Kyler Murray Defends Himself Against The 'Homework Clause' Narrative

The media pundit class -- and NFL players and executives on other teams, by the way -- have spent days breaking down the meaning of the Kyler Murray "homework clause" of his new contract, which requires him to study film a minimum of four hours per week so he can collect all his money.

And it hasn't gone well for either the Arizona Cardinals or Murray because it makes both look bad on multiple levels.

Well, by Thursday Murray had apparently heard enough. So he made a surprise, unscheduled appearance in front of local reporters covering the Cardinals and their training camp to address the issue.

He called the criticism of him for apparently needing such a clause "disrespectful."

He called it "almost a joke."

"I've put in incomprehensible amount of time, blood, sweat, tears and work into what I do, whether it's football or baseball," Murray said. "People can't comprehend the amount of time that it takes to do two sports at a high level in college, let along be the first person to do it ever at my size.

"Like I said, it's funny but to those of you out there that believe I would be standing here today in front of ya'll without having a work ethic and without preparing, I'm honored that you think that. But it doesn't exist.

"It's not possible, so that's all I have on that."

Murray is probably glad he got that off his chest. But it's not likely to help him. It just adds another few hours to the news cycle about the issue.

What Murray said does not change the fact his team apparently insisted on memorializing a four-hour per week film study requirement into his new contract. And that says the club saw a need to insist because it apparently had concerns about the quarterback's work ethic in studying tape.

And Murray agreed to it, which means he didn't think it "disrespectful" and "almost a joke" enough then to hold ground and not sign the deal.

"I refuse to let my work ethic, my preparation be in question," Murray added.

Not true.

The clause is there. It's there for a reason. And Murray agreed to it and signed the contract.

By definition he did refuse to let his work ethic come into question.

The bottom line here is Murray's contract, for all its lofty numbers reaching $230.5 million, is really a $105 million over three years because that's when the guarantees run out and the Cardinals can move on from Murray.

So he gets that time to play at such a level that proves he's prepared and capable of lifting his team to heights by, in part, understanding what both his team and the opponents are doing based on his preparation in the film room and on the field.

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