Kyler Murray is not Aaron Rodgers and in this context thats a very good thing.
Murray unlike his older, more accomplished QB peer in Rodgers does not have an insatiable appetite.
Last week, Murray tipped over the first domino and then watched as it eventually led to the entire NFL media world breathlessly speculating on his maturity, leadership and competence as an NFL QB. After several anonymous leaks from most likely the Cardinals organization, Murray tapped out and released the above statement.
On Tuesday, Donovan McNabb joined me on The Drive courtesy of our friends at CAZ Sports Bar inside of Casino Arizona and weighed in on the Murray/Cardinals drama.
When I asked McNabb what the next step should be between star player and franchise, McNabb defended Kyler Murray and offered the following answer:
"To squash this so-called, "beef" what we're seeing right now is about the Cardinals (public) comments talking about how Kyler blames his (teammates), not taking accountability. I am completely shocked. That is something you never hear from any organization no matter what goes on behind closed doors. The thing is when any quarterback and I put this out there because this is the era and I played in it, especially for an African-American quarterback, if you put that (malicious reports) out there about them then all of a sudden that stays with them and that's a stain on their career. That's unfortunate. So for Kyler, where the Cardinals are as for as communication is concerned, they need to find a way to fix it, clean it up, and get themselves ready for 2022-23 NFL season. Because right now, it's looking bad on both sides. All that (the media) are trying to do is trying to get some of Kyler's teammates to come out and talk bad about him. That stuff will just create more issues.
McNabb's comments on the rarity of an organization allegedly leaking that Kyler is selfish and lacks accountability hit particularly hard. After playing for over a decade for the Philadelphia Eagles, McNabb has plenty of personal experience to draw on for the right and wrong way to handle a star Quarterback.
Now that Murray has publicly announced his bowing out of this public passive aggressive snipe-fest, I'd expect the Cardinals to do the same.
Right now, the next step for both sides is to take a breather and make sure this doesn't go on any longer before someone says something they really regret, if that hasn't happened already.
For Kyler to be the first to publicly squash this might be the sign of maturity the Cardinals wanted to see all along.
Let's hope the Cardinals follow his lead, on and off the field.