OL Rob Murphy (official thread)

[Scooch]

QUOTE

Murphy to test free-agent market
Canwest News Service; Vancouver Province
Published: Wednesday, January 14, 2009

VANCOUVER -- A promise made when Rob Murphy was forging his CFL career is about to send the rest of the league's teams scurrying to their respective ledger sheets and the Lions in search of a long-lasting headache remedy.

Murphy, twice named the CFL's top offensive lineman, told Lions coach and general manager Wally Buono in a meeting Tuesday that he will not re-sign at least until Feb. 16, when he is able to test his free-agent market value.

B.C. still holds the rights to the 29-year-old left tackle for another month, and Buono has tendered a contract offer that contains a pay increase from the deal worth $145,000 annually Murphy signed two years ago.

QUOTE

Coveted free agent offensive lineman Rob Murphy is heading to the Toronto Argonauts. February 16, 2009

Murphy signed a two-year deal for $195,000 per season with incentives.

The 32-year-old left tackle had told Lions' GM Wally Buono that he wanted to test his free-agent market value, and the Argos snapped Murphy up.

The 6'5, 310 pound Murphy is a two-time West Division and CFL All-Star, and has twice been named Most Outstanding Lineman in the CFL.

Two years ago, when Buono let Murphy shop around the league, the Argonauts were near the top of his list.


Murphy ages fast.

 

[osugrad21]

Link

Argos? Murphy ready to needle former teammates

By Lowell Ullrich, Vancouver ProvinceAugust 12, 2009


Toronto Argonauts offensive tackle Rob Murphy (file photo)

Photograph by: Peter J. Thompson, National Post

TORONTO ? A wry smile came over the face of Rob Murphy, and considering the play of the Toronto Argonauts lately it was plausible to think he hadn?t done anything similar in some time.
It did not matter to him that nobody on the Lions? defensive front had issued any sort of challenge for their CFL game Friday.
He did not need to be told that he had a rough outing against Montreal Alouettes lineman Anwar Stewart in his last game. He also did not need to be told that the Lions are snickering these days, convinced they did nothing else in the off-season but drive up Murphy?s asking price in free agency last winter so the Argos were forced to make him the highest paid offensive lineman in the league.
It was pretty clear from the look on Murphy?s face that he need not be called out in order to be motivated to face the team that gave him a second chance in the three-down circuit.
It was extremely clear he has a detailed plan as to how he might try to get under the skin of the Lions.
?Ever since I started playing football that?s how it?s been,? Murphy said Wednesday after a light practice to nurse a minor case of back spasms.
Cont...

 

[Buckskin86]

Murphy bigger and meaner
O-lineman Murphy arrives intense, ready to make up for last season?s disaster
By TERRY KOSHAN, Toronto Sun
Last Updated: June 5, 2010

In a sense, Rob Murphy is ready to make his debut for the Argonauts.

Signed by the Argos in February of 2009 to star on the offensive line, Murphy, like so many of his returning teammates, wishes last season never happened.

?For me, it?s about forgetting last year,? Murphy said on Saturday as Argos veterans reported to Erindale for medicals.

?I want to erase it from my memory. We?re just ready, collectively, to turn the page.?

Think Murphy is glad that the Argos hired Jim Barker, who knows the Canadian Football League as well as anybody, as head coach?

At times last year, it was obvious Murphy was biting his tongue. It was clear to many observers that former head coach Bart Andrus didn?t know what he was doing, and inside the locker room it was not much better.

?Ask anyone ? our offence was predictable, it was just bad,? Murphy said. ?I guarantee you this, the coaching staff is not going to treat it like they did last year, like a summer beer league. That?s the mentality they had. It wore on everyone, it wore on me. Just some of the stuff that was said after games, it was like ?Okay, we?ll try again next week.?

?(The new coaching staff) has experience and we will be held accountable a little better.?

The Argos? offence finished last in many categories in 2009, and the offensive line did not help, aiding in the league-high 55 sacks allowed. Murphy, a starter of all 18 games at left tackle, had a tough time mentally, enduring some off-field personal issues, and partly as a result, did not play to his potential.

?It?s all cleared up,? Murphy said, electing to not elaborate. ?I?m ready to go. I?ve talked to a few guys back home and they?ve said, ?This is the Murph we know of two years ago.?

?Am I happy with how I played last year? No. I am the first one to tell you that.?

The 6-foot-5 Rob Murphy that will be on the field on Sunday will come in at 325 pounds, more muscular and stronger after he was listed at 307 pounds at the beginning of last season. He has dyed his hair black and was wearing it in a ponytail on Saturday. He had his ears pierced during the winter and his lobes were adorned with black buzzsaw-type studs.

