The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Does Murray fit the billing?
Shorter QBs have had limited NFL success.
Don’t blink or you’ll miss the next Kyler Murray headline. Between the Heisman Trophy race, the College Football Playoff and the NFL draft early declaration deadline, Murray’s name has been at the center of a number of key sports storylines over the past few months.
On Monday the Heisman winner said he will pursue a career in the NFL over playing baseball for the Oakland A’s, who picked him ninth overall in last June’s amateur draft. “I am firmly and fully committing my life and time to becoming an NFL quarterback,” Murray tweeted.
While the most popular question surrounding Murray’s future had centered around the upcoming decision between football and baseball, another looming question has taken a bit of a backseat. Can Murray, who would be the first QB drafted since 2000 that was 5-foot10 or shorter, be successful in the NFL?
Height hasn’t been a hindrance for him so far in his football career. He earned Gatorade National Player of the Year honors while winning three straight state titles in high school and won the Heisman during his only season as Oklahoma’s starting QB. Sub-6-foot QBs have had considerably amounts of success at those levels, though. The same can not be said for the NFL.
Not only that, but there has been some disagreement as to just how short Murray is. Oklahoma listed him at 5-foot-11 on his baseball bio. Then he was listed 5-foot-10 on his football bio. Some talking heads in the media claim he’s closer to 5-foot-8. Last month, Oklahoma assistant athletic director Mike Houck clarified that Murray officially measured in at just under 5-foot-10 in socks when the Sooners’ strength and conditioning staff measured him at the beginning of the season.
Assuming Murray goes through the NFL draft process, he’ll have his height measured at the scouting combine, which begins Feb. 26. He would be looking to become the first 5-foot-10 QB drafted since Tampa Bay took Georgia Tech’s Joe Hamilton with the 234th pick in 2000. He appeared in one career game with zero passing attempts. His lone career rushing attempt went for minus-2 yards.
That doesn’t make Hamilton unique, though. He was just another casualty in an NFL that’s dominated by QBs 6 feet or taller.
Notable NFL QBs shorter than 6 feet
■ Russell Wilson (5-foot-11). In 2018, Wilson set the NFL record for most touchdowns in a season thrown by a QB less than 6 feet tall (35). He broke the record previously held by — you guessed it — himself. Wilson threw for 34 TDs in both 2015 and 2017, meaning he’s had the three most prolific passing seasons in history by a sub-6-foot QB.
■ Sonny Jurgensen (5-foot11). In 1983, Jurgensen became the first QB under 6 feet tall to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The five-time Pro Bowler and 1960 NFL Champion split his professional career playing QB for the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins. He led the league in passing yards five different times and was tops in TD passes twice.
■ Jim Finks (5-foot-11). Finks is the only other sub 6-foot QB in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was enshrined in 1995, one year after his death. In Finks’ final NFL season for the Steelers, he led the NFL in passing completions and yards. After his on-field retirement, he spent 35 years in various front office roles.
■ Sean Payton (5-foot-11). Payton has one of the most modest stat lines in NFL history. After brief stints in the Arena Football League and Canadian Football league, he played on the Bears’ strikebreaking team of 1987 for three games. His career line: 8-of-23 passing for 79 yards, 1 INT and 0 TDs. His coaching accolades are much more impressive, headlined by his Super Bowl XLIV title as the Saints’ head coach.
■ Doug Flutie (5-foot-10). Flutie had the most far-reaching success of any sub 6-foot QB. He won the Heisman Trophy for Boston College in 1984. He then became the highest-paid pro football player as a rookie in the USFL until the league folded. Most of his professional success came in the CFL, where he was a six-time league MVP. He wrapped up his career with an eight-year run in the NFL, highlighted by a Pro Bowl berth in 1998.
■ Eddie LeBaron (5-foot9). LeBaron is a four-time Pro Bowler and won NFL Rookie of the Year honors in 1952 as part of the Redskins. Despite spending the majority of his career in Washington (he’s a part of the franchise’s Ring of Fame), LeBaron became the Cowboys’ first starting QB in franchise history when the team convinced him to come out of retirement in 1960. He ended up playing four years in Dallas.
■ Davey O’Brien (5-foot-7). The namesake for the Davey O’Brien Award, awarded to the top collegiate QB, was one of the shortest QBs in NFL history. O’Brien (Philadelphia Eagles) had just a two-year NFL career following his Heisman Trophy season for TCU in 1938. He had a productive two-year stint, though, earning first-team All-Pro honors in 1939 and second-team in 1940.
‘I am firmly and fully committing ... to becoming an NFL quarterback.’ Kyler Murray Two-sport star at Oklahoma, choosing career in football over baseball