
If the Cardinals can win the division, they will capture the most gluttonous reward in sports.
Per NFL rules, all division winners host a playoff game, regardless of their overall record. In 2010, the 7-9 Seahawks used a raucous home-field advantage to eliminate an 11-win team from New Orleans. Winning the division could lead to an extended playoff run in Arizona, exactly what Murray needs to fill the hole in his resume.
When asked if the 2025 Cardinals were capable of making the playoffs, Murray refused to bite:
“One day at a time,” he said.
Murray’s final hurdle is obvious.
In the NFL, defenses tell a quarterback what to do. Murray must improve his decision-making ability in the pocket, especially when the fur is flying. He needs to play fast and slow down. He needs to make the right reads and the right throws at the right time. He needs to be great at being boring, which is the antithesis of the Kyler Murray experience.
Staying in the moment was a big theme of Murray’s press conference on Wednesday.
He said he feels no pressure, no anxiety and no stress over what he might face in New Orleans on Sunday. He repeatedly spoke of being “where your feet are.” While he still looks impossibly young for an NFL quarterback with six years of hard living, Murray seems as relaxed and confident as one might hope, especially with his current relationship with Marvin Harrison Jr.
“Honestly, night and day from when we drafted him until now,” Murray said. “I love where we’re at. Now, it’s just time to go execute.”
Since Day 1, the Cardinals’ new regime has invested heavily in Murray. They’ve attended a statue ceremony in Oklahoma, built up the trenches, drafted a big-name wide receiver and prioritized his comfort zone at every turn.
Now is the time that Murray flips the script and spins a new legend. Or time for all of us to face the cold, hard truth.
Reach Bickley at dbickley@arizonasports.com. Listen to Bickley & Marotta weekdays from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. on 98.7 FM and the Arizona Sports app.