Runnin' With The Racers Podcast - Michael Proctor - Murray State University Athletics

The amazing football career of Murray State's Michael Proctor was recalled when the former all-star quarterback visited the Runnin' with the Racers Podcast.

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Known as "The Field General", Proctor arrived from Sylvester, Georgia, in the fall of 1985. He left in 1989 with every MSU record for quarterbacks and many for the Ohio Valley Conference. When a chance to play in the National Football League didn't materialize, he had the unique experience of playing six seasons in the colorful and quirky World League of American Football (WLAF), Canadian Football League (CFL) and the Arena Football League.

Playing for Coach Frank Beamer and then Mike Mahoney, Proctor set the gold standard for the MSU quarterbacks. This includes the only two signal callers to best Proctor's 8,632 passing yards: KD Humphries (2012-16) 10,458 yards and Casey Brockman (2009-12) 9,990 yards. MSU's original duel-threat player, Proctor was the first quarterback in Murray State history to net more than 1,500 yards of total offense in four consecutive seasons.

A freshman in the 1986 season, Proctor helped the Racers to a five-game win streak to become OVC champions. The Racers won the final game at Austin Peay 24-14 in Clarksville, Tenn., to share the title with Eastern Kentucky. MSU received the conference's bid to the I-AA playoffs where they traveled to Charleston, to face the Eastern Illinois Panthers, the No. 3 team in the nation. EIU was still a decade from becoming OVC members and had All-America quarterback Sean Payton (Now a legend head coach in the NFL with the Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints.) Th Proctor, Michael 2

e Racers carried a lead into the fourth quarter, but eventually fell 28-21. Proctor was well on his way to becoming one of the greats at Murray State on 20-of-34 passing.

"We were right there and had a chance, but Payton was a little bit better that day," Proctor said. "We had a great team remembering back. Our win over EKU was huge and then to be down at Austin Peay and comeback to win was so big. I vividly remember the team carrying Coach Beamer off the field and then the time we had together in the locker room singing. I'll never forget that. Lots of smiles and satisfaction to bring home a championship."

Proctor, who wore No. 11 and Larry Tillman, who wore No. 10 in 1968, are the only players to have their jersey numbers retired in MSU football history. Proctor was inducted into the Murray State Hall of Fame in 2000 as the seventh quarterback and still most recent to be enshrined in the MSU Hall of Fame.

In the podcast, Proctor and host Dave Winder take a deep dive into the 1986 OVC championship run and Proctor talks about how playing baseball and football was part of the original plan when he arrived in Murray in 1985 and the disappointment of not being drafted in the NFL. Proctor also discusses how his Murray State degree has led him to a successful career in Occupational Safety and Health.

Murray State University Athletics

Runnin' With The Racers Podcast - Michael Proctor

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