Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray is a lightning rod for criticism. His leadership and commitment have come into question. He has bad body language. He is a bad teammate. He doesn’t study enough. He plays video games too much.
Name a criticism that could be said about a quarterback and it has been said about Murray.
He has been seen on the sidelines arguing with his head coach or yelling at teammates like receiver DeAndre Hopkins.
Hopkins, appearing on the I Am Athlete podcast with Brandon Marshall and Ashley Nicole Moss, says people misunderstand Murray.
“I think people give him a tough time because he’s fiery,” Hopkins said. “The dude is a competitor, a real competitor. I’ve never seen anything like it, and I love it. That’s why he and I sometimes butt heads but it’s love.”
He compares it to fighting among brothers, two people who clearly love each other but still argue.
“Both of y’all want to win, both y’all want to compete and you’re mad as hell that you’re not getting the job done. So for me, that’s what it is.”
Hopkins points out the double standard of quarterbacks and how they interact with teammates.
“Tom Brady will go cuss out everybody on the sideline for whatever, that’s Tom Brady, But if Kyler does it, it’s the talking topic of everything,” he said. “So I think for him, he’s misunderstood. He’s a competitor. The dude, like playing basketball, he wants to beat at shooting things in the trash can, ping pong, whatever, and for me, I love it.
“He’s misunderstood because he’s so competitive.”
To hear Hopkins describe Murray’s competitiveness, it is no wonder head coach Jonathan Gannon is a big fan. Gannon preaches competition in everything. He answered a reporter’s question saying, “everything is a competition.”
Murray and Gannon get along great and it is that competitive fire that probably causes that. Gannon encourages competition and Murray thrives on it.
Hopkins is currently away from the team, training on his own in Toronto rather than being at OTAs, which are voluntary.
Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.
