Like most college football players his age, Colorado fullback Jordan Murphy has always dreamed about playing in the NFL. He didn’t start a single game in college. He also never recorded a single carry or catch. And when it’s all said and done, there’s almost no way a pro team is going to invite him to a training camp, let alone spend a draft pick on him. But Murphy is going to try to make it to the league anyway and, according to him, it’s all because of a life-changing event that took place almost four years ago.
On the night of July 20, 2012, Murphy and several of his friends decided to attend a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo. He was inside of the theater when James Holmeswalked in and opened fire, killing 12 people and injuring 70 others. In a recent interview with ESPN, Murphy revealed that he remembers nearly being killed by Holmes, and he went into great detail about what that night was like for him:
"[Holmes] comes in to the right, my front right—we were in the fourth row. I can see his weapons. I can see him pretty clearly. He's dressed up like Bane, you know, the character in the movie, so you're thinking, 'Oh, it's opening night, this is some cool stunt to get people going.' But then he launches the tear gas and right then I knew it was real...
As we said, this probably isn’t a guy that’s going to end up on your favorite NFL team. Or any NFL team. But after what he went through, can you really blame him for trying to make a team anyway? He's got an incredible story. You can read his full ESPN piece here.
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[via ESPN]
