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Mark Murphy
President and Chief Executive Officer
Mark Murphy, possessor of extensive experience in professional football and sports administration, is in his second year as the Packers' President and CEO.
The Packers Board of Directors approved Murphy as the franchise's 10th Chief Executive Officer in a unanimous vote Dec. 3, 2007, at Lambeau Field. He began his work with the organization as president-elect Jan. 1, 2008, and then formally took over Jan. 28, 2008.
"I am honored to have been selected and very appreciative of this tremendous opportunity," Murphy said the day of his election. "The Packers are one of the great franchises in all of professional sports, with a rich history and incredible fan support. These are successful times for the Packers. On the field they're performing well, and off the field, they're in great shape, too. I look forward to being a part of that continued success."
Murphy, who holds a law degree and an M.B.A. in finance, brought a unique and highly qualified background to his role as head of one of the NFL's flagship franchises, first drawing from a deep understanding and appreciation of the game that comes from an eight-year playing career with the Washington Redskins. Later, he served a combined 16 years as director of athletics at Colgate University and Northwestern University, as well as an assistant executive director of the NFL Players Association and a trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice.
In addition to his playing career and work with the NFL Players Association, Murphy has maintained his ties to the NFL through his work on the Commissioner's Player Advisory Committee (1994-2002) as well as the NFL Youth Football Committee (2002-present). Now leading the Packers, he'll continue to increase his involvement and contributions at the league level, ensuring the organization has a voice in league matters.
"Mark brings an important blend of experiences to the job, so many of which touch on issues that we will be dealing with in the future," said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell upon Murphy's hiring. "Based on eight seasons with the Redskins, Mark has a deep respect for the history of the league, its players and coaches. He understands the impact of a franchise on its community and the importance of players and coaches meshing with their local fan bases."
In his first year in the role, Murphy broadened his knowledge of the franchise, its operations and standing in the community by meeting with employees, shareholders, fans and members of the Board of Directors, as well as many community groups.
Among his first initiatives has been to update the organization's strategic plan, a process involving all the leadership positions of the organization, including the Executive Committee and football operations. As part of the process, the club established a "True North" statement to complement its long-standing mission statement: "The Packers will continually strive for championships while being guided by our values in all endeavors with constant attention to protecting, enhancing and maximizing the Packers' assets."
The process also created core objectives to serve as a backdrop for all key business decisions to be made over the next few years. In a move to enhance those objectives, Murphy restructured the management of the organization, which included creating a new senior leadership staff consisting of vice president positions overseeing administration, finance, football operations, marketing and sales, and organizational/staff development, with the latter two positions new to the organization. The new structure reflects the growth the organization experienced in recent years and gives broader coverage across all operations with more people involved on a senior-management level.
Murphy also is directing the organization's master plan involving Lambeau Field, the Lambeau Field Atrium, the practice facilities and property the team owns adjacent to the stadium. The most recent project was the development of the new Ray Nitschke Field, the practice field on the east side of the Don Hutson Center. The entirely new facility includes a permanent seating structure for approximately 1,500 fans on the field's east side, a natural grass field incorporated with DD GrassMaster, the same surface featured on Lambeau Field and Clarke Hinkle Field, a heated portion of the playing field available for late-season practices and permanent lighting for night practices. The new facility will greatly enhance the fans' experience at training camp, particularly from a safety standpoint with the new field located away from busy Oneida Street.
At the NFL level, Commissioner Goodell appointed Murphy to the NFL's Management Council Executive Committee, the NFL owners' committee whose responsibility is to serve as the bargaining team during negotiations with the NFL Players Association for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.
