Frank Murphy (born February 11, 1977) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

. He was drafted by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

in the sixth round of the

2000 NFL draft The 2000 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur U.S. college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 15– 16, 2000, at the Theat ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Kansas State Wildcats The Kansas State Wildcats (variously "Kansas State", "K-State", or "KSU") are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Kansas State University. The School colors, official color of the teams is Royal Purple; white and silver are gener ...

. Murphy was also a member of the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Argonauts compete in the East Division (CFL), East Division of t ...

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home game ...

Florida Tuskers Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, and

Tampa Bay Storm The Tampa Bay Storm were a professional arena football team based in Tampa, Florida, US. It played in the Arena Football League (AFL). Originally the team was located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and operated as the Pittsburgh Gladiators. The ...

Early life

Murphy was an

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

n, All-State and Nassau County Player of the Year as a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

and return specialist at

West Nassau High School West Nassau High School is a rural public high school for grade 9-12 located in the town of Callahan, Florida. It is one of three 9-12 high schools in the Nassau County School District. Nassau County is rated as an "A" School District under the ...

Callahan, Florida Callahan is a town in Nassau County, Florida, United States, adjacent to Duval County. The population was 1,972 at the 2020 census, up from 1,123 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Jacksonville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is ...

College career

In 1995, Murphy played wide receiver for

Itawamba Community College Itawamba Community College is a public community college with its main campus in Fulton, Mississippi. Additional campuses are in Belden and Tupelo. History Itawamba Community College began as an extension of Itawamba County Agricultural Hi ...

. He transferred to

Garden City Community College Garden City Community College (Garden City CC or GCCC) is a public community college in Garden City, Kansas. It was established in 1919 to provide a means for post-secondary education for area residents. The school initially shared facilities i ...

in 1996 and sat out the season as a transfer. In 1997, he was named to the

National Junior College Athletic Association The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) is the governing association of community college, state college, and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions across 24 states ...

All-American first-team and National Player of the Year. Transferring to

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant coll ...

in 1998, he appeared in the Wildcats final eight games as a reserve tailback, recording 257 yards and five touchdowns on 55 carries, three catches for 91 yards and a touchdown, and returned eight kickoffs for 210 yards. In 1999, he finished second on the Wildcats with 541 yards and six touchdowns on 97 carries primarily as a backup running back, caught six passes for 39 yards, and 199 yards on seven kickoff returns.

Professional career

Chicago Bears

Murphy was selected in the sixth round of the

by the

and released by Chicago in August.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (first stint)

Murphy subsequently signed to the

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

with the

and made his NFL debut on December 3, 2000 returning two kickoffs for 24 yards against the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

. In 2001, he dressed in 11 games for Tampa Bay with 8 catches for 71 yards and 1 touchdown and he led the Buccaneers with 20 kick returns for 445 yards and recorded two defensive tackles. In the first pre-season game of the

2002 NFL season The 2002 NFL season was the 83rd regular season of the National Football League (NFL). The league went back to an even number of teams with the addition of the Houston Texans; the league has remained static with 32 teams since. The clubs were ...

on August 12, Murphy returned the opening kickoff against the

for a 95-yard touchdown. It was the very first play in live action for the reign of

Jon Gruden Jon David Gruden (born August 17, 1963) is an American football coach and media personality currently employed by Barstool Sports. After beginning his coaching career in the college ranks and working as a position coach and as an offensive co ...

as the Buccaneers'

Head Coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

. Despite this, Murphy was subsequently released by Tampa Bay during final cuts.

Houston Texans

Murphy signed as a free agent with the

on November 27, 2002, dressing in five games for the Texans and recorded 8 special teams tackles and 1 kickoff return. Murphy was released by the Texans following training camp in 2003 and spent the rest of the year out of football.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (second stint)

Murphy re-signed with the Buccaneers as a free agent in 2004. He played in three games with the Bucs in 2004 as a backup receiver and special teams player before suffering a season-ending injury. He was released prior to the 2005 season.

Miami Dolphins

Murphy signed with the

in 2006 but was waived prior to the regular season.

Toronto Argonauts (first stint)

Murphy signed as a free agent with the

on June 10, 2007 and dressed for 16 games recording 37 catches for 614 yards and 3 touchdowns making him the Argonauts’ third-leading receiver that year.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Murphy was traded to the

in exchange for

Anthony Davis Anthony Marshon Davis Jr. (born March 11, 1993), nicknamed "AD" and "the Brow", is an American professional basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Davis, a Power forward (basketball), power f ...

on December 18, 2007.

Toronto Argonauts (second stint)

After a year out of football, Murphy re-signed with the Argonauts on April 15, 2009. He was released in June.

Florida Tuskers

Murphy was signed by the

of the United Football League on September 3, 2009.

Tampa Bay Storm

Murphy was signed by the

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

in February 2011.

References

External links

Stats Crew profileToronto Argonauts bioUFL bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Frank 1977 births Living people People from Nassau County, Florida Players of American football from Jacksonville, Florida American football running backs American football wide receivers American football return specialists Kansas State Wildcats football players Chicago Bears players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Houston Texans players 21st-century American sportsmen Miami Dolphins players Florida Tuskers players Tampa Bay Storm players Players of Canadian football from Jacksonville, Florida Canadian football wide receivers Toronto Argonauts players Hamilton Tiger-Cats players