Murphy spent some of his early career at WLVL in his hometown of Lockport, calling high school sports contests. His broadcast partner at WLVL, Frank Williams, would go on to a long career as a play-by-play announcer himself, spending over 30 years at WESB in Bradford, Pennsylvania, though Williams never advanced beyond high school sports. In November 1984, Stan Barron, the longtime sports director at WBEN, died from thyroid cancer, shortly after calling the Bills' last preseason game of the year. Barron's short-notice death led to Murphy's immediate hiring; Murphy initially served in all of the same capacities that Barron did. Murphy served as sports director at WBEN from 1984 to 1992 and hosted a talk show on the station until 1995. In 1989, Murphy succeeded Rick Azar as WKBW-TV's 6 PM sports anchor, joining Irv Weinstein and Tom Jolls in Western New York's most popular newscast. Murphy was named Sports Director in 1992, one year after the departure of Sports Director Bob Koshinski. He held the position for eighteen years, until September 2007, when Murphy balked at taking a twenty-percent pay cut, as other employees had done because of Granite Broadcasting's financial problems. Murphy remained off television until his non-compete contract clause expired, after which he joined WIVB-TV, WKBW's crosstown rival, in March 2008, to become that station's sports director. He replaced longtime sports director Dennis Williams in the position. Murphy left WIVB in June 2012 to focus full-time on his Bills duties. During his time at WKBW, he made a cameo in the film Bruce Almighty, the only WKBW anchor to do so. In May 2019, Murphy was announced as an inductee into the Buffalo Broadcasters Association's Hall of Fame.
Murphy serves as the play-by-play voice of the Buffalo Bills radio network, a position he has held since the retirement of Van Miller following the 2003 season. Murphy is best known for his association with the Buffalo Bills. From 1984 to 1989, and again from 1994 to 2003, Murphy served as the Bills' color analyst, alongside Miller. From 2012-2020, he hosted The John Murphy Show,, a Bills-themed talk show on WGR in Buffalo.
Filmography
Bruce Almighty
Personal life
John Murphy is originally from Lockport, New York, and currently resides in Orchard Park. His father, Matthew Murphy, was a member of the New York State Assembly. Murphy is married to former Orchard Park town supervisor Mary Travers; Travers and Murphy were the first married couple to work at the same television station in Buffalo at the same time. The couple have two children.
