Earl William Murray (July 16, 1926 – July 14, 1994) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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who played three seasons in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) with the

Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from 1953 to 1983, when owner Robert Irsay moved the franchise to Indianapolis. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breeding and racing. It w ...

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

and

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

. He was selected by the Colts in the fourth round of the

1950 NFL draft The 1950 NFL draft was held January 20–21, 1950, at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia. With the league absorbing the Baltimore Colts, Cleveland Browns, and San Francisco 49ers from the All-America Football Conference, these three t ...

after playing

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

Early life and college

Earl William Murray was born on July 16, 1926, in

Dayton, Kentucky The City of Dayton, Kentucky, is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city along a bend of the Ohio River in Campbell County, Kentucky, Campbell County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 5,666 at the 2020 United States census, 2 ...

. He attended Dayton High School in Dayton. He was a member of the

Purdue Boilermakers The Purdue Boilermakers are the official college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams representing Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana. As is common with athletic nicknames, the Boilermakers nickname ...

from 1946 to 1949.

Professional career

Murray was selected by the

in the fourth round, with the 41st overall pick, of the

. He played in all 12 games, starting nine, for the Colts during the 1950 season and recovered one fumble. The Colts finished the year with a 1–11 record. The Colts folded after the 1950 season, and the NFL placed their players in the 1951 NFL draft.Joe Gootter
"Sport-o-Grams: Paterson Yankee,"
''Paterson News,'' Jan. 10, 1952, p. 26. Murray was selected by the

in the 10th round, with the 122nd overall pick, of that year's draft. He appeared in all 12 games, starting eight, for the Giants in 1951, catching one pass for negative four yards and recovering two fumbles. The Giants finished the season with a 9–2–1 record. He was released on September 25, 1952. Murray was signed by the

on October 1, 1952. He played in 11 games, starting nine, for the Steelers during the 1952 season and returned one kick for 14 yards. The Steelers 5–7 that year. Murray was waived on September 22, 1953.

Personal life

Bach served in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

. He died on July 14, 1994, in

Midlothian, Virginia Midlothian ( ) is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated area and census-designated place in Chesterfield County, Virginia, U.S. Settled as a coal town, Midlothian village experienced suburbanization effects and is now part of t ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Earl 1926 births 1994 deaths Players of American football from Kentucky American football guards American football tackles Purdue Boilermakers football players Baltimore Colts (1947–1950) players New York Giants players Pittsburgh Steelers players People from Dayton, Kentucky Sportspeople from Campbell County, Kentucky 20th-century American sportsmen United States Marines