Murray Gives Bo A Final Win

Murray gives Bo a final win

Ex-star enjoyed helping U-M beat Ohio State

BY COREY ROEPKEN

News Sports Reporter

Vada Murray’s biggest motivation for his final regular season game as a University of Michigan football player was making sure his coach went out a winner. Mission accomplished.

The then-senior free safety blocked an Ohio State field goal attempt - one of two the Wolverines blocked that day - as Michigan scored three times in the fourth quarter to defeat the Buckeyes, 28-18, in Bo Schem-bechler’s final game at Michigan Stadium.

“That was probably my best game against Ohio State,” Murray said. “He came into Michigan beating Ohio State, and he left Michigan beating Ohio State.” Murray has traded nerve-wracking weeks for a different type of pressure. Nowadays, he is a police officer in Ann Arbor and works at all the home games. He often answers as many questions as Lloyd Carr does in the postgame press conference.

People ask him about what the games were like when he played or what he thinks about the current team. But all the conversation doesn’t get in the way of his job.

“It makes it a lot easier because you know you have something in common with this stranger,” he said.

Last Monday night while he was working, he detained a man for suspicion of prowling. The man got defensive and asked him his name. When he heard ‘Vada Murray’ the meeting took a turn for the better - and he wanted to talk some more,” Murray said.

Growing up in Cincinnati, Murray was not a Buckeye fan. But unlike many Ohio kids who aren’t Ohio State fans, he was not a Michigan fan either.

“I was and still am a diehard Iowa fan,” he said.

But everyone else in his family was a Michigan fan and that helped him decide on the Wolverines. When he was done playing at U-M his agent contacted a NFL team but Murray’s heart was set on becoming a police officer.

But even though his days as a Wolverine are over, he hasn’t stopped the same practices he had while he was a free safety.

“You always look forward to Ohio State, especially now with the BCS,” Murray said. “It’s hard not to look at the polls. Coaches don’t want you to, but you look past some games a little bit.”

Corey Roepken can be reached at (734) 994-6812 or e-mail at croepken@annarbornews.com