What is the Kyler Murray Call of Duty theory? NFL star performances dip at COD launch
FaZe Clan/ActivisionKyler Murray has officially become a Call of Duty partner, after years of jokes and memes at his expense around the video game franchise. But what exactly is the Kyler Murray Call of Duty theory?
Murray is the star quarterback of the Arizona Cardinals, one of the most exciting players in the league on his day and one of the team’s biggest hopes of reaching the playoffs.
He is also very openly a fan of Call of Duty, so much so that there is a belief among some critics (and even fans) that the game actively tampers his ability on the field.
While Kyler would disagree with this sentiment, the numbers over the years suggest that maybe there is some truth to the rumor.
In 2022, several posts went viral, showcasing Murray’s statistics both before and after both Call of Duty launch and during double XP weekends.
The following graphs, plotted by rosecitypeach, show how Kyler’s fantasy points dipped after the launch of each COD game from 2019-2021. No doubt, fantasy managers who drafted the Cardinals star may be tempted to bring someone else in after Black Ops 6 releases on October 25, 2024.
Not just that, though, but one fan assessed Kyler’s regular performances during the season alongside how he would play during Call of Duty’s Double XP weekends.
During these weekends, he showed a -7.77 passer rating, -6 Yards per Game (YPG), -0.12& completion percentage, and a -0.169 win% difference compared to his usual stats.
The difference isn’t huge but often coincided with worse overall team performances too, with the Cardinals starting to drop off as they reach the later stages of the regular season
FaZe ClanKyler Murray becomes Call of Duty Partner
After all of the jokes and analysis over the years, it was announced on October 7, 2024, that Kyler had officially become a COD Partner, which is usually reserved for pros and top content creators who play the game.
“To the trolls who memed me into a bag, thank you!” he said on X (formerly Twitter). “I’m officially launching my Call of Duty partnership!”
The announcement came as the latest installment of The Replacer commercial series in the lead-up to Black Ops 6.
The Replacer — a fictitious character played by Peter Stormare who can replace anybody at their job so they can stay home to play — took on the role of starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals so that Kyler “could stay home and practice.”
It will be interesting to see whether Murray’s stats take a dip after Black Ops 6 launches in October, but he shouldn’t have too much trouble against the likes of the Miami Dolphins and the Chicago Bears in the weeks immediately after.