Latavius Murray

Childhood & High School

Born in Orlando, Florida on January 18, 1990, to Paul Murray and Tawanna Wright, Latavius Murray spent his early childhood in Titusville, Florida. At the age of three, Murray, his older brother and his mother moved to Syracuse to live with his grandparents until they found a home. As a child Murray was frisky and curious, participating in different sports like soccer, basketball, and baseball. At the early age of eight, Murray played running back and linebacker for the Toulon Tigers football team. His outstanding performance caught the attention of the varsity coaches at Onondaga. Murray proceeded to attend Onondaga Central High School where he played football and basketball. Pulling more than 1,000 points over his high school career on the basketball court, Murray set a record as the school’s all-time leading point’s scorer. He served as running back for his football team, and his accomplishments were indeed impressive, conceiving two 2,000-yard seasons in high school. Also as the team's starting linebacker, Murray was chosen as the Class D Player of the Year, and as a senior, he was selected as Gatorade Player of the Year for New York State with a record of 78 tackles on defense and 2,194 yards on offense. He was nicknamed “Tay Train” in high school and till day, the name remains a part of his career.

College

Murray was offered scholarship to Boston College, Connecticut, Syracuse and Maryland. He finally attended the University of Central Florida, Orlando the city where he was born. His father, Paul Murray still resided at Titusville, a short distance from the school and this gave him the opportunity to spend some time with his son, sharing his success on the field. Murray played football on a regular basis at UCF, making 45 appearances, rushing for 2,424 yards on 453 carries with 37 touchdowns. After posting over 1,000 yards rushing, Murray was nominated to the All-Conference USA First Team. In 2010, he was named the MVP of the Liberty Bowl for his impressive performance against Georgia. A fierce competitor, Murray attributes his competitive spirit to both parents Paul and Tawanna. As the first person to hand Murray a basketball, Paul was an excellent track and field athlete, and he also got involved in other sports in high school. Tawanna was equally a basketball player in high school.

NFL Draft

Murray's childhood dream was realized in April 2013 when he became the 181st player drafted in 2013 NFL Draft, progressing in the sixth round to the Oakland Raiders. He signed and sealed a four-year contract which included a $106,200 signing bonus, $106,200 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $566,550. In 2016, Murray earned a base salary of $675,000. As a result of an ankle injury Murray sustained, he was unable to play during his rookie season. This was the first time in his life that he had to sit out and just watch the game without being actively involved. More determined and stronger, Murray bounced back to the scene in his second season and made tremendous achievements. He was not invited to NFL combine but he got more attention after his impressive performance at Central Florida's Pro Day where he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.40 and a 40 time of 4.38 seconds. He had a 10-foot-4 broad jump and a 3-inch vertical jump.

2015 NFL Season

In the 2015 season, Murray played his team’s lead running back and became the pioneer Raider to rush for over 1,000 yards in one season within a five year period. The highlights of Murray’s NFL career to date reveal that he has rushed for 1,490 yards on 348 carries and a total of eight touchdowns. Check out a fantastic highlight on Youtube.

2016 NFL Season

In the 2016 season, Latavius Murray finished playing in 14 games, rushing for 788 yards and 12 rushing touchdowns.

Personal Life

Latavius Murray married his longtime girlfriend Heidi Mueller in 2015. His twitter username is @LataviusM while his Instagram username is @lataviusmurray. His jerseys sales can be found here  while his autographed items are found here.