John Murphy wanted out on his terms as voice of the Buffalo Bills

It’s always difficult to say goodbye to a job you love, especially when it happens under unfortunate circumstances. The Buffalo Bills organization and its many fans throughout Western New York were saddened to learn a few weeks ago that longtime Bills radio announcer John Murphy was would retire from the play-by-play position after 35 years in the radio booth. Murphy spent 16 years as a color analyst and 19 years as a play-by-play announcer, but he continues to recover from a stroke he suffered on January 1.^st 2023.

For the veteran broadcaster, reality set in: it was time to retire.

“I’m disappointed,” Murphy, 67, said in a phone conversation last week with Barrett Sports Media. “I’m nearing the end anyway, but you’d like to go out on your own terms and finish the way you want and I’m not capable of doing that. It’s disappointing, but in the same way, I can’t speak the way I currently speak, so I think it makes sense.

Shortly after the announcement, people including former players Stevie Johnson, Alex Van Pelt and Ryan Fitzpatrick contacted “Murph” to share their feelings about him. Murphy also heard from many fans and it was overwhelming for him to find out how much he meant to “Bills Mafia.”

“It really meant everything,” said Murphy, who was inducted into the Buffalo Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2019. “I guess I never appreciated the fact that the fans paid that much attention. You do that for a very long time. a long time and you’re kind of alone with the four or five that are on the air and honestly you think no one is listening. It’s very important, I guess, to people and it makes it fun and rewarding. In my opinion.

On a personal level, Murphy was extremely important to me when I was a student at Buffalo State College (now Buffalo State University) from 1985 to 1989. No one in my family had ever worked in the field of broadcasting, but it was my dream to do it and every young broadcaster needs a mentor. I’m proud to say that Murphy was one of them during my college years, always willing to talk to me when I saw him at the games I covered for WBNY, my college radio station.

Words cannot describe what this man meant to me and my career.

We shared a lot of good times back then, especially when he hosted a sports talk show on WBEN and I frequently called him “Peter from Porter Hall at Buff State.” I can’t tell you how many times I called the trivia game and the prize always included tickets to a local sporting event and a bucket of chicken wings from “Rooties”, a popular restaurant in the Buffalo area in the time.

To this day, it has been an honor and privilege to consider him a friend and to be able to stay in touch.

For Bills fans, it was an honor and privilege to have a true professional like Murphy in the broadcast booth. As a color analyst, he worked with legendary Bills play-by-play voice Van Miller from 1984 to 1989 and again from 1994 to 2003.

“Van was awesome,” Murphy said. “I learned so much about not getting in the play-by-play announcer’s way and giving him his time and enough time to prepare the play and finish it. It was great to see him do that and I learned a lot. I learned almost everything from Van when it came to the right way to do things. He will never be matched as far as I’m concerned with the play-by-play work he did here.

After Miller retired, Murphy took over play-by-play voice duties in 2004. It’s never easy to replace a legend, but that’s what Murphy did, and he was well prepared for the task to accomplish.

“I had huge shoes to fill,” Murphy said. “I feel like 19 years later, I’m still working on filling them. I don’t think I ever matched what he did with how he painted the words. It was a great education and a great way to learn how to do it the right way.

Miller was the voice of the Bills throughout the glory years of their appearance in four consecutive Super Bowls following the 1990 to 1993 seasons. After Murphy became the “voice of the Bills”, big moments were few and far between. In fact, the Bills suffered a 17-year playoff absence, a period of futility that ended in 2016.

After a long wait, Murphy was finally the voice of a Bills team that once again made Buffalo sports fans proud and gave them a reason to shout.

“We had some tough times,” Murphy said. “I was the voice of the playoff drought. Crossing that threshold and making the playoffs each of the last five years has made all the difference in the world. It’s a different game when the team is competing and the Bills have been for five years now, so that’s good and good to see.

A native of Lancaster, New York and graduate of Syracuse University, Murphy was able to spend his final seasons with the team calling some incredible moments, many of which brought Bills fans out of their seats at Highmark Stadium, but also a few that ended. their seasons before being able to return to a Super Bowl.

There are a few moments that stand out.

“There was Taron Johnson’s interception against Baltimore (2021 AFC Divisional Playoff) in the playoffs where he ran it back 101 yards for a touchdown,” Murphy recalled. “It was an incredible play.”

It was a great moment but there was also a sad moment that he will always remember.

“The game that upset me the most was the loss in Kansas City between Mahomes and Josh Allen,” Murphy said of the classic 2022 AFC Divisional Playoff game the Chiefs won in overtime 42- 36.

“With 13 seconds left, Josh had the lead, and they gave up the lead and lost to Kansas City. It was a bitter loss, but it was definitely a fun game to work on.

As Murphy steps away from the booth, Chris Brown is expected to be named the new radio voice of the Bills. In Murphy’s absence, Brown finished out the 2022 season and played play-by-play through the entire 2023 season.

Murphy, who had to replace a legend in Van Miller, believes Brown is the ideal man to take his place.

“I’m happy for him,” Murphy said. “Chris has a great understanding of how things work in the league and how players are acquired and signed and he also does his homework. I think he’s great and will do a great job.

Even though Murphy has stepped away from play-by-play duties, he still hopes to be a part of the Bills’ game day broadcasts. If his speech improves by September, Murphy is expected to offer one- or two-minute features during the pregame show.

“I hope so,” Murphy said. “That remains to be seen, but I hope it turns out that way.”

The same goes for all the Western New Yorkers who have been accustomed to hearing Murphy on the shows for so many years. In addition to the continued excitement about the Bills being a perennial playoff team, Murphy shares the excitement of the organization and fans about the new stadium currently under construction.

Without a deal for a new home in the Buffalo area, there was a good chance the Bills would have been forced to move to another market.

“You go through it and you can feel it’s real and it’s happening and the Bills are here to stay,” Murphy said. “It’s very exciting and very exciting to see the Bills established in Western New York for years to come now.”

I mean no disrespect to so many other NFL play-by-play radio announcers, but I have to admit something. Whether it was my time at SirusXM NFL Radio or my current time at Infinity Sports Network (formerly CBS Sports Radio), I always looked forward to working an NFL Sunday, Thursday or Monday and using the play-calls by-play from John Murphy on my updates. As long as the Bills were winning, I always used his highlights. I will miss those calls (but not the ones when the Bills beat the Jets), as will Bills fans.

We hope his health continues to improve and he can still be a part of Bills broadcasts in some way in the future.