Adrian Byran Murrell (born October 16, 1970) is a former professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. The ...

. He was drafted by the New York Jets in the fifth round of the

1993 NFL Draft The 1993 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 25–26, 1993, at the Marriot M ...

after playing collegiately for the

West Virginia Mountaineers The West Virginia Mountaineers are the athletic teams that represent West Virginia University, an American university located in Morgantown, West Virginia. The school is a member of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I. The Mou ...

. Murrell played in nine

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

(NFL) seasons from 1993 to 2000 and 2003.

High school

Murrell attended

Leilehua High School Leilehua High School is a public, co-educational, college preparatory high school in Wahiawa, Hawaii on the island of Oahu. It is part of the Hawaii State Department of Education, nationally recognized as a Blue Ribbon School by the United States ...

Wahiawa Wahiawa ( haw, Wahiawā, ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Honolulu County, Hawaii, United States, on the island of Oahu. It is in the Wahiawa District, on the plateau or "central valley" between the two volcanic mountains that comprise the ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...

Collegiate career

Murrell arrived at

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State Coll ...

in 1990, when Michael Beasley started for the

Mountaineers Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, ...

. The Mountaineers went 4-7 that season, with Murrell only seeing limited time. He only rushed for 48 yards on seven attempts that season. In his sophomore year, 1991, Murrell and the Mountaineers began to increase their product. The Mountaineers went 6-5 that season, while Murrell saw the starting role. He rushed for 904 yards and seven touchdowns on the year, with an added 100 receiving yards. In his final season as a Mountaineer, his junior year of 1992, Murrell produced the best season of his college career. While the Mountaineers sunk back, going 5-4-2, Murrell made national headlines. He rushed for 1,145 yards and six touchdowns, along with 244 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns. Murrell is a member of

Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate historically African American fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the 1905–1906 school year at Cornell University but later evolved in ...

fraternity.

Professional career

New York Jets

Murrell left

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the ...

after his junior season, and was drafted in the fifth round of the

by the New York Jets. In his first two seasons as a Jet, Murrell rushed for a total of 317 yards and a touchdown. In

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake strike ...

, Murrell began to break out as a player. He rushed for 795 yards on the season, along with a touchdown. He also added 495 yards and two touchdowns receiving. The following year, 1996, Murrell posted his best performance of his professional career. He rushed for 1,249 yards (4th in

AFC AFC may stand for: Organizations * Action for Children, a UK children's charity * AFC Enterprises, the franchisor of Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits * Africa Finance Corporation, a pan-African multilateral development finance institution * A ...

, 7th in NFL) and six touchdowns that season, along with a receiving touchdown. In

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

, Murrell recorded 1,086 yards rushing with seven touchdowns and caught two receiving touchdowns.

Arizona Cardinals

Following the 1997 season, Murrell was traded to the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division, an ...

. Murrell gained 1,042 yards and eight touchdowns in 1998 playing in all 16 games. He went on to rush for 95 yards and catch 2 passes for 16 yards and a touchdown in the Cardinals 20-7 Wildcard playoff win over the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divis ...

, a team that had beaten Arizona twice in the regular season. This was Arizona's first postseason win since 1947. In 1999, he only rushed for 553 yards, but caught 49 passes for 335 yards.

Washington Redskins

Following the

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States. It is the list of U.S. states and territories by area, 6th largest and the list of U.S. states and territories by population, 14 ...

stint, Murrell arrived in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

with the Redskins for the 2000 season. But Murrell only saw limited action during the season, and recorded 50 rushing yards.

Carolina Panthers

Murrell was signed by the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

in the 2001 offseason to serve in a backup role, but was cut before the season began to make room for

Richard Huntley Richard Earl Huntley (born September 18, 1972) is a former professional American football running back in the National Football League. He played six seasons for the Atlanta Falcons (1996), the Pittsburgh Steelers (1998–2000), the Carolina Pant ...

on the active roster

Dallas Cowboys

After a two-year break from the NFL, Murrell returned in 2003 to play for the

. In Murrell's final professional season, he recorded 107 yards rushing.

Personal life

His younger brother,

Marques Murrell Marques Allen Murrell (born March 20, 1985) is a former American football linebacker. He was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent in 2007. He played college football at Appalachian State. Murrell also played for the New ...

, was a defensive end on the

Appalachian State University Appalachian State University (; Appalachian, App State, App, or ASU) is a public university in Boone, North Carolina. It was founded as a teachers college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and the latter's wife, Lillie Shull Dough ...

football team. He signed a contract with the New York Jets on November 7, 2007. His father, a career soldier, was a Command Sergeants Major at the time of his draft. Stationed at Ft. Bragg. Married to Tonia Peck Murrell. They have three children.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Murrell, Adrian 1970 births Living people American football running backs Arizona Cardinals players Dallas Cowboys players New York Jets players Washington Redskins players West Virginia Mountaineers football players Sportspeople from Fayetteville, North Carolina People from Honolulu County, Hawaii Players of American football from Hawaii African-American players of American football 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople