The Packers under the leadership of team President & CEO Mark Murphy are back in the playoffs for the 13th time in the last 17 seasons.
The former Redskins defensive back was hired to serve as Green Bay’s highest front office executive in December, 2007. He was honored last Monday night at halftime of the Packers’ 34-0 win over the Saints. It was Murphy’s last regular season home game in his executive role. In July, he turns 70 which is the organization’s mandatory retirement age.
“Murph, you lived the ultimate football life as Super Bowl winning player, college executive and leader of the iconic Packers organization where you helped them win a Super Bowl title,” Commissioner Goodell said via video at the halftime ceremony. “You have had an amazing career.”
Murphy was an undrafted free agent who played eight seasons (1977-84) in Washington and started on the team’s Super Bowl XVII winning team. He led the league in interceptions in 1983 when he was named to the Pro Bowl. He graduated from Georgetown University Law Center. He was a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice and also worked four years as NFLPA assistant executive director. One NFL executive recently said: “Murphy was a real pain fighting for the players union back then but, fortunately, he eventually moved to the management side when he became a college athletic director.”
Murphy spent 16 years (1992-2007) as athletic director at both his alma mater Colgate University and later at Northwestern. He returned to the NFL from the collegiate ranks at the helm of one of the most revered franchises in professional sports.
“When the opportunity arose to join the Packers,” Murphy recalls, “I knew of the team’s historic past, its traditions and the fans’ enthusiasm. However, I learned that my expectations on all three elements would quickly be exceeded. All teams say that their fans are the best in sports but…our Packers fans ARE the best.”
Under Murphy’s management, the team won Super Bowl XLV. He remains the only NFL alum to win a Super Bowl as both a player and again as a team president. He will be inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame this August as the only member of the Class of 2025.
We at NFL Alumni salute our brother Mark Murphy and thank him for everything he has done to continue the Packers’ success and storied history these last 17 years. Go Pack Go!
