Sunday Showcase:
FSU receiver’s grandmother is his No. 1 fan, inspiration
FSU’s Nyqwan Murray was nearly adopted before being introduced to his grandmother, who became his caretaker shortly after birth.
TALLAHASSEE — Whenever Florida State receiver Nyqwan Murray needs to lift his spirits, he just takes a quick glance at his left forearm to see a few reminders forged in ink.
Murray has tattoos of an 8-ball in honor of No. 8 jersey; an Orlando Magic logo and a West Interstate 4 sign to represent his hometown; and an FSU spear to note his commitment to the Seminoles.
As Murray’s eyes shift to the veins near his wrist, another tattoo provides the ultimate motivation.
“It means so much,” Murray said somberly before playfully laughing at his next statement.
“My grandma like my girlfriend. I know that’s crazy but that’s what she is to me. She got her name on my wrist. Any time I’m feeling down or doing bad, or don’t feel like doing something, I just look at my wrist. My grandma, Annie Collin.”
Over the years, Collin’s reputation as “Grandma Gone Wild” grew at football fields around Orlando. Florida State fans have grown to adore her outlandish cheers and exuberant aura.
Collin, 62, is Murray’s legal guardian, his biggest fan and his guiding light.
Murray says he has never really sat down with Collin to hear the story about how he came into her care, but one detail sticks out.
“They always tell me this: As soon as my grandma looked at me, she said ‘I know that’s my baby. That’s my son’s child,’” Murray said. “I look just like my daddy. Ever since then, I’ve been with my grandma.”
‘He’s never been out of my sight’
Today, Aug. 26, marks 21 years since Murray first met his grandmother.
Murray’s mother, Latesha Murray, made arrangements for him to be adopted by the parents of a family friend, Tracy Harrell, who she was living with in Sanford.
But shortly after he was born on July 28, 1997, Harrell encouraged her parents and Murray’s mother to meet with his father’s side of the family.
Without telling her, Harrell took Murray and his mother to Collin’s home in Holden Heights two days before Murray’s onemonth birthday.
Collin was preparing for a trip to Miami to see an incarcerated family member when the car pulled up to her home.
Harrell asked to speak with Murray’s father, Aqualius “Mikey” Battle, who shortly afterward held Murray in his arms for the first time and brought him into the house to meet Collin and her three daughters Meoshua, Kioua and Trilauni White.
“First thing we said [was,] ‘This baby is yours,’ ” Collin said.
Collin was able to take Murray on her trip to Miami. Three days later, on a Wednesday, Murray’s mother finally told Collin of her plans to give him up to Harrell’s parents for adoption. Collin knew the Harrells and they were happy to give Murray to a member of his biological family.
Harrell died in Jacksonville on New Year’s Day in 1998, and Collin lights a candle in her honor every year.
“I always celebrate because the day that Noonie came, he never left,” Collin said. “Even that day after finding out about him, he never left me. They immediately let me keep him. I’ve had him ever since. He’s never been out of my sight. He’s just been raised by myself and my three daughters.”
Big play — and grandma goes wild
Around the age of 3 and 4 years old, all Murray wanted to do was run through the house and play without any regard for any object in his way.
While it was suggested he could play flag football, Murray wanted to play the football where “he could put on pads and really knock people over.”
Murray’s budding football career began with the Orlando Buccaneers when he was 5 years old. Other kids may have been bigger, but that didn’t keep Murray from running wild.
“He was killing them and he was so little,” Collin said. “I was going crazy.”
The Central Florida Fairgrounds, where games were played, helped Murray develop his love for the sport while meeting longtime friends Jacques Patrick and Deondre Francois in the process.
Whenever Murray would break free for a long run, Collin tried to keep pace every step of the way. She got the nickname “Grandma Gone Wild” by running down the sidelines.
“I would go stand in the end zone, and you know what Noonie would tell me? He said, ‘Grandma, if you go stand down there, I’ll make a touchdown for you,’” Collin said.
“Every time I would stand down there, my grandson would make a touchdown. Every time.”
During games, Collin released her energy with cartwheels and splits when she wasn’t waving a team flag.
Those fields also nurtured Collin’s competitive nature Florida State fans have grown to love during Murray’s time with the Seminoles.
“It’s been like that since we were 8,” Francois said. “The way she’s in the stands in Doak, I could remember her like that at the Florida Fairgrounds — same energy.”
Patrick said with a laugh, “The stuff she does now — luckily they don’t let her on the sidelines because she would do that here.”
Well, Florida State actually did allow Collin on the FSU field to be recognized during Parents’ Weekend before the Seminoles’ game against Syracuse last season.
Collin proudly strut down midfield, doing several cartwheels and finishing with a split alongside other family members inside Doak Campbell Stadium.
“Oh yeah, she surprised a lot of people with that,” Murray said.
Noonie, Poonie
If there’s one thing FSU fans can hear Collin scream in the stands until her voice turns horse, it’s Murray’s quirky nickname.
When Murray was first introduced to his father’s side, his mother was already calling him “Noonie.”
“We were asking why does she call him Noonie, and she said, ‘He’s like a little thing, like a Noonie Poonie,’ ” Collin recalls. “He was answering to it already at three months, and we stuck to it.”
Murray’s nickname might be the only constant contribution his parents have made in his life.
Murray’s father has been in and out of jail since he was about 3 or 4 years old. Murray said Battle is trying to get out of jail with hopes of seeing him play for the first time at some point this year.
“I know him seeing me do well would probably try to change his life, make him want to be in my life more,” Murray said.
He did not want to share details about his mother’s involvement in his life.
Collin said his mother lives in Boston and was able to see Murray play at Boston College last season, but she did not stick around much after the game.
Unbreakable bond
Murray has recovered from a torn meniscus in his knee, and is primed to be an experienced leader at his position with a breakout season for the Seminoles.
New FSU head coach Willie Taggart and receivers coach David Kelly have praised Murray for his maturity on and off the field in the short time they have been leading the Seminoles. Murray is close to keeping a pact he made with Francois and Patrick to graduate from Florida State.
Murray also aspires to play in the NFL so he can financially support his grandmother and return the favor.
“I just thank God for putting her in my life and her really being there for me. She really changed my life,” Murray said. “Without my grandma, who knows where I would be. That’s really my mom. That’s how I really look at it. My grandma, nobody would ever break that bond between me and her.”
If there is anyone beside Murray who will help him achieve his aspirations, it’s his guiding light.
“He’s going to be a successful kid. God has already blessed him, anointed him and appointed him because of the struggle and how he was given away at birth and everything else,” Collin said.
“There’s a blessing in it for Nyqwan. There are blessings all over him, and his grandma is going to be there to see it.”
“I just thank God for putting her in my life and her really being there for me. She really changed my life.” Nyqwan Murray