Seth Vigdor
Among the many soap operas going on in Philadelphia right now is the DeMarco Murray saga. NFL execs believe that Murray wants to be cut by the Eagles, so that he can return to the Cowboys. Earlier in the week there were reports that Murray had a meeting with Eagles owner Jeff Lurie to discuss his role (or lack thereof) on the team.
On Thursday while speaking to the media, Chip Kelly stated that it was simply Murray sitting next to Lurie on a plane – not a meeting. At the heart of the reported issues between Murray and Chip Kelly is that Murray feels that Chip broke some promises that he made to him, prior to Murray signing with the Eagles.
Ed Werder of ESPN reports that Murray, who sat down with Lurie to air grievances on the team flight home from Sunday’s win at New England, believes that Kelly has broken the promises that Kelly made to him during the free agent recruiting process.
According to the report, Murray thinks he isn’t a good fit in Kelly’s offense and that changes haven’t been made to accommodate Murray’s running style. Murray thinks it’s “strange” that he didn’t play much on Sunday.”
Clearly Murray believes in himself and thinks that he should be playing more of a prominent role in the Eagles offense.
DeMarco Murray is competitive, high-character player who must feel abilities not being used fully and promises not fulfilled. In tough spot
— Ed Werder (@WerderEdESPN) December 8, 2015
However, up until today – Murray hasn’t spoken to the media to clarify anything that’s been going on with the recent events. So we were all highly anticipating the media session today to see what exactly Murray would say. How did things go, you ask?
DeMarco sat there for about 7 minutes. Patiently answered every question. Was personable, in a good mood, joked around. Story coming soon.
— Reuben Frank (@RoobNBCS) December 10, 2015
Good start. Let’s take a look at some of the highlights.
DeMarco Murray asked if he regrets signing with Eagles: "Not at all. I'm committed to Chip and Jeff and the guys in this locker room."
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) December 10, 2015
Wow! That’s awesome to hear. I wasn’t expecting to hear that.
Eagles RB DeMarco Murray acknowledges the conversation with owner Jeffrey Lurie … "That's a conversation between Jeff and myself."
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) December 10, 2015
That’s understandable. He seems like a man of principle.
When asked about his role on the team, Murray had this to say, per the AP.
I love playing for this team, I love the fans. When I signed on that dotted line I knew I was going to be here for a long time and I’m committed to win a lot of games here. Obviously, it’s a tough year for myself and the team so far, but we’ve still got a chance. I wouldn’t say I was disappointed. Obviously, we won the game so I thought I was happy for that. But every player wants the opportunity to contribute to the team, especially me as a competitor, to have a chance to go out there and work out and do what I can to help this team. It was a little different, but we won the game. That was the biggest thing.”
That’s not so bad. His points actually sound pretty rational to me. I guess we all can just move forward from this and hope that the Eagles can do the same since they’re still in the Playoff hunt. All is well again in Philly.
As Lee Corso would say: “Not so fast my friends.”
Thursday night, Pro Football Talk reported that there is “a lot of truth” to DeMarco wanting to return to Dallas, per a source. Damn, damn, damn!!!!
Is Murray talking out of his ass to the media now? Does he miss Dallas? If so, I find it hard to believe that this story doesn’t eventually end with Murray off of the Eagles roster next season.
To be continued, I’m sure.