ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Latavius Murray was still able to bust off a 52-yard run at 32 years old last week because his offensive line created a crease, he had the burst to get through it, enough shake to leave the safety standing still and a professional attitude.
The running back doesn’t let his team’s overall success, or disappointment, determine how he approaches his task. He has played on winning teams, had 1,000-yard success but he does not find football a grind just because his current team, the 3-8 Denver Broncos, are not winning.
“No. That’s a part of it,’’ Murray said this week in a sit-down interview with 9NEWS. “I’ve been saying it consistently for maybe a few weeks now, the work never stops regardless of if you’re winning or losing. We’ve got a job to do. Paid to do a job and your career is on the line. What I put on film is going to be with me forever.
“Nobody is going to look back and say, ‘Why did this guy play this way? Oh, it’s OK because they were terrible.’ No, they’re going to look at it and say, did he produce or didn’t he? To me that’s what’s important, making sure regardless of what our record is that I go out there and play at the highest level I can.”
It’s that type of mentality that helps explain why Murray needs just 42 more rushing yards to reach 400 for his ninth consecutive season and 142 yards to attain 500 yards for an eighth straight year. Those totals may not land Murray in the Hall of Fame, but ask the other 14 running backs selected ahead of him in the 2013 NFL Draft if Murray’s consistency is impressive. That was the year no running back was taken in the first round with the Broncos’ Montee Ball among the five selected in the second round.
Of the 24 running backs drafted that year, only three remain – Giovani Bernard, who was the first running back taken at No. 37 overall in the second round, Rex Burkhead, who was taken 9 spots after Murray was taken by the Raiders in the sixth round, and Murray. And even though Murray gave his 2013 classmates a head start as he missed his rookie season to recover from late-camp ankle surgery, he easily leads his group with 5,850 career rushing yards.
For Murray, playing running back at 32 is a badge of honor.
“Definitely, at that position, really any position to be able to play 10 years, it’s definitely a blessing,” he said. “You look at it, mostly splitting time. The one time I was the main back I was able to produce (in 2015 with 1,066 rushing yards for Oakland). Then splitting time and making sure I was the solid 2, if that was the case. If the 1 went down, I felt like I could come in and carry the load. You talk about consistency, gotta have it. That’s been a big part of my game, a big part of what I’ve been able to stick around.”
And he’s kept on running while moving from team to team. He was in Oakland for four years, Minnesota for two, New Orleans for two, Baltimore last year – where he will return today to play against his former Ravens – then New Orleans again for a couple weeks this year before the Broncos claimed him off waivers on October 3.
One of his favorite teams, and seasons, was with the Minnesota Miracle Vikings in 2017.
“People ask all the time where I enjoyed playing the most,’’ Murray said. “The truth is I enjoyed every city that I played in. They’re all unique. But it comes down to where you’re winning at, where you were close, and in Minnesota we were close, losing to Philly in the NFC Championship. That was a season you felt you were right there, a game away. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter. You get that far just to lose. That kind of opened my eyes. Even made me hungrier to try to get back to that position.”
A willingness to accept the transient nature of an NFL life is another way to last 10 years. Murray is married with four kids and while football fans have come around to sympathizing with the physical toll players endure, they may not realize the stress the life can put on a family.
“It’s definitely tough on her, I’ll say that,’’ Murray said of his wife Shauntay. “Firstly, it’s definitely tough on her. But she’s super supportive. We communicate really well, even when things aren’t going well or emotions can run high, you’ve got to be able to talk it out, communicate and it’s a long season. So appreciate her support.
“But as a player, it comes with it, but I’ve been able to adjust and – figure it out. You can’t make excuses because it’s a new team, new scheme. You’ve got to find a way to make your mark.”
Understand, whenever a player moves from team to team, there are leases to break and sign up for, electric and cable bills to pay for, shut off and sign back up.
“I’m hands on,’’ Murray said of such tasks. “It’s a lot. You’ve got to get situated in one place and God forbid you get cut after you get to a place. That actually was the case in New Orleans. I was just about to sign a lease and next thing you know we were traveling to Dallas and I didn’t end up coming back to New Orleans. Thank goodness I didn’t sign that lease. But that’s the nature of the business. At any moment you never what can happen, you just got to be ready.”
Born near Orlando, but moving with his mom and brother to Syracuse when he was 3, Murray during his rookie season with the Raiders began to pursue his Master’s in Business Administration degree at Syracuse University, finishing it up in 2020.
“When I got injured when I was Oakland, when the game is taken away from you, you’ve to think about life outside of football and when you’re hurt, what better time to think,’’ he said. “I started to think what could I do outside of football and the NFL had a program that paid for part of the tuition so I took advantage of that.”
The way Murray is playing, following up on life after football may still be a ways away. But has he given it any thought?
“I think about a whole lot of things whether it’s business or still being involved with the game and helping with the youth,’’ he said. “Right now football is getting every bit of my attention. I do some things outside of football but you can only have one master. So right now I’m knee-deep in football, knee-deep in continuing this career. It’ll come to me when I’m done.”
Not yet. For 13 other running backs drafted ahead of Murray in 2013, life after football has begun. Not for him.
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