Published: April 16, 2008 11:51 am      

Former Mountaineer running back to speak at Howard-Lincoln scholarship banquet

KEYSER - Former West Virginia University star running back and National Football League standout Adrian Murrell will be the guest speaker May 4 at the third annual Howard-Lincoln School Scholarship Banquet.

Candidates for the scholarship must be decedents of someone who attended either Howard School in Piedmont or Lincoln School in Keyser.

Six graduates have received the scholarship award since the program began three years ago.

Murrell is a graduate of Leilehua High School in Wahiawa, Hawaii, where he set numerous football, basketball and track and field records.

Upon graduation, he accepted a football scholarship to West Virginia University.

In his sophomore year at the university, he became a standout, rushing for 904 yards and scoring seven touchdowns. In his final year as a Mountaineer in 1992, he made national headlines by rushing for 1,145 yards and six touchdowns and amassing 244 receiving yards for three touchdowns.

After his junior year with WVU, he chose to enter the draft and was selected in the fifth round by the New York Jets. He continued to progress with the Jets each year.

He was named to the NFL Pro Bowl as an alternate in 1996.

In 1997, Murrell responded with another banner year, going over the 1,000-yard mark with 1,086 yards and nine touchdowns.

The following season he was traded to the Arizona Cardinals, where he gained 1,042 yards and scored eight touchdowns, leading them to the playoffs.

Being plagued with several nagging injuries at the time, Murrell became a free agent and signed with the Redskins in 2000. There, he became a part of their decision to acquire several talented veteran players in an attempt to jump start the team under its new ownership.

Murrell saw limited play and later moved on to play for Coach Bill Parcells and the Dallas Cowboys.

He retired from the NFL in 2003.

Murrell, his wife, Tonia, and their three children reside in Charlotte, N.C., where he heads the Victor Supply Group, a company that focuses on the water treatment aspects of outfitting new commercial buildings.

The scholarship banquet will begin at 3 p.m. at the Washington Smith American Legion Post 152, 330 Virginia St.

To purchase tickets, call (304) 355-2928, (304) 355-2900 or (304) 788-1002.