GLENDALE, Ariz. — Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray wasn’t the only one surprised Saturday morning by a birthday message from his teammate, fellow quarterback Colt McCoy.
McCoy didn’t know he had given Murray a birthday gift, either. During their morning quarterbacks meeting, a video of McCoy wishing Murray a happy birthday was played on a projector.
“I wanted to reach out and tell you happy birthday, man,” he said in the message. “I know you’re a quarterback, too, love the Longhorns. I just want to wish you good luck in training camp. Stay humble this season. Stay great. Be a leader. And, most importantly, today, enjoy your birthday, man. It’s special. God bless. See ya.”
The QBs got @K1 Cameos of themselves for his birthday 😂 pic.twitter.com/ulqU1avOTp
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) August 7, 2021
Wait, what? Love the Longhorns? Here’s the catch: McCoy didn’t know he was recording the video for Murray. In honor of Murray turning 24 on Saturday, Cardinals quarterbacks coach Cam Turner bought a video message from McCoy through Cameo, a site that enables people to pay celebrities to record personalized messages. He said the birthday boy’s name was “Buddy” and poked a little fun at the rivalry between Murray’s Oklahoma Sooners and McCoy’s Texas Longhorns.
Turner used his mother-in-law’s credit card and made up an email address just for the gift. That way, it was untraceable.
“I was sweating,” Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury said Saturday afternoon. “I was so embarrassed. Yeah, I knew it was coming, and [Murray] didn’t know, but it was well played.”
But there’s more. After Turner requested the video from Cameo, McCoy declined to do it. So, Kingsbury said Turner paid double for McCoy — whose posted fee is $112 — to rush the video. That got it done.
“It was quite a process,” Kingsbury said. “We were stressing.”
In a video that the Cardinals tweeted on Saturday, McCoy was seen cracking up. He had unknowingly taken part in an epic training camp practical joke.
“It was pretty genius,” Kingsbury said. “One of the best ones I’ve ever seen, but it was hard to keep it to ourselves all week, knowing that it was gonna happen. It was well played.”