A father of triplets, Murphy looks like the kind of guy you would not want to meet in a dark alley. But as along as you?re not a CFL opponent, you would be okay.

?It?s just going back to being me, not conforming to anyone else,? Murphy said.

?It?s my rebirth to how I used to be and I feel good. All I have to answer to is the guys in the locker room and the coaching staff.?

Murphy bigger and meaner | Football | Sports | Toronto Sun

 

[Buckskin86]

Argos lineman revels in being reviled
Veteran loves to play role of villain
By Rita Mingo, For The Calgary Herald June 30, 2010

H e knows he's not the best-liked guy among opposing players -- and Rob Murphy wouldn't have it any other way.

"Even last year, people who know me on Calgary . . . there are guys who are, uh, not big fans, a lot of guys who are not fond of me,'' he chortled across the phone lines.

"And that's fine. I'm chomping at the bit. I love playing in Calgary, the fans are great. It fuels my fire. I like that role. It makes me play better. They're not just trying to beat me; there are extenuating circumstances.''

The 33-year-old offensive lineman will get the chance to foster the ill will on July 1 as he suits up for his second season as a member of the Toronto Argonauts in the Stamps' 2010 opener at McMahon Stadium.

Murphy is one of the anchors on a team that promises to display something altogether different to Canadian Football League fans. At least, that's the plan.

"We've stripped a lot of the team,'' he pointed out.

"The core veterans are still there, but we've made a complete 180 on how we play the game. It's a positive thing.

"I won't come out and say we're going to be Grey Cup champs, but it's definitely something in our sights. We're underdogs, we know that, and we're fine with that role.''

The six-foot-four, 307-pound Murphy signed on with Toronto last year, after three successful seasons with the B.C. Lions. His parting of ways with the Leos, he insisted, was purely personal. As a father of triplets -- who incidentally turn two on July 1 -- and with his parents in Cincinnati, he felt playing closer to home would enable his family to spend more time together.

Read more: Argos lineman revels in being reviled

 

[Buckskin86]

Argos? Murphy fined for offensive tweets
Mark Masters July 28, 2010

Toronto Argonauts offensive lineman Rob Murphy was fined by his team and the Canadian Football League for comments he made on his Twitter account on Wednesday as he and his teammates travelled to Montreal by train.

Murphy, a Buffalo native who uses the handle BIGMURPH56 on Twitter, wrote: ?At train station ? Pumped to be smelling foreigners this early in the A.M. They smell less offensive this way ? little known fact.?

Another post by Murphy read, ?OK ? the novelty of riding on a train thru Ontario and ?Frenchland? has worn out ? get me off this damn thing!!!!?

The league was not amused by Murphy?s attempts at humour.

?The commissioner [Mark Cohon] found the comments inappropriate and offensive and are not to be tolerated,? a CFL spokesperson said in a statement. ?The player has been fined under our social media policy.?

The policy, which was instituted midway through last season, states that any postings by players will be treated as public comments and are therefore subject to discipline.

Murphy is the first CFL player to be fined as a result of violating the league?s social-media policy. In subsequent posts to his account, Murphy responded to people who expressed anger about his posts. The 6-foot-4, 307-pound product of Ohio State University wrote that his posts were meant as a joke.

Read more: Argos’ Murphy fined for offensive tweets | Posted Sports | National Post

 

[Buckskin86]

Controversial tweets made Murphy look like a twit
CFL reminds its players that social-media comments are no different than those made during a media scrum
By Mike Beamish, Vancouver Sun July 31, 2010

They can give you a diploma at a university but they can't give you a brain.

Many CFL fans must think that statement applies to the Argos' Rob Murphy, the offensive lineman from Ohio State who truly lived up to being offensive when he violated the league's social media policy on his Twitter account: BIGMURPH56.

In case you missed it, the former Lion was fined an undisclosed amount by commissioner Mark Cohon after the Argos took the train to Montreal for Thursday's game at Percival Molson Stadium. Taking Via Rail may be a socially and environmentally friendly way to travel but boring, according to the socially inappropriate Mr. Murphy.

One of his posts read: "At the train station ... Pumped to be smelling foreigners this early in the A.M. They smell less offensive this way ... little known fact."

Read more: Controversial tweets made Murphy look like a twit

 

[BigJim]

Murphy, a Buffalo native who uses the handle BIGMURPH56 on Twitter, wrote: ?At train station ? Pumped to be smelling foreigners this early in the A.M. They smell less offensive this way ? little known fact.?

Another post by Murphy read, ?OK ? the novelty of riding on a train thru Ontario and ?Frenchland? has worn out ? get me off this damn thing!!!!?

