The Denver Broncos took Red Murdock with the final pick of the NFL draft, and he's a very different kind of player.
One of the great things about exploring the backgrounds of late-round draft picks is learning about how hard they’ve had to work to get their opportunities. That’s definitely the case for linebacker Red Murdock, who’s been getting a lot of publicity for his status as Mr. Irrelevant based on the Denver Broncos taking him with the final selection of the NFL draft.
But Murdock is anything but irrelevant to those who have crossed paths with him. On the field, Murdock was a dominant linebacker in college with the Buffalo Bulls, and he set the FBS career record for forced fumbles with 17, according to a writeup by Sean Keller of the Denver Post. That record was once held by Khalil Mack, so it comes with some NFL bona fides.
His other stats are just as impressive. According to Keller, Murdock posted 143 tackles, 13.5 tackles for losses, five sacks and six fumbles forced last fall, despite playing with a fractured heel and torn ligaments in his right ankle.
Murdock is also community-oriented in an unusual way. He helped sponsor a tutoring organization called Homework Helpers at the University of Buffalo a few years ago, and he approached the founder the nonprofit, Julia Dietz, about having a role.
“There’s a real need for these services in my hometown,” Murdock told her. “There are a lot of kids that need access to education.”
“He was unbelievably passionate in the meeting,” Dietz said. “I said, ‘Absolutely, I’ll help you with this.'”
That led to Murdock being put in charge of a group of about 50 volunteers while working as a volunteer himself. Dietz offered to pick up some of his workload while Murdock was doing his drafts preparation, but the linebacker turned down her offer.
“I need to do as much as I can,” Murdock replied. “I want to use my platform to bring as much awareness as I can to it.”
For those curious about Murdock’s nickname, it stems from him being born with freckles and red hair. He played with New England Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson in high school in Ohio, and he wants to turn his B.A. in psychology into a doctorate some day.
At the moment, though, Murdock is hoping to earn a master’s in linebacking from his Denver teammates. He’ll fit right in given his loyalty, as he had several opportunities to move on from Buffalo when Power 4 schools came calling, but Murdock turned them down because he wanted to stay with his teammates.
“I’ve had opportunities,” Red recalled to Denver reporters over the weekend. “But I mentioned earlier being a team-first guy — that’s all that matters to me.”