May 2, 2013
Bronx, N.Y. -
Following the NFL draft last weekend, five Fordham University football seniors have been invited to NFL rookie free agent camps this week, the most of any Patriot League school. Patrick Murray will head to the Windy City for the Chicago Bears rookie camp, Brendan Melanophy will be attending the New York Jets camp, Greg Wilson will travel back home to attend the San Francisco 49ers camp and Lloyd Morrison and Stephen George will travel south to participate in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers camp.
Murray, one of the most prolific placekickers in Fordham football history, was a consensus All-American in 2012 and he also received the 2012 Fred Mitchell Award as the most outstanding place kicker in all NCAA Division (excluding NCAA BCS).
The Mitchell Award was one of a plethora of awards Murray received for the 2012 season. He was named a consensus First Team All-American placekicker by the Associated Press, The Sports Network, the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and the Beyond Sports Network (BSN). He was also named the BSN Special Teams Player the Year and received First Team All-Patriot League honors as both a placekicker and punter.
Murray was also named the 2012 College Football Performance Awards (CFPA) Placekicker of the Year as well as being named an ECAC All-Star at both placekicker and punter. It is the second straight year Murray has been honored by the CFPA as in 2011 he was named the Punt Performer of the Year.
Murray enjoyed the most successful season for a Fordham kicker in school history, leading all of the NCAA in field goals with 25 and leading the Patriot League and ranking second in the NCAA in punting average (46.0). He set a new Fordham and Patriot League record with 25 field goals, shattering the former mark of 18 set by Fordham's Matt Fordyce in 2002. The 25 three-pointers was just one shy of the NCAA FCS record of 26 set by set by Tony Zendejas from Nevada in 1982 and matched by Northern Iowa's Brian Mitchell in 1990.
Murray connected on four field goals of over 50 yards this fall, the most 50-yarders of any NCAA Division I kicker. He booted a school-record 55-yarder at Cincinnati as well as connecting on a 52-yard field goal versus Lock Haven.
On the year, Murray converted 25 of his 30 field goal attempts and 30 of 31 PATs to amass 105 points, ranking third on the school's single season list and becoming the first Fordham kicker to score more than 100 points in a season. He also broke the Patriot League mark of 97 kick scoring points in a season set by Fordyce in 2002.
Over his career, Murray booted 38 field goals, sixth best all-time at Fordham.
Melanophy, a two-year starter at free safety who was named to the 2012 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team®, closed out an outstanding four-year career at Fordham this fall. He recorded 41 total tackles this year, 23 solo, while also breaking up five passes and intercepting two.
Over his career, Melanophy made 166 total tackles, 111 solo, in 43 games, with three interceptions and ten pass deflections.
Danbury's Melanophy invited to Jets rookie camp (newstimes.com).
Wilson, a two-year starter at wide receiver for the Rams after transferring in from Diablo Valley Community College, caught 41 passes for 545 yards with four touchdowns in 2012. He was second on the team in receiving yards and touchdowns and he was tenth in the Patriot League in receiving yards per game (48.5).
Over the past two years, Wilson hauled in 67 passes for 1,064 yards, 14th on the Fordham all-time list, and eight touchdowns in 22 career games.
Morrison, who played in two college all-star bowl games this year (the Casino Del Sol All-Star Game and the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl), is a three-year starter on the Fordham offensive line, starting all eleven games at left guard for the Rams in 2012. He helped the Fordham offense average 435.7 yards/game, second best in the Patriot League and 20th best in the NCAA FCS while the Rams scored 31.2 ppg, second in the league and 31st in the NCAA FCS. The Rams also had the second ranked passing offense in the Patriot League in 2012, averaging 279.6 yards/game, 18th best in the NCAA FCS.
George, a defensive lineman, saw limited action this year after joining the Rams in August. He arrived at Fordham for graduate school after graduating from Greenwich University in London but is originally from Nigeria At 6'8, 310-pounds, his size impressed the NFL scouts.