 

[Buckskin86]

Argos' Murphy proud his his discipline
By TERRY KOSHAN, Toronto Sun
Last Updated: October 8, 2010

REGINA - The big, bruising Rob Murphy has become the Argonauts? poster boy for discipline.

The 6-foot-5, 310-pound Murphy, somewhat unbelievably, has not been flagged for a penalty in 2010.

This after he was thrown out of two games in 2009 for rough play and, during his days as a B.C. Lion, might have averaged about one unnecessary roughness penalty a game.

?No offside, holding, nothing, and I am proud of that,? Murphy said. ?I don?t want to say it?s maturity, but it could be. It?s just playing smart.

?I?ve bought into the whole team thing and that?s what is going to win games in the long run. I?m going to defend my teammates when I am out there, but I will be smart about it, like I have been.?

On the whole, the Argos? penchant for flags has dropped through the floor. The Boatmen were the most penalized team in the CFL under Bart Andrus last year, and are the least penalized this season under Jim Barker.

And as for the fact that Mosaic Stadium will be loud on Saturday, Murphy gets it. But he spent four years at Ohio State, where capacity is over 102,000. Four seasons in the National Football League also got him accustomed to noisy crowds.

?No comparison,? Murphy said with a chuckle. ?(Mosaic) is loud, but what do they seat here (28,800)? What a lot of Canadians don?t understand is that the American guys, in college, played in front of an average of about 50,000 a week.?

http://www.torontosun.com/sports/football/2010/10/08/15637636.html

 

[Buckskin86]

Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Argos' Rob Murphy: A reserved "Nasty"
By TERRY KOSHAN, Toronto Sun
Last Updated: November 3, 2010

Rob Murphy, already adorned with six tattoos, has an appointment to get two more during the off-season.

The 6-foot-5, 310-pound Argonauts offensive tackle will have ?Hooray for me? inked down one leg. Down the other, a new tat will read ?F%!@ you.?

?It?s just, for me, the attitude that I have to have to celebrate what I have, and I have a ?me-against-the-world? attitude, whether it is on the football field, that is my mantra,? Murphy said after the Argos practised on Wednesday at Holy Trinity Catholic in Oakville.

?I?m an individual, and that?s how I live my life.?

But not completely, and Murphy acknowledged the on-field bending of his own philosophy helped make him a top-notch player again this season. He?s the Argos nominee for most outstanding offensive lineman and has been recognized, in a TSN players poll, as the nastiest player in the Canadian Football League.

With the B.C. Lions in 2006 and 2007, Murphy was named the most outstanding lineman in the CFL. Yet after signing with the Argos in February of 2009, the 33-year-old struggled mightily last season, enduring some off-field issues and trying to play for a coaching staff that had no clue.

Murphy not only got his mojo back under head coach Jim Barker, but his dominance returned, with one major change.

?I wanted to erase last year and get back to how I played in B.C., with the exception of taking those 15-yard penalties (for unnecessary roughness),? Murphy, a father of two-year-old triplets, said. ?I?m going to be honest with you, that took, at the beginning of the year, a little bit, just buying into what coach Barker was saying.

?It worked out in the end. I can still do my job and intimidate, without having to get those penalties to force my point.?

Prior to the season, Murphy?s teammates demonstrated their collective confidence in him when he was voted as captain of the linemen. With one game left, Murphy has yet to be flagged for a 15-yard penalty. Other than a couple of dopey tweets that got him in trouble with the league in July, Murphy has tip-toed on the straight and narrow.

Offensive line coach Steve McAdoo noted that despite being around the football block a few times, Murphy?s willingness to listen didn?t waver this year.

Barker, of course, noticed.

?A leader knows he is either in or out, and he chose to be in,? Barker said. ?There were a couple of times when he wanted so bad to go in there (and raise hell), and he just didn?t. That?s the difference between being a champion and being the nastiest player on a bad team.?

Murphy?s professional career began in 1999, when he had stops with the Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals after three years at Ohio State. But nothing compared to his first year as an Argo.

?It was probably the lowest point of my professional career, and this whole off-season, it?s just how I am wired, but I kept on re-living each game,? Murphy said. ?I came into this year with the intensity I had in B.C.

?I motivate myself by fear. I don?t want to be an average player. I want to be the best I can be, and I use that fear to motivate me.?

http://www.torontosun.com/sports/football/2010/11/03/15951736.html

 

[Buckskin86]

Rob Murphy (Audio interview)
Offensive Tackle, Toronto Argonauts, with Mike Hogan
Sunday, November 7th, 2010

The Argos tackle joins Mike prior to Sunday's regular season finale in Montreal to discuss getting prepared for a game with nothing on the line, the difference between this season and last season for the Argonauts, and his being voted nastiest player in the CFL by his peers despite having only one penalty on the year.

http://www.fan590.com/media.jsp?content=20101107_174442_10168

 

[Buckskin86]

Cox: Murphy no longer the CFL's dirtiest player
Published On Fri Nov 19 2010

Argonauts offensive lineman Rob Murphy has only been assessed two penalties this season.
TANNIS TOOHEY/TORONTO STAR

Flags, fines, facemasks and, undoubtedly, lots of f-bombs. Those were Rob Murphy?s calling cards for his first three seasons in the Canadian Football League, along with excellence at his position.

