NFL star Kyler Murray turns meme into Black Ops 6 advertisement

There is a long-running meme among NFL fans that Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray performs worse after a new Call of Duty comes out, and Murray leaned into the joke in a Black Ops 6 advertisement.

Kyler Murray is an avid video game fan and streamer and showcased that passion by joining FaZe Clan in 2021. However, that hobby took on a negative connotation when the Cardinals included a controversial clause in his massive $220 million extension.

It required him to dedicate four hours of “independent study” per week where he couldn’t be engaged in “watching television, playing video games, or browsing the internet.” The clause was removed two weeks later, but that didn’t stop the jokes from coming in.

NFL fans mocked Murray for performing worse after the release of a new CoD title. In saying that, it certainly didn’t help that a fantasy football user graphed Murray’s average career fantasy points, and there was a drop-off in production for three seasons once a new CoD came out.

Instead of turning a blind eye to the criticism, Murray leaned into the joke and signed a lucrative partnership with Call of Duty.

Murray posted, “To the trolls who memed me into a bag, thank you!”

The post also includes a Black Ops 6 promotional video in which ‘The Replacer’ replaces Murray as the Cardinals’ starting quarterback while Murray practices BO6.

The NFL star didn’t appear anywhere in the commercial, but it’s possible that Murray will appear in other promotional content before Black Ops 6 officially releases on October 25.

Ironically, the Cardinals are coming off an impressive win over the Defending NFC Champion San Fransisco 49ers on the road over the weekend. If Arizona falls back down to earth after this upcoming release, the jokes will surely be back in full force.