Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray announced Monday he’s now an official partner for the Call of Duty video game franchise ahead of Black Ops 6’s release on Oct. 25.
The two-time Pro Bowler credited “the trolls who memed me into a bag.”
To the trolls who memed me into a bag, thank you!
I’m officially launching my @CallofDuty partnership! #CODPartnership #TheReplacer #BlackOps6 pic.twitter.com/JwpZKxSzYo
— Kyler Murray (@K1) October 7, 2024
Murray’s dedication—or lack thereof—away from the field was a talking point almost immediately after news of his $230.5 million extension broke in 2022. A reported “homework” clause was briefly included in the deal and it required him to spend a specified amount of time working on his craft away from practice.
Internet sleuths then claimed to find evidence pointing to how the 27-year-old’s performance declined during the same weekends when Call of Duty awarded gamers double or triple XP. There was supposedly a similar trend that followed when the newest games in the franchise were released.
A statistical analysis of NFL Quarterback Kyler Murray’s performance shows that he plays worse when there’s active Double XP weekends happening in Call of Duty. There were rumors stating that they he played a lot of Call of Duty, even during the season. https://t.co/47sI8lwN8u pic.twitter.com/PcBMs33RcY
— CharlieIntel (@charlieINTEL) August 2, 2022
A user analyzed Kyler Murray’s performance on @CallofDuty 2XP/3XP weekends and it’s tough to see pic.twitter.com/SoalbvmdDu
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) August 2, 2022
Someone graphed Kyler Murray’s average career fantasy points, then marked when the new Call of Duty game comes out ever year 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/SxVVJXx5eK
— Kyle Ledbetter ☀️ (@SportsDSD_) July 27, 2022
Perhaps this will be the ultimate test of the theory because Murray is on pace for a career year.
Through five games, he has thrown for 972 yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions. His 66.4 QBR ranks sixth in the league, per ESPN.com. He remains an effective runner in his first full season back from a torn ACL as well with 247 yards and one score on the ground.
