The advice former Kent State cornerback Najee Murray received from Browns legend Josh Cribbs must have been pretty good.
After speaking with Cribbs, Murray spent this past weekend participating in rookie minicamp on a tryout basis and impressed the Browns enough to earn a contract.
The team announced Monday it signed Murray and fellow undrafted defensive back Donte Carey, a former Grand Valley State safety and cornerback who also tried out during rookie minicamp.
Murray told the Beacon Journal on Saturday he talked to Cribbs about his audition with the Browns. After playing quarterback for Kent State, Cribbs joined the Browns in 2005 as an undrafted free agent and went on to become one of the best kick returners in NFL history.
“He reached out and gave me some words of wisdom,” Murray said. “It was great.
“They say you have to continue to work hard, and being from Kent State, you’re kind of on the short end of the stick because it’s not that high.”
But he showed the Browns enough to receive an extended opportunity at the sport’s highest level. And it made sense for the Browns to bolster their depth at defensive back because cornerback Howard Wilson, a fourth-round draft pick from Houston, suffered a fractured kneecap Friday during the first practice of rookie minicamp. The injury requires surgery, so he’ll miss a significant portion of the 2017 season if not the entire year.
Murray, 5-foot-8 and 182 pounds, earned first-team All-Mid-American Conference honors this past season, when he compiled 47 tackles, 16 passes defensed and two interceptions.
Murray, a Steubenville High School product, began his collegiate career at Ohio State and played in the Buckeyes’ first six games in 2012 before suffering a season-ending knee injury. He transferred to Kent State, sat out the 2013 season because of NCAA transfer rules and returned to action in 2014. He started 26 of his 30 games with the Golden Flashes.
Now his NFL career will begin in the same state where he played prep and college football.
“You grow up rooting for the Browns as a kid in the state of Ohio, so I couldn’t beat it,” Murray said. “It is [Pittsburgh] Steelers country over there [in Steubenville] by the [Ohio] River. But my uncle has always been a Browns fan, so it kind of rubbed off on me.”
Murray isn’t the only Browns rookie from a local college football program.
Like Murray, ex-Zips defensive end Jamal Marcus began his collegiate career at Ohio State before transferring. Murray and Marcus, a native of Durham, N.C., were members of the Buckeyes’ recruiting class in 2012.
“Just to sit and look back on it, it’s something special to sit here and play with Jamal,” Murray said, “coming into college together and how we had to grow up and mature through different things, leaving college, and then we get to play at the next level.”
Other moves
Carey, 5-11 and 199 pounds, joined the Browns after starting 23 of his 53 games at Grand Valley State. He compiled 134 tackles, 20 passes defensed and seven interceptions in college.
The Browns also waived undrafted rookie offensive lineman Josh Boutte, a Louisiana State product.
Their roster is at the maximum of 90 players.
Business opportunity
Quarterback DeShone Kizer is the only Browns player scheduled to attend the NFL Players Association Rookie Premiere, which is Thursday through Saturday, in Los Angeles, according to the NFLPA.
He’s among the 40 rookies set to learn the business of football and make connections with sponsors at the 23rd annual event.
Beacon Journal sports writer George M. Thomas contributed to this report. Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com.