It's not too often you'll hear an American football player describe meeting Tyrone great Peter Canavan as "like getting a chance to talk to God".
But then Pat Murray is not your every day NFL kicker. Born and raised in New Jersey, to US mother Linda and Monaghan father Aidan, his uncles Brendan and Ciaran Murray won Ulster titles in the 1980s.
Ciaran was an All Star centre-back in '85 and captained Monaghan to provincial victory in '88. He has been a physio with the Republic of Ireland soccer team since 1996.
Pat credits his kicking technique to summers spent lining out as a free-taking half-back on the Gaelic football pitches of Monaghan and with Rockland GAA in New York. He remains an ardent member of the Farney Army.
This says it all! Congratulations @ConorMcManus_15 @DessieMone_5 @dickclerkin8 and the rest of @monaghangaa ! pic.twitter.com/sqGVAvx6A6
— Pat Murray (@patmurray723) July 19, 2015
"The way I kick a ball is the same way I would kick a Gaelic ball because that’s how I was brought up," he tells RTÉ Sport. "Every year we were kicking ball in St Tiernach’s Park.
"I did watch a lot of YouTube videos of Ronan O’Gara and mimicked his style a little bit but I would equate my style of kicking more with a Gaelic footballer.
"I’m a lot smaller than a lot of guys (5'7) so I’m more compact. I think the biggest difference is that I have a fluidity to the way I kick the ball. It’s very loose and relaxed. When I plant the leg and strike the ball there’s a whip.
"The Gaelic ball is a lot heavier so it helped me create that strength, power and whip, and I brought that over to American football.
"When it came down to it, when I was standing over a free in Gaelic Park, I would take three steps back and two steps over, like in American football and that’s how I kicked."
Murray was the college football equivalent of an All Star and set school and league kicking records while earning a finance degree at Fordham University.
After graduation he was undrafted but managed to win the starting spot with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2014. An ever-present that season, he posted impressive numbers - particularly in long field-goals - despite playing for a team that lost 14 of its 16 games.
Just when it looked like he was destined for big things, fate took a cruel turn in the form of a torn cruciate ligament.
That wrote off the following season and soon after the Bucs drafted Roberto Aguayo in the second round in 2015, he was one of two kickers released.
For 2016, Murray displaced Travis Coons at the Cleveland Browns but injury struck again two games into the season.
"I had a great rookie campaign. Then I tore my ACL. Came back, rehabbed really well, went to Cleveland and won another job. Tore my patellar tendon on the same knee.
"I just had a bit of bad luck but thankfully everything seems to be really good now. I went back to my roots and did a bit more soccer and Gaelic football training and that seemed to really help."
Murray is now a free-agent. He was signed by the New Orleans Saints in August to compete with incumbent kicker Wil Lutz but was released just a week later. He's philosophical about the lack of job security or guaranteed pay compared to other US professional sports, soccer or rugby.
"I got released due to injuries in other positions," he explains. "They needed my roster spot. If a couple of guys get hurt at different positions, the kicking spot is the first one to go. There’s one per team.
"I knew it going in and that’s what I signed up for. I could get mad and offended but it’s business at the end of the day"
"You always have it in the back of your mind that at any time the team can cut you. Loyalty doesn’t really come into it unless you’re a big-name player.
"That’s the nature of the beast. I knew it going in and that’s what I signed up for. I could get mad and offended but it’s business at the end of the day.
"It’s strange. You think you can really make a difference and help a team win, and then something out of your control like that happens.
"No harm. It is what it is and they were very good about it, so you just get back to work."
Ironically, that same week, Aguayo was being let go by the Buccaneers after a single underwhelming season. The cameras for HBO's 'Hard Knocks' series were to witness his departure.
O corte do K Roberto Aguayo está no reality Hard Knocks da HBO. Que cena!
— Liga dos 32 (NFL) (@LigaDos32) August 16, 2017
pic.twitter.com/rL1QUayWK9
The nature of an ultra-competitive league - the average career is less than three years - with abundant injuries and little patience for failure means Murray will continue to train as if he's with a team, waiting for a call he's sure will come.
"I’ll be back in the league again sometime this season. I just don’t know when yet," he says.
"The sport is very violent so injuries happen. At the same time, there’s always another group of guys coming in from college. There’s always somebody on your tails, chasing you and trying to take your job.
"One slip-up, a couple of missed kicks in a kicker’s situation or a couple of dropped passes as a wide receiver and you could be sitting on your couch.
Sunny and 65 pic.twitter.com/QPtYOjs0cl
— Pat Murray (@patmurray723) March 21, 2017
"The way it works is, you can get called randomly if a guy starts missing field goals or gets hurt. You get on a plane and within 24 hours you could be playing a game.
"Teams will have workouts and bring four or five guys in. They’ll put you through a kicking work-out. If they’re ready to make a move then they’ll sign you and you’re the kicker.
"If not, you’ve showed them that you’re the best guy out there and if something goes wrong they can call you and bring you in then.
"It’s what I’ve done at the last two jobs I’ve had and I’ve won so I’d back myself anywhere."
"It’s very difficult to say ‘I have to give this up because I’m not good enough’ when I know that I’m better than a lot of the guys out there"
Murray is certainly not contemplating becoming an another early retirement statistic.
"I could easily say I’m done, and go sit at a desk from 9 to 5 and use my degree but I’m not ready to do that yet.
"I’m 26 years old. I know I can still play so I’ll keep doing what I need to do. What’s better than trying to kick a football for a living?
"I go out there and practice every day and I’m hitting 65, 66, 67-yard field goals, kicking my kick-offs through the back of the end-zone.
"It’s very difficult to say ‘I have to give this up because I’m not good enough’ when I know that I’m better than a lot of the guys out there kicking the ball on Sunday. No offence to them, it’s just the way it is."
The 2017 NFL season began with a shock this week as the New England Patriots team that pulled off one of the all-time great comebacks in last February's Super Bowl were beaten 42-27 at home by the Kansas City Chiefs.
Ahead of the rest of the week one fixtures today and Monday, Murray is understandably wary of prematurely writing off the five-time title-winning partnership of quarterback Tom Brady and coach Bill Belichick.
"The Patriots are obviously very strong," he reflects. "They lost on Thursday but the last time they lost their season opener they won the Super Bowl so you can never count them out.
"Everybody in that organisation moves in the right direction. They all believe in the same values and have the same mentality. It’s a team you can never count out.
"Atlanta had their chances (in the Super Bowl) but that’s what the Patriots do. It was incredible to watch. That’s why Tom Brady is the best ever. There is no comparison.
"Aaron Rodgers and the Packers (are strong), the New York Giants have the best receiving core in the league. Watching Odell Beckham Jr up close, he’s on another planet.
"I think it’ll be an interesting year. Nobody has an easy schedule or walk to the Super Bowl. It’s always a fun time of year and we’re all excited for it."
Another game the former Gaelic footballer is looking forward to is next Sunday's All-Ireland final showdown between Mayo and Dublin, one in which he is optimistic the underdogs can prevail.
"Mayo for Sam!" he laughs. "The Dubs are unbelievably strong. They’re probably the closest thing you could get to a professional team.
"The work-rate those guys have and the bench that they have, it’s incredible to watch.
"But Mayo are coming strong at the right time. Beating Kerry in the replay was huge and I’d love to see them win it.
"It’s hard to see anyone beating the Dubs but I’d back Mayo."