In B.C., he was regarded as the league?s dirtiest player, and twice voted it?s most outstanding lineman. He was a modern, tattooed CFL version of the unforgettable Conrad Dobler, complete with leg whips, fights and ejections.

He called himself an ?enforcer.? He backed down from no man, and embraced his notorious reputation.

But then came a $195,000-a-year free agent contract in 2009 with the Argonauts, a chaotic organization that already was the league?s most penalized team before adding Murphy to the mix. Not surprisingly, they racked up the penalty yards again last season, worst in the league, with Murphy and Adriano Belli leading the charge.

http://www.thestar.com/article/894128--cox-murphy-no-longer-the-cfl-s-dirtiest-player

 

[Buckskin86]

Argos? Murphy opens up about Twitter and last year?s fines
Mark Masters Jul 15, 2011

Rebecca Rempel/Argonauts/Handout
Argos' Rob Murphy.

Some of Rob Murphy?s teammates pretended to be upset when they saw the burly offensive lineman conducting an interview after practice on Wednesday. ?Don?t worry,? Murphy shot back. ?I?m not going to get fined.? The Toronto Argonauts left tackle was fined by both his team and the Canadian Football League last year after posting messages on Twitter that were deemed offensive.

Murphy learned his lesson and continues to use the social media website to share his thoughts and dry wit with the world. He knows the CFL is watching closely ? he has already been warned once this season for using profane language ? but he refuses to alter his style.

During a conversation with the Post this week Murphy spoke about his philosophy when it comes to Twitter. The following is a transcript of the exchange.

What do you like about Twitter?
It?s a good way for fans to interact with players. This is a fan-driven league. I very seldom talk about football. It?s more everything else. I think the more people know the personality behind the player the more intriguing this league is.

How did last year?s fine change how you tweet?
I made a mistake by saying what I said. It was a joke and I didn?t realize that a lot of these people who follow me don?t know me and how I am. Obviously when they saw those words in black and white it?s hard to get the tone. I was reluctant after that, but I have navigated through the system the last year and I know what?s kosher and what?s not.

Cont..

http://sports.nationalpost.com/2011/07/15/argos-murphy-opens-up-about-twitter-and-last-years-fines/

 

[Buckskin86]

Rob Murphy was back at practice on Thursday after missing Wednesday?s session with a knee problem, and it appears the Argonauts left tackle will play against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Ivor Wynne Stadium on Saturday night.

?It?s a huge game,? Murphy said. ?We have ourselves in this bind (a five-game losing streak) right now, and it has been a playoff atmosphere this week in practice. People are moving around a lot faster.?

Murphy has been absent from several practices this season for various elements but the 34-year-old scoffed at the notion that age is gaining on him.

?I could play in this league, if I wanted to, five more years,? Murphy said. ?It?s not catching up to me.?

The Argos and Ticats will have to settle for the Aug. 13 Classic, as the CFL couldn?t find a way to have the teams meet in Steeltown for their annual Labour Day clash. For Murphy, it?s not a big deal.

?Any time you play there, you treat it that way anyway,? Murphy said. ?Any time we go into that pit, it?s a heated rivalry. The fans are on you, the atmosphere is always the same.?

http://www.lfpress.com/sports/football/2011/08/11/18542646-qmi.html

 

[Jake]

"Always great to see my good friend Marwan Hage before this classic rivalry"

http://lockerz.com/s/129327084

 

[Buckskin86]

Argos won't write off Murphy's season
By Terry Koshan ,Toronto Sun
First posted: Wednesday, September 07, 2011

The Argos are hoping that Rob Murphy can make it back from a knee injury. (Ernest Doroszuk/Toronto Sun files)

The Argonauts could have left tackle Rob Murphy back before the end of the month or he could be done for the rest of the season.

Head coach Jim Barker is loathe to say Murphy?s 2011 season is done. On Tuesday, Murphy had an MRI on his left knee, which he injured last week against B.C.

?He did some damage in there,? Barker said. ?I hate to say a guy is going to be out for the year because of what happened with (linebacker) Jason Pottinger. It?s going to be at least a few weeks (for Murphy).?

http://www.torontosun.com/2011/09/07/argos-wont-write-off-murphys-season