COLUMN: What 'Superstar' Kyler Murray Told Oklahoma Before the CWS

Having never played in Omaha "sticks with me to my core," but he was able to impact the team by speaking with them Thursday and cheering for them Friday.

OMAHA — Kyler Murray never got to play in the College World Series. But he did play at Texas A&M.

That’s one reason why it was vital to him to be at Charles Schwab Field on Friday to support Oklahoma in the Sooners’ 13-8 opening-game victory over the Aggies.

“That’s one of the things that, to my core, kind of sticks with me, that we never got the opportunity,” Murray told AllSooners in the OU dugout just minutes after the game. “But I can live through them this week.”

Murray, who started his college career with a rocky season in College Station and finished it with Heisman flare in Norman, spoke to the Sooners at the team hotel on Thursday night.

“The coaches told us after the parade that we had a special guest coming to see us, and we had an idea it might be him,” said freshman second baseman Jackson Nicklaus. “But when we saw him walk through the door, it was definitely a cool moment for all of us.”

Murray asked his old coach if he could speak to the team Thursday and greet them again Friday.

“I get emotional about it,” said OU coach Skip Johnson, “because that's what it's really about. It's about relationships.”

Murray agreed, and now he’s making new ones.

“To be here for the kids, man, it’s super dope,” Murray said. “I know this is a big deal. This is like the College Football Playoff for us. For them to come to Omaha, something that they may never be able to experience again, it’s the opportunity of a lifetime.”

Murray played two seasons of baseball at OU and two seasons of football. He played 27 games for the Sooners in 2017 and hit just .122. Then in 2018, Murray played 51 games, batted .296 and blasted 10 home runs, 13 doubles and three triples with 47 RBIs.

He’s the only person ever to be taken in the first round of the Major League Baseball draft and the first round of the National Football League draft. He was picked No. 9 by the Oakland A’s in the summer of 2018, then won the Heisman Trophy that fall. Murray became the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft and has been a starter ever since for the Arizona Cardinals.

“His words were powerful,” Nicklaus said. “He told us to go in there and limit the pressure. Just go have fun. This is a reward. Quiet out the outside noise and just keep working. He said it’s every little kid’s dream, and he wished he could have been here.

“To hear someone like Kyler Murray say that he dreams about this when he’s an NFL superstar and we all look up to him both as a baseball player and a football player, it’s just amazing to hear.”

Senior closer Trevin Michael also described Murray’s visit Thursday as inspirational.

“Kyler told us this is every kid's dream and don't play tight just because you're in it,” Michael said. “I think we did a really good job of it. I don't know if it was his doing or us doing that, but it definitely didn't hurt, an athlete of that caliber talking to us — and for him understanding the moment.”

The Sooners jumped out to a stunning 8-0 lead and held on as Michael closed with 2 2/3 scoreless innings of relief. Eight players had hits, six had RBIs and Jimmy Crooks hit a three-run home run and Nicklaus hit a grand slam.

“The best part of that was you have John Spikerman, a true freshman, goes in there his first at-bat of the game, gets bases-loaded walk,” Michael said. “And Jackson Nicklaus, a true freshman, going out and did the same thing.

“Those are two freshman that are on the biggest stage in the world for college baseball and they go in and have poised bats. I think Kyler Murray — that's what he was getting at when he was talking to us, just things like that.”

Murray couldn’t linger in Omaha and had to leave after Friday’s game. But he thinks his message left a lasting impact on the players.

‘I do. I do,” Murray said. “And that’s one thing that I felt just talking to them and watching them play. They got a lot of young guys, but they got a lot of dogs on this team, and that’s one thing — I can win with that, just the mentality and the heart.”

Johnson said having Murray reach out and connect with his players and the coaching staff is special.

“When you have an ex-player like him come back, you know you've done something to carve your name on his heart,” Johnson said. “That he shows that he cares about us, because we cared about him. We showed him how much we cared about him; he’s going to show how much he cares about us.”