The 54-year-old Murphy joined the Packers after 41/2 years as director of athletics at Northwestern University. At the Big Ten Conference school, Murphy oversaw a 19-sport program with a $40-million budget and 160 full-time employees. During his tenure, the school won eight individual national championships and three NCAA team titles. Additionally, the university won nine conference team championships and 34 individual Big Ten titles. A total of 49 Wildcats earned first-team All-America distinction. On the football field, the Wildcats participated in two bowl games during Murphy's tenure after playing in just four previous such contests in the program's history. In 2006-07, Northwestern finished 30th in the U.S. Sports Academy Directors' Cup standings with a school-best 626.5 points. The Wildcats ranked among the top 30 in the standings for the last three years of Murphy's tenure and in 2007 finished sixth among Big Ten schools for the third straight year after previously not placing higher than ninth.
The school's athletic success under Murphy was achieved while its student-athletes continued to excel off the field. The NCAA Graduation Success Rate (GSR) data released in October 2007 reported Northwestern's rate at 98 percent, tying it with Notre Dame and Navy for tops in the nation.
Prior to his tenure at Northwestern, Murphy served as director of athletics at Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y. (1992-2003), the school from which he graduated in 1977. During his 11 years at the helm, the university experienced a renaissance of its football program, going from 0-11 in 1995 to three consecutive appearances in the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs. In 2003, the year after Murphy's departure to Northwestern, the team made it to the championship game; the achievement of that squad - a non-scholarship program - remains one of Murphy's proudest moments.
"The accomplishment of that team, to go from winless to eventually the championship game, was outstanding," recalls Murphy. "We had to fight to just get teams from the Patriot League in the I-AA playoffs, as well as convince certain people at the NCAA that we fielded legitimate football teams - there was a belief that the non-scholarship teams were on a different tier. When our club advanced to that game, it was a great source of pride for our school, the community, and all the schools in the Patriot League."
Colgate's other teams experienced success as well, with men's basketball, women's soccer, women's volleyball, softball and men's ice hockey teams making NCAA Tournament appearances. The school also achieved graduation rates among the highest for student-athletes in Division I during Murphy's tenure.
A former All-Pro safety for the Washington Redskins, Murphy enjoyed an eight-year (1977-84) career after originally signing with the team as a non-drafted free agent in 1977. He was a co-captain from 1980-84, a period that included two Super Bowl teams (1982-83). He enjoyed his finest season in 1983, leading the NFL with nine interceptions and earning consensus All-Pro honors as well as a trip to the Pro Bowl. Murphy was named as one of the Redskins' "70 Greatest Players" and also is a member of the club's "50th Anniversary Team."
Joe Gibbs, the Hall of Fame former coach of the Redskins who led the team during Murphy's 1981-84 seasons, was appreciative of the player's contributions and lauded the Packers' hiring of Murphy.
"Mark meant a lot to the Redskins organization the years he was here and played," Gibbs said. "He was a great person along with being one of the brightest and most competitive people we've had here at the Redskins."
Gibbs had an influence on Murphy as well, as the Packers CEO attributes much of his leadership style to what he learned from the successful Redskins coach. "He had many leadership traits that I admired and tried to incorporate into my own leadership style," said Murphy.
"He had a very natural way about him with the way he related to people, and he tried to be accessible. He was a very effective communicator, too, as most great leaders are. And when he worked with you, he was very fair and sincere. All those skills and traits fueled his awesome ability to motivate his teams."
A natural leader among his teammates, Murphy served as the Redskins' player representative to the NFL Players Association from 1980-84, including the position of vice president of the players union (1983-84). While a representative, he served on the players' bargaining committee during the 1982 players' strike. Those experiences should serve him well in his role on the NFL's Management Council Executive Committee.
During his days as a Redskin, Murphy earned an M.B.A. in finance from American University in Washington, D.C., attending classes full-time in the offseason and evening classes in-season. Upon completion of his playing career in 1985, he joined the NFL Players Association as assistant executive director. While with the NFLPA, Murphy served on the bargaining team, including during the 1987 players' strike, developed the agent certification system and strengthened the PA's degree completion and career counseling programs.
While with the NFLPA, he started work on a law degree from Georgetown University and ultimately finished his studies full-time after leaving the Players Association. Upon receiving his law degree in 1988, he worked at a Washington D.C. law firm (Bredhoff and Kaiser) before becoming a trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice in 1989. During a four-year career with the Department of Justice, he primarily represented government agencies in trials. Then, in 1992, his alma mater called and he returned to the sports realm.
