NFL’s Kyler Murray Under Fire for Posing in a Michael Vick Jersey With His Pit Bull

Kyler Murray, an NFL quarterback playing for the Arizona Cardinals, apologized Wednesday for posting a controversial series of photos on Instagram. In the since-deleted post that you can see below, Murray wore a Michael Vick jersey and posed with his Pit Bull — a choice that stirred up heavy backlash.

Michael Vick pleaded guilty to dogfighting in 2007, when over 70 dogs — most of them Pit Bulls — were discovered on his property. The case made national headlines and galvanized animal rights activists, and Vick spent 21 months in prison.

Murray’s post garnered immediate criticism. He deleted it within a day, but it had already been reposted by various sources on X, with some posts gathering hundreds of thousands of views. Comments rolled in, with responses calling Murray’s photos “insensitive” and “vile.” Others defended the photos, responding that Murray was just paying homage to Vick and may be too young to understand the dogfighting association.

In a weekly Cardinals news conference, Murray was asked about the deleted Instagram post. “In no way, shape, or form do I condone animal cruelty or dog fighting, whatever it is,” he said. “For me, personally, you all saw me wear the Michael Vick jersey, a player that I admired very much growing up.”

He added that he is an animal lover himself; Murray has two Bully breed dogs who he regularly features on his social media. “My dogs Trunk and Swoosh, they both get treated like kings,” he said. “In no way, shape, or form am I condoning that. But I saw how it affected people and decided to take it down. I apologize to anybody and whoever I affected with that.”