When Kyler Murray signed his massive contract extension with the Arizona Cardinals earlier this week, the deal made waves around the NFL world for its big-time money. But upon further inspection, another aspect of the contract grabbed people’s attention.
The Cardinals included an addendum that would have required Murray to complete four hours of “independent study” during every game week.
Here’s a portion of the controversial clause:
“Player shall not receive any credit for Independent Study with respect to any time periods during which any material is displayed or played on an iPad or electronic device if (a) Player is not personally studying or watching the material while it is being displayed or played or (b) Player is engaged in any other activity that may distract his attention (for example, watching television, playing video games or browsing the internet) while such material is being displayed or played.”
Due to the “distraction” that it created, the Cardinals have since removed this addendum from Murray’s contract.
During Friday’s episode of Get Up, ESPN NFL analyst Damian Woody blasted the Arizona organization for this debacle.
“What the hell is the Arizona Cardinals doing? First of all, Kyler Murray. You didn’t have to sign the contract…” he said. “If you ‘studied’ the contract, you would have seen that addendum.
“… And to the Arizona Cardinals — You’ve told everyone what you think about your quarterback. You’ve told everyone that you don’t think your quarterback is a good student of the game… This whole thing is just a disaster.”
On Thursday, Murray held an unscheduled press conference to address the backlash from this addendum controversy. He said it was “disrespectful” and a “joke” that people would question his work ethic.
Murray and the Cardinals will look to brush off this distraction as they continue training camp practices.
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