At ease in public settings and with the media, Murphy enjoyed hosting a weekly radio show during his playing days and later became a sports commentator for National Public Radio (1983-92) and the Anheuser-Busch Radio Network (1986-88), offering his insights into football and sports-related legal issues in general.
Born in Fulton, N.Y., Murphy spent some of his formative years in the Houston area before moving back to the Buffalo-area community of Clarence. He was a three-sport star (football, baseball and basketball) at Clarence Central High School and was named the best all-around athlete in Western New York during his senior year. His baseball talents drew attention from Major League scouts. In 2002, he was inducted into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame in recognition of his achievements both on and off the field.
Murphy and his wife, Laurie, who also is a Colgate graduate, have been involved in the communities in which they've lived. Over the years the couple has donated their time to numerous organizations, including local schools, the United Methodist Church in Hamilton, N.Y., and the First Congregational Church of Evanston, Ill. While at Colgate University, Murphy formed the Hamilton Youth Basketball League and served as its commissioner. Heavily involved in the community while with the Redskins, Murphy was named the team's "Miller Man of the Year" in 1984 in honor of his work off the field.
Murphy remains involved in one of the efforts he supported while in the Chicago area, the city's bid to host the 2016 Olympics. As a member of the bid committee's board of directors, Murphy will continue to contribute to the committee's ongoing efforts to host the Games. Chicago is one of four international finalists (Madrid, Spain; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Tokyo, Japan are the others) with the selection to be made by the International Olympic Committee on Oct. 2, 2009, in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Since moving to Green Bay, Murphy has engaged in a busy schedule of meeting with fans and shareholders, as well as speaking to a variety of business and community groups, all in the process of learning about the area in which he now lives. He also has given his time to several community organizations in the area to help their causes, including Big Brothers Big Sisters. Additionally, he serves on the board of directors of the Positive Coaching Alliance, an organization created to transform the culture of youth sports to give all young athletes the opportunity for a positive, characterbuilding experience. Additionally, Mark and Laurie are active supporters of foster-care services in Brown County.
He and Laurie have four children: Katie, 26, a graduate of Harvard who played basketball for the Crimson and now works at Credit Suisse in New York City; Emily, 24, a 2008 graduate from Middlebury (Vt.) College who now works in Washington D.C. at Blue State Digital, an Internet strategy and technology firm, after working on then-Senator Barack Obama's presidential campaign; Brian, 20, a junior at Amherst (Mass.) College and wide receiver for the school's football team; and Anna, 18, a freshman at Northwestern University.
Away from work, Murphy enjoys playing golf, fishing and participating in various forms of exercise, including bicycling and running.
MURPHY AT A GLANCE
- Named Packers President/CEO Dec. 3, 2007, by Packers Board of Directors; formally assumed position Jan. 28, 2008.
- Serves on the NFL's Management Council Executive Committee.
- Served a combined 16 years as director of athletics at Northwestern University (2003-07) and Colgate University (1992-2003) prior to joining Packers.
- Enjoyed an eight-year NFL playing career with the Washington Redskins (1977-84); served as co-captain from 1980-84, including Super Bowl Championship team of 1982. Earned All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors in 1983.
- Served as Redskins' player representative to the NFL Players Association from 1980-84, including position of vice president of players union (1983-84).
- Holds law degree from Georgetown University (1988) and M.B.A. in finance from American University (1983).
- Served as assistant executive director of the NFL Players Association (1985-88) and as trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice (1989-92).
- Served on NFL Commissioner's Player Advisory Committee (1994-2002) and currently serves on the NFL Youth Football Committee (2002-present).
- While a player with the Redskins, participated in the highest-scoring game in Monday Night Football and Green Bay Packers history, a 48-47 defeat to the Packers on Oct. 17, 1983, in Lambeau Field.
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