THE PASSING OF THE GREAT LEO MURPHY
By STEVE KING
The Browns lost one of their few remaining ties to their early days with the passing of Leo Murphy.
Murphy, of Montville Township, near Medina, died last Saturday. He was 94.
Murphy was the first real trainer of the Browns when he joined them for their fifth year of operation, and first in the NFL after their move from the All-America Football Conference in 1950. Prior to that, Morrie Kono, also the team’s equipment manager, doubled as the trainer. After Murphy arrived, he and Kono helped each other on both jobs for the next three decades-plus.
In fact, a photo that appears online with a story about Murphy’s death shows him helping Don Fleming, the young, rising safety from tiny Shadyside, in East Central Ohio who was one of the three Browns to die in the tragic offseason between the 1962 and ’63 seasons, try on a set of shoulder pads.
Outlasting Kono, Murphy was the team’s full-time trainer for 38 years, through 1987, and then served as the trainer emeritus for two seasons, retiring altogether following the 1989 season and a run to what is still the Browns’ last appearance in the AFC Championship Game. He was with the Browns with their four NFL championship seasons, and numerus other playoff trips, including seven other appearances in the NFL Championship Game.
In being an official part of the organization for a full 40 years, and an official part of it for years after that as he would stop frequently at Browns Headquarters in Berea to talk with his successor, Bill Tessendorf, and other members of the club, he was with the Browns for more seasons than anyone other than Doug Dieken. Dieken, now in his 31st season as the color analyst on their radio broadcasts after playing left tackle for 14 seasons, is in his 45th year with the Browns.
Murphy, who played basketball at Notre Dame, was a trainer for the New York Yankees, both the famed baseball club and also owner Dan Topping’s entry in the AAFC through that league’s existence from 1946-49. When the Yankees, Browns and San Francisco 49ers joined the NFL from the AAFC in 1950, Murphy switched allegiances after talking with Paul Brown, the Browns’ Pro Football Hall of Fame head coach and general manager, at an NFL owners’ function during that time. Brown knew he needed a full-time trainer, and Murphy’s credentials and eagerness for the job impressed him enough that he hired him on the spot.
Brown made a lot of great personnel decisions throughout the organization from top to bottom during his 17 seasons with the Browns, and Murphy was one of them.
In my posts over the next several days, I’ll take a closer look at th iconic Leo Murphy.
