MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Three Mountaineer football greats will take a place in the West Virginia University Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday morning. Tight end Anthony Becht, quarterback Rasheed Marshall and running back Adrian Murrell are members of the eight-person class that will be enshrined in a ceremony at the Caperton Indoor Practice Facility at 9 a.m. The event is free and open to the public.
Becht, the head coach of the UFL’s St. Louis Battlehawks and the color commentator for New York Jets radio broadcasts, will be honored in a separate ceremony prior to the WVU-Iowa State game on October 12. Becht’s son Rocco is in his second season as the starting quarterback of the Cyclones.
Marshall and Murrell will be in attendance Saturday morning. Marshall currently serves as the Director of Player Relations for the WVU football program.
“This week has been a lot of thinking and a lot of reflecting. And here I am. It is all happening on Saturday.” Marshall said.
“Every single summer, just sitting around and hearing the classes announced, you can’t help but think, ‘I wonder when my day is coming, if it ever came’.”
Marshall was named the Big East Offensive Player of the year in 2004. A three-year starter and four-year letterman, Marshall collected 24 victories leading the Mountaineer offense. He accounted for 68 touchdowns and 7,598 yards of total offense. Marshall was a fifth-round selection of the San Francisco 49ers in the 2005 NFL Draft.
“I’ve seen a lot of guys come through that have been talented, whether in high school, youth league, college or whatever, but for whatever reason they couldn’t put it all together. Once I thought about it, I came to the realization that it was between the ears. Something in the mind was holding them back. Once I realized that, I understood that it was a mental game and you have to be able to move a little bit differently.”
Marshall was told of his induction just prior to the official release of the class on August 3.
“I got let in on the news and it was amazing. [Athletic Director] Wren [Baker] did a great job and Coach [Neal] Brown did a great job. They kind of matched the whole thing and it was a nice buildup that day. They called me in and I had no idea what was going on. That kind of put the cherry on top. In my mind, it was going to happen completely different than the way it did.”
A native of Pittsburgh, Marshall will have several friends and family members in attendance at Saturday’s ceremony. Marshall will also welcome players from his former youth football program to town for the event.
“I want to get them down there just so that they can see something positive, a person that grew up how they grew up and from the same parts they are from and they can see a successful person and help keep their dream alive along the way.”
Adrian Murrell’s path to Morgantown was an unconventional one. Murrell played at Leilehua High School in Hawaii. A videotape sent to the WVU football offices allowed Murrell to get on the radar of Mountaineer coaches.
“I sent out a VHS tape and then all of a sudden I am talking to coach [Dave] McMichael. He came out to Hawaii,” Murrell said. “Imagine that, I am 11,000 miles away and they go off of a video tape and somebody saying, ‘Hey, maybe you need to give this kid a call’. That’s my recollection of the story and life’s true mystery for me of how I was discovered by somebody that lived in West Virginia.”
Murrell was a fifth-round selection of the New York Jets in the 1993 NFL Draft. He enjoyed a decade-long career in the NFL, later playing for the Cardinals, Redskins and Cowboys. Murrell remains WVU’s all-time leader in NFL career rushing yards.
“There have been some awesome guys that have come behind me and in front of me to the NFL. I guess I had a little more time there and a little more longevity at that level.”
Murrell was a two-year starter at WVU (1991-92) and he led the Big East Conference in rushing during his senior season with 1,145 yards.
“The journey was an amazing journey, to have the opportunity to go and play at West Virginia and having Coach [Don] Nehlen have the belief in me to perform at a level that could help the team win. I am humbled by the honor.
“I’ve got to stay in the moment and be present. If I start to think about some of the times that I had there or some of the relationships I built, it could probably take me to a road where I could get a little emotional.”