When Justin Murray was five or six years old, his dad rolled up a couple of socks, and the young Murray would throw them as hard as he could against the couch.
He did this for hours. But he never really knew if the activity made his arm better or not.
He still doesn't know.
"I've never heard of it before," Murray said. "But it worked out in my case. It probably built up really strong tendons in my arm."
It might be because of his size - 6-foot-2, 215 pounds - or his general athleticism. In any case, the freshman from Fayetteville, Ga., is generating excitement from the DePauw football coaching staff, players and fans. Last Saturday against St. Olaf College, Murray became the first freshman to start an opening game since 1978. In a 31-10 loss, Murray threw for 170-yards, one touchdown and was 18-35 for the game.
He is quick to critique his pass completion percentage, saying he has to work on consistency and anticipation.
But he has plenty of time for that, even after about 10 years of playing quarterback.
When he was five years, old he started out as a defensive lineman with his father as his coach. He was on the defensive line because he was "bigger than the other kids."
In a few years, however, he found what he loves best.
"When I was seven or eight, the prototypical quarterback began to mold in the NFL," Murray, 18, said. "So my dad decided to mold me into that particular quarterback. Running wasn't my biggest thing, even though I was pretty athletic. I was known as that quarterback who can throw pretty well and run some."
He started at quarterback for his middle school team and earned the starting quarterback nod for his freshman year at Fayette County High School. He replaced Brandon Boykin, who graduated the year before Murray entered high school and was picked in fourth round of the 2012 NFL draft by the Philadelphia Eagles.
"With Boykin, they ran the triple option," Murray said. "It was really fast. I came in with the spread and that was a really big change for the whole program."
But before he could even get on the field, Murray broke his collar bone in the spring.
"After that I changed mentally, maybe I should start sliding more or running out of bounds," he said. "After the injury, I started settling down and learning how to play the position of quarterback."
He started his entire freshman year, but said he only won a few games. In his sophomore year, he tore his MCL in the fourth or fifth game, just when he and his teammates had hopes of a playoff run.
"I cried a little bit," Murray said. "I tried to be as supportive as I could. After that I had to re-learn how to throw because I was off my feet for two months."
He came back his junior year with a vengeance, throwing for more than 500-yards in the first three games. By the end of the season, he amassed more than 1,000-yards through the air - all while splitting time with another, faster quarterback.
In his senior year, Fayette County got a new head coach, and he implemented a new system. Instead of running a spread offense, the team ran a veer offense - one that relied more on the run-game than passing.
The head coach asked Murray to move to linebacker as his throwing acumen didn't mesh with the new system.
"I didn't want to change schools and project the image of a quitter," he said. "I did the switch for the first six games, and the last four games I played some quarterback and won two of them."
During his stint as a middle linebacker, he got more serious Div. I looks than he did when he was playing quarterback. Murray said while he wasn't getting scholarship offers, he could have gone to the University of Georgia, Florida State or the University of Louisville.
But he wanted to play quarterback.
DePauw junior running back Armani Cato, also from Fayette County High School, told Murray about DePauw and convinced him to take a look at it. Murray visited the university in February, and was hooked quickly.
"When I came it was snowing, it was all white and beautiful," he said. "The coaches really seemed like they wanted me to be here. They had a spread offense - that was the key. And they were going to allow me to play quarterback."
To play quarterback, Murray dropped 10 pounds and worked on his accuracy all summer. When he arrived at DePauw in the fall, he was excited to be back at the position he loves.
Murray's father, mother, uncle and two cousins drove 10 hours from Fayetteville to see him play Saturday at Blackstock Stadium. In his lone touchdown pass of the game - and first touchdown of his collegiate career - he remembers every detail.
"We were actually supposed to roll left," Murray said. "But I rolled right and hoped someone would get open. I see two guys coming after me and then Jackson (Kirtley) is open in the end zone. I put some air on it and let him make a play. I get creamed, and I look up and see him catch it. I hear the crowd yelling, it was a very exciting moment for me."
Brett Dietz, quarterbacks and receiving coach, said Murray is very coachable and is a dual-threat quarterback who has some rare knowledge as a defensive player in high school.
"There were times when he executed the offense like an upperclassman would," Dietz said. "It wasn't there all the time, but in spurts, you saw flashes of greatness that we know he can do...The sky is the limit. If he can keep improving, he can become a very polished quarterback. He's at a higher starting point than a lot of people because of his talents."