An attempt this week by Kyler Murray to express his support for a fellow dual-threat quarterback backfired.
On Tuesday, the Arizona Cardinals star posted a collage of photos to his Instagram account in which he was wearing a Michael Vick jersey from the QB’s college days at Virginia Tech. In one photo beside Murray was one of his two dogs, whose names are Trunks and Swoosh.
However, Murray clearly overlooked the connection between the Vick jersey and the breed of his dogs, which are pitbulls. Vick was infamously involved in an illegal ring in which pitbulls were made to fight one another, which temporarily derailed his NFL career.
Murray pulled the photos down shortly after posting them, and addressed the situation on Wednesday during a press conference.
“In no way, shape or form do I condone animal cruelty or dog fighting, whatever it is,” Murray said. “For me personally, you all saw me wear the Michael Vick jersey. A player that I admire very much growing up, and then just being at home with my pup.”
“I saw how it affected people, and decided to take it down.”
QB Kyler Murray addresses the media https://t.co/BUDgCN56hD
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) September 17, 2025
After Vick spent nearly two years in prison for his participation in the dog fighting ring, he later returned to the NFL and put together a remarkable second act. Since that time, Vick has contributed to causes around animal rights and lobbied for legislation to criminalize being a spectator of animal fighting.
While Murray couldn’t help but sigh at the absurdity of being caught up in the situation almost 20 years later, he clearly took it seriously enough to delete the post and move forward.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.