NFL scouting combine a father-son affair for football’s Shurmur family
INDIANAPOLIS There’s one quarterback at the NFL scouting combine that New York Giants coach Pat Shurmur has absolutely fallen in love with, and it’s not Kyler Murray, Dwayne Haskins, Drew Lock, Daniel Jones or Ryan Finley. It’s Kyle Shurmur, his 22-yearold son, who threw 50 touchdowns over the past two seasons for Vanderbilt.
“Well, I’m extremely proud of him,” the Giants coach said. “He’s made great decisions. He did an excellent job in high school giving himself the opportunity to go to a place like Vanderbilt. He graduated in 3 1/2 years, helped them win games. He’s a good player.” Kyle Shurmur isn’t quite in the same league as the top-flight QBs, but at six-foot-four and 225 pounds, a degree in economics and a background that includes a near equal split between under centre and shotgun formations over four years in the SEC, he projects as a bona fide pro prospect. Chances are good he’ll be on somebody’s depth chart come fall. Maybe even the Giants’ roster. “I’d be grateful for any opportunity I get,” Kyle said.
Even if that means facing his father instead of playing for him. “Any opportunity I get I’ll be really appreciative,” Kyle said. He already has an advantage the other QBs don’t. In preparing for the combine, he received tips not only from his agent, Tom Condon, but he also got plenty of fatherly advice about what to expect. “Growing up I always watched the combine on TV and you only see maybe the bench press, but then you see the on-field drills,” Kyle said, noting it’s so much more than that. “It’s a five-day process. He mentally prepared me for that. My agent and him sort of gave me the scoop of what to expect, five days as opposed to one day.” Pat Shurmur has been doling out direction all of Kyle’s life. “Everyone thinks he wants me to be a great quarterback,” Kyle said. “I think he wants me to be a great person first and foremost. And I think that’s a foundation for a great quarterback.”
An All-Big 10 centre at Michigan State, Pat Shurmur never pushed his son to play in the trenches. “No, in fact he said growing up, make sure you play a position where your hand is not in the ground,” Kyle said.
Rarely did he talk technique with his son.
“I had great coaches at Vanderbilt,” Kyle said. “They coached me hard, coached me well, and he sort of stayed out of it.”