DeMarco Murray

DeMarco Murray (born February 12, 1988) is an American football running back for the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football for the Oklahoma Sooners.

High school career
DeMarco Murray attended Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he was an all-conference pick three consecutive years. During his time at Gorman, his team was 3-time Conference Champions. As a senior in 2005, he rushed for 1,947 yards and 27 touchdowns and also caught 22 passes for 624 yards and 7 touchdowns, earning him all-state honors and the 2005 Sunset Region Offensive Player of the Year award. Murray played in the 2005 U.S. Army All-American Bowl. Considered one of the top running backs of his class alongside Chris Wells, C. J. Spiller and Michael Goodson, Murray drew offers from Miami (Fl.), Penn State and Texas A&M among others. He chose Oklahoma over Southern California at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

College career
Murray redshirted the 2006 NCAA football season. In his first game for the Oklahoma Sooners on September 1, 2007 vs. University of North Texas, Murray rushed for 87 yards and five touchdowns, becoming the first player to score four touchdowns in a half in his Sooner debut. On September 15, 2007 against Utah State University, Murray entered the Oklahoma football record book when he had a touchdown run of 92 yards, which is the third longest in Oklahoma football history.

Murray tied Adrian Peterson's freshman touchdown record in 2007 with 15.

He logged a 4.42 (team best) 40 time and a 36.5-inch vertical jump during the 2007 winter testing.

On October 16, 2010 Murray passed Steve Owens as the all-time touchdown leader at the University of Oklahoma with 58 touchdowns. He ended his college career with 65 touchdowns, becoming only the fifth player in Big 12 conference history to score at least 60 career touchdowns.

Murray had 3,685 career rushing yards (4.86 avg.) with 50 touchdowns, 157 career catches with 13 touchdowns, and 1,462 kickoff return yards with 2 touchdowns.

Career Records at University of Oklahoma

 * All-Time Leader in Points Scored (390)
 * All-Time Leader in Touchdowns (65)
 * All-Time Leader in All Purpose Yards (6,718)
 * All-Time Leader in Receiving Yards for a Running Back (1,571)
 * All-Time Leader in kickoff return average (27.58)

Statistics
source: espn.com

2011 NFL Draft
Murray was drafted in the third round (71st overall) of the 2011 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys. Murray was the sixth running back chosen in the draft after Mark Ingram (1st round, 28th overall by New Orleans Saints), Ryan Williams (2nd round, 38th overall by Arizona Cardinals), Shane Vereen (2nd round, 56th overall by New England Patriots), Mikel Leshoure (2nd round, 57th overall by Detroit Lions) and Daniel Thomas (2nd round, 62nd overall by Miami Dolphins).

Dallas Cowboys (2011-present)
Murray signed a four-year contract with the Cowboys worth $2.97 million including a signing bonus worth $622,000 on July 29, 2011.

Rookie season (2011)
DeMarco Murray started the year as the third string running back on the team behind starter Felix Jones and second string running back Tashard Choice. From week one to week four, Murray had 14 carries for 39 rushing yards (2.78 average) and added 3 receptions for 16 receiving yards. On October 16, the Cowboys traveled to Gillette Stadium to face the New England Patriots. Felix Jones went down with a high-ankle sprain, which increased the amount of opportunities for Murray. Murray finished the day with 11 carries for 34 yards and added 1 reception for 7 yards.

With the Cowboys owning a record of 2-3, the Cowboys faced the St. Louis Rams in week seven. Felix Jones was declared out for the game due to the high ankle sprain injury sustained the week before. The team declared Tashard Choice as the starter for the game and Murray as the second string running back. Murray ran for 253 yards on 25 carries against the St. Louis Rams breaking Emmitt Smith's single game rushing record for a Cowboys running back of 237 yards (set at Philadelphia against the Eagles on October 31, 1993). The record total included a first-quarter 91-yard touchdown run that is second longest in Cowboys history, after a NFL-record 99-yard run by Tony Dorsett in January 1983. Among the other records he set during this game were a rookie rushing record for a game in club history, previously held by Tony Dorsett (206 yards in 1977). His 10.1 yards-per-carry is the highest rushing average with 20-or-more attempts for a game in club history, previously held by Tony Dorsett (8.96 in 1977), the 10th most rushing yards in a game in league history, the second-most rushing yards in a game by a rookie in league history, second-longest touchdown run on a player’s first career rushing touchdown in league history, and the most rushing yards by a running back in one game ever allowed by the Rams in club history (Los Angeles and Saint Louis). Murray earned the Rookie of the Week award and FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Week for his game against the Rams. After the St. Louis Rams' game, Tashard Choice was released leaving the team with only two healthy running backs, rookie Phillip Tanner and Murray, with Felix Jones still sidelined with an injury.

Murray followed his record-breaking game by getting the first start of his career against the Eagles in week nine. In week eight and nine, Murray totaled 30 carries for 213 rushing yards (7.1 average) and 5 receptions for 45 yards,With his second 100+ yard rushing game of the season, Murray became the first Cowboy since Julius Jones in 2004 to post multiple 100+ yard rushing games as a rookie. With 466 rushing yards over the last three games, Murray tied Eric Dickerson for the fifth-highest total all-time by an NFL rookie during a three-game span. The record is 577 set by Mike Anderson of the Denver Broncos in 2000. The 466 rushing yards in the three game span is the most ever by any Cowboys player, surpassing 446 yards by Emmitt Smith during his MVP season of 1993.

From week ten to week thirteen, Murray had a total of 79 carries for 333 rushing yards (4.21 rushing average) and added 16 receptions for 109 receiving yards and one rushing touchdown as the Cowboys went 3-1 during this stretch. In week ten against the Buffalo Bills, Murray fumbled the ball for the first time in his professional career, although the fumble was recovered by Murray himself. In week fourteen vs. the New York Giants, Murray carried the ball 5 times for 25 yards and added one reception for 6 yards before suffering a fractured right ankle and high ankle sprain that ended his rookie season. Murray was named NFL Rookie of the Month for the month of November.

At the end of the 2011 season, Murray led all NFL rookie players (with 40 or more carries) in average per carry (5.5 per carry), yards per game (69.0 yards) and rushing yards (897 yards) on 164 carries (second most among rookie players, Daniel Thomas had 165 carries). Murray tied for third among rookie players for rushing touchdowns with 2; Carolina Panthers' quarterback and 2011 Rookie of the Year Cam Newton led all rookie players with 14 rushing touchdowns. Murray also was 14th in receptions among all rookie players and 2nd among rookie running backs with 26 receptions. He was also 4th in receiving yards among rookie running backs with 183. Among all NFL running backs, Murray with 7 starts in 12 games, tied for the second highest average per carry for a running back with 80 or more carries trailing only Darren Sproles' 6.9 yards per carry on 63 attempts. Murray's 897 rushing yards ranked 22nd among all NFL running backs and 9th in the NFC.The Cowboys went 5-0 for the season when Murray received 20+ touches in the game and 2-5 when he did not. In the five games where Murray got 20 or more touches, starting quarterback Tony Romo averaged a passer rating of 112.10, 246.6 yards per game, along with 12 combined touchdown passes with 2 interceptions and a 66.99% pass completion rate.