What's better than having one Murrell on the Jets' all-time roster?
Two Murrells.
Marques Murrell was eight years old when his brother, Adrian, a running back from West Virginia, was chosen by New York in the fifth round of the 1993 NFL Draft.
"The Draft just wasn't on my mind like that. I just took it as, alright, he just got drafted, and I kept it moving," Murrell said. "Later on, during training camp, I stayed with my brother for like a week, and he took me to practices and I got a bunch of autographs.
"Sometimes we would fly up on a Sunday to go to a game. Which most people at that age, flying back and forth to New York to go watch a game, when that becomes part of your life, you don't realize how major that is at that time.
"People used to always ask me questions about having a brother that plays in the NFL. What is it like? What are the games like? I would explain the best I could because it was unfortunate that I would fall asleep at the game sometimes."
Fourteen years after dozing off in the Meadowlands while watching his brother play, the Jets claimed Murrell, a rookie defensive end turned linebacker from Appalachian State, off of the Philadelphia Eagles' practice squad.
He was excited, and so was Adrian.
"He was happy," Murrell said. "He told me it was the same thing, just like how it was when I left for Philly. You've got to go to work. Nobody's going to hold your hand. And that's what I did when I showed up."
Showing up 12 games into the 2007 season, Murrell's first time on the field as a Jet was the December 2 game against the division-rival Miami Dolphins, which New York won, 40-13.
"What I remember the most about my first game was our first team meeting," Murrell said. "(Head Coach Eric) Mangini used to ask everybody questions about who's going to make the tackle? What kind of a kickoff return do we expect? He would always make sure that we know their key players. And the night before the game, and this is my first time ever being asked a question in the middle of a team meeting, he said, 'Marques, who's going to make the tackle?'
"I was so focused on making a tackle the following day on kickoff, I was like, 'Shoot, I'm going to make the tackle! Who else is going to make it?' And just like that, everybody started laughing. I was like, 'What's so funny?' It was, 'Who's going to make the tackle for the Miami team?' I said, 'Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.' And I was able to point him out.
"I was just so excited, the next day I ended up going down on kickoff and making the tackle like I said. But, yeah, that was the most memorable piece of that Miami game, my first game ever."
In 2009, Rex Ryan, who had been with the Baltimore Ravens for 10 seasons, the last four as their defensive coordinator, replaced Mangini, and made his debut as a head coach.
"It was exciting to get to learn defense from another great coach in this game. When he showed up, he was very big on everybody flying around, which was kind of in my wheelhouse, which I used to love to do. Just run around because you're able to make more plays that way," Murrell said.
"It was good when Rex came in. He just kind of kept it more lighthearted. I remember that we didn't have such long days. A lot of people think, in the NFL, you do a lot of standing on the field, running around practicing. But most of your time is in meeting rooms. So I ended up watching a lot of film."
With the Jets for three seasons, one of Murrell's fondest memories from his time in New York occurred during the 2009 home game against another division rival, the New England Patriots.
"I had a series to myself," Murrell said. "All three plays for the one series that I was out there, I made three out of four tackles. So that was a memorable moment. And I had a couple Special Teams Player of the Week (awards). I had a lot of good times in New York. A lot of me wish I wouldn't have left, but there were some certain backend office situations that made me leave in the end."
Now making his home in Charlotte, North Carolina, with his wife, Danielle Comstock, and their sons: Harley and Eli; Murrell is in his fifth year as a dealer sales and trade support with Liberty Crossing Capital Markets.
"I book tickets and help with the backend office for any trade issues. It's a trading arm of fixed income, so the other side of stocks and bonds," Murrell said. "When you buy a stock or a bond, they have to be placed on a confirmation ticket to let the customer know, let the trace know. The trace is the people who've got to follow the tickets that go in, who buys and who sells any stocks and bonds. So I'm the one who books the confirmation."
Murrell is also an independent auto broker, and has owned Murrell Motorsports in Concord, North Carolina, for the past 10 years.
"If somebody calls me up and says they want something, I go find their specific car and we do the transaction that way," Murrell said. "Sometimes I collect specific cars to put in my inventory. I like Audis, I like Cadillacs, and I like a lot of high-performance cars like Camaros, Dodge Chargers and Challengers. And I try to stick within the European high-performance vehicles when I house any for inventory."
