DeMarco Murray DeMarco Murray ( born February 12 , 1988 ) is an American football running back for the Dallas Cowboys . He played college football for the Oklahoma Sooners . High school career . DeMarco Murray attended Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas , Nevada , where he was an all - conference pick three consecutive years . During his time at Gorman , his team was 3 - time Conference Champions . As a senior in 2005 , he rushed for 1 , 947 yards and 27 touchdowns and also caught 22 passes for 624 yards and 7 touchdowns , earning him all - state honors and the 2005 Sunset Region Offensive Player of the Year award . Murray played in the 2005 U . S . Army All - American Bowl . Considered one of the top running backs of his class alongside Chris Wells , C . J . Spiller and Michael Goodson , Murray drew offers from Miami ( Fl . ) , Penn State and Texas A & M among others . He chose Oklahoma over Southern California at the U . S . Army All - American Bowl . College career . Murray redshirted the 2006 NCAA football season . In his first game for the Oklahoma Sooners on September 1 , 2007 vs . University of North Texas , Murray rushed for 87 yards and five touchdown s , becoming the first player to score four touchdown s in a half in his Sooner debut . On September 15 , 2007 against Utah State University , Murray entered the Oklahoma football record book when he had a touchdown run of 92 yards , which is the third longest in Oklahoma football history . Murray tied Adrian Peterson ' s freshman touchdown record in 2007 with 15 . He logged a 4 . 42 ( team best ) 40 time and a 36 . 5 - inch vertical jump during the 2007 winter testing . On October 16 , 2010 Murray passed Steve Owens as the all - time touchdown leader at the University of Oklahoma with 58 touchdown s . He ended his college career with 65 touchdown s , becoming only the fifth player in Big 12 conference history to score at least 60 career touchdown s . Murray had 3 , 685 career rushing yards ( 4 . 86 avg . ) with 50 touchdown s , 157 career catches with 13 touchdown s , and 1 , 462 kickoff return yards with 2 touchdown s . Statistics . source : espn . com Professional career . 2011 NFL Draft . Murray was drafted in the third round ( 71st overall ) of the 2011 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys . Murray was the sixth running back chosen in the draft after Mark Ingram ( 1st round , 28th overall by New Orleans Saints ) , Ryan Williams ( 2nd round , 38th overall by Arizona Cardinals ) , Shane Vereen ( 2nd round , 56th overall by New England Patriots ) , Mikel Leshoure ( 2nd round , 57th overall by Detroit Lions ) and Daniel Thomas ( 2nd round , 62nd overall by Miami Dolphins ) . Dallas Cowboys ( 2011 - present ) . Murray signed a four - year contract with the Cowboys worth $ 2 . 97 million including a signing bonus worth $ 622 , 000 on July 29 , 2011 . Rookie season ( 2011 ) . DeMarco Murray started the year as the third string running back on the team behind starter Felix Jones and second string running back Tashard Choice . From week one to week four , Murray had 14 carries for 39 rushing yards ( 2 . 78 average ) and added 3 receptions for 16 receiving yards . On October 16 , the Cowboys traveled to Gillette Stadium to face the New England Patriots . Felix Jones went down with a high - ankle sprain , which increased the amount of opportunities for Murray . Murray finished the day with 11 carries for 34 yards and added 1 reception for 7 yards . With the Cowboys owning a record of 2 - 3 , the Cowboys faced the St . Louis Rams in week seven . Felix Jones was declared out for the game due to the high ankle sprain injury sustained the week before . The team declared Tashard Choice as the starter for the game and Murray as the second string running back . Murray ran for 253 yards on 25 carries against the St . Louis Rams breaking Emmitt Smith ' s single game rushing record for a Cowboys running back of 237 yards ( set at Philadelphia against the Eagles on October 31 , 1993 ) . The record total included a first - quarter 91 - yard touchdown run that is second longest in Cowboys history , after a NFL - record 99 - yard run by Tony Dorsett in January 1983 . Among the other records he set during this game were a rookie rushing record for a game in club history , previously held by Tony Dorsett ( 206 yards in 1977 ) . His 10 . 1 yards - per - carry is the highest rushing average with 20 - or - more attempts for a game in club history , previously held by Tony Dorsett ( 8 . 96 in 1977 ) , the 10th most rushing yards in a game in league history , the second - most rushing yards in a game by a rookie in league history , second - longest touchdown run on a player ’ s first career rushing touchdown in league history , and the most rushing yards by a running back in one game ever allowed by the Rams in club history ( Los Angeles and Saint Louis ) . Murray earned the Rookie of the Week award and FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Week for his game against the Rams . After the St . Louis Rams ' game , Tashard Choice was released leaving the team with only two healthy running backs , rookie Phillip Tanner and Murray , with Felix Jones still sidelined with an injury . Murray followed his record - breaking game by getting the first start of his career against the Eagles in week nine . In week eight and nine , Murray totaled 30 carries for 213 rushing yards ( 7 . 1 average ) and 5 receptions for 45 yards , With his second 100 + yard rushing game of the season , Murray became the first Cowboy since Julius Jones in 2004 to post multiple 100 + yard rushing games as a rookie . With 466 rushing yards over the last three games , Murray tied Eric Dickerson for the fifth - highest total all - time by an NFL rookie during a three - game span . The record is 577 set by Mike Anderson of the Denver Broncos in 2000 . The 466 rushing yards in the three game span is the most ever by any Cowboys player , surpassing 446 yards by Emmitt Smith during his MVP season of 1993 . From week ten to week thirteen , Murray had a total of 79 carries for 333 rushing yards ( 4 . 21 rushing average ) and added 16 receptions for 109 receiving yards and one rushing touchdown as the Cowboys went 3 - 1 during this stretch . In week ten against the Buffalo Bills , Murray fumbled the ball for the first time in his professional career , although the fumble was recovered by Murray himself . In week fourteen vs . the New York Giants , Murray carried the ball 5 times for 25 yards and added one reception for 6 yards before suffering a fractured right ankle and high ankle sprain that ended his rookie season . Murray was named NFL Rookie of the Month for the month of November . At the end of the 2011 season , Murray led all NFL rookie players ( with 40 or more carries ) in average per carry ( 5 . 5 per carry ) , yards per game ( 69 . 0 yards ) and rushing yards ( 897 yards ) on 164 carries ( second most among rookie players , Daniel Thomas had 165 carries ) . Murray tied for third among rookie players for rushing touchdowns with 2 ; Carolina Panthers ' quarterback and 2011 Rookie of the Year Cam Newton led all rookie players with 14 rushing touchdowns . Murray also was 14th in receptions among all rookie players and 2nd among rookie running backs with 26 receptions . He was also 4th in receiving yards among rookie running backs with 183 . Among all NFL running backs , Murray with 7 starts in 12 games , tied for the second highest average per carry for a running back with 80 or more carries trailing only Darren Sproles ' 6 . 9 yards per carry on 63 attempts . Murray ' s 897 rushing yards ranked 22nd among all NFL running backs and 9th in the NFC . The Cowboys went 5 - 0 for the season when Murray received 20 + touches in the game and 2 - 5 when he did not . In the five games where Murray got 20 or more touches , starting quarterback Tony Romo averaged a passer rating of 112 . 10 , 246 . 6 yards per game , along with 12 combined touchdown passes with 2 interceptions and a 66 . 99 % pass completion rate .