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By: Dan Kidder
They say that a jack of all trades is the master of none.
But Kevin Murphy is the rare kind of athlete who defies simple sayings.
Murphy, like the Jim Thorpes and Bo Jacksons before him, was never content with the challenge of just one athletic endeavor.
He grew up playing Little League baseball, Boys & Girls Club basketball, Pop Warner football and youth soccer. He tried his hand at motocross for a while (“Just for fun,” he says).
His older sister, Erin, ran cross country in high school and earned a scholarship to UNLV. Since the middle school didn’t offer very many sports at the time, Murphy decided to follow in his sister’s footsteps and joined the cross-country team. He continued playing flag football and basketball while waiting for his chance to show his stuff at the next level—high school.
His freshman season, Murphy played football, basketball and golf, a sport he picked up on a whim and ended up playing at the varsity levels all four years of high school.
“We became members of the country club,” he says. “And I totally fell in love with golf.”
In his sophomore season, he once again played football and golf, but switched to wrestling in the winter season.
“I loved playing basketball,” he says. “I grew up playing with Beau [Reilly], Stehly [Reden] and AJ [Broomell] on a lot of travel teams. But I wanted to try something a little different. One of my favorite sports to watch is MMA [Mixed Martial Arts], and I’ve always wanted to try to get into that. But in wrestling, you work so hard, especially with the guys around you, it’s like a brotherhood of wrestlers.”
Murphy’s sports schedule remained unchanged for his junior year, but things really picked up for him this year.
In his senior year, he played football and water polo in the fall season, wrestling in the winter season and both swimming and golf in the spring.
“My buddy Ian Macfarlane said I should come swim with him because it’s a great workout,” Murphy says. “It totally changes your body. I used to lift weights to bulk up for football, but swimming really leaned me out while keeping me really strong.”
Not only does Murphy play so many different sports, he plays such unique positions that usually require specific skills beyond the pick-it-up-as-I-go-along mentality.
Growing up, he played middle infield and pitcher on the baseball diamond, as well as point guard in basketball.
Although he grew up playing different positions in football, by the time he got to the varsity level, Murphy was so good as a long snapper that he was able to work out his own practice schedule that allowed him to play both water polo and football this season. He worked out with the special teams unit on Thursdays and found time with kicker David Last to keep his game at the highest level.
On the water polo team, Murphy quickly carved out a spot at two-meter defense, despite his relative inexperience.
“I’ve played so many sports, and water polo is a combination of so many sports, it just came to me,” Murphy says. “I played against the other team’s best offender. I like playing defense, and if the team needs something, I’m willing to do whatever.”
He wrestled somewhere in the 140-pound range, posted a golf index of four (which basically calculates how many strokes above par a player is, on average), and swam the 100 freestyle, the 200 freestyle and the 100 backstroke for the swim team this year.
“I love the camaraderie with my teammates,” Murphy says. “I love winning, and for me, there’s nothing like trying to be the best you can. I was never the quarterback, never scored the most goals, never was the biggest guy on the field, but I always want to work hard and try as many different things as I can.”
To try so many different sports takes a unique approach, and Murphy says that each sport he has played carries its own mentality.
“It’s different for each person,” he says. “For example, a football player isn’t as methodical as a golfer. Before he gets to the first tee, a golfer knows where he wants to put the ball and he has a plan for that hole. A football player walks on the field and he has all his coaches worrying about the bigger picture. He just has to go out and make a play.
“In wrestling, it’s just you against one other guy,” he adds. “You don’t really need the whole team to do your job—it’s a team sport, but so much is placed on the individual. It’s all about self-motivation. In water polo, it’s a lot of work and a lot of swimming, but that sense of brotherhood is big. You work so hard with these other guys that you really appreciate each other. And in swimming, it’s a pretty small group but it’s really tight-knit. It takes a lot of work to do swimming, but it pays off when you start to see your times drop. The coaches were great—they know they work us hard, but we know it’s for our benefit.”
Murphy didn’t earn any scholarships for his play on the field, and even though he will always enjoy playing sports for fun, he doesn’t have any plans to pursue college athletics.
“My sister’s boyfriend is a division one football player—he’s six-two, runs a four-six forty and he plays free safety,” Murphy says. “I love playing sports, but I know I can’t reach that kind of level. To play college sports, you have to be so naturally gifted. I look at Stehly [Reden] and that’s the kind of natural athlete you have to be. But even if I’m not playing, I still love working my body to the point where it feels like it’s breaking down and exceeding my goals. We’ll see where life takes me, and what God’s plan is for me.”
Murphy’s father, Sean, was a Navy pilot, his grandfather was a Blue Angel, and his uncle is an F-4 pilot, and Murphy says that he would love to join the ranks of his fellow naval aviators. But he also says his faith plays a central role in his life, and that he’s willing to pursue other directions as well. As a core team member at St. Stephen’s church, Murphy says he wants to honor God’s plan for his life.
“I definitely have an interest in the military, but I want to go where God leads,” he says. “You don’t know where God’s going to take you, but if you love Him and serve Him, wherever He takes you will be wherever you’re supposed to be. For me, if that’s the Navy, then that’s great. But I’m open to whatever.”
Wherever he goes next, Murphy says that he will never forget the years he spent playing sports with his friends here in Valley Center.
“There are so many great memories,” he says. “Like rushing back from a water polo game at Poway to make it to our home football game—I walked in with no shirt on, my pads in my hands and my eyes still watering from the pool, but I made it in time. And I’ll always remember winning league with the golf team this year—we came through a lot. All the practices, working hard and messing around with the guys, those are the things I’ll remember.”
Kevin Patrick Murphy grew up in Valley Center with his family—his father, Sean, a retired Navy pilot who works for Computer Protection Technology; his mother, Colleen, an aide for the Valley Center/Pauma Unified School District; and his siblings, Erin, John and Bridget.
Befitting his Irish heritage—his grandmother is from Ireland—Murphy is a fan of the Boston Red Sox, the Boston Celtics, and Notre Dame football. He and his father are planning a trip to Dublin, Ireland, to see Notre Dame play against Navy next year. He also likes Duke basketball and has been following the emerging career of PGA golfer Rory McElroy, lamenting that “I was a Tiger Woods fan, but…you can’t really do that anymore.”
When he’s not playing sports, Murphy says he’s working, working out, participating in church activities or sleeping.
After his high school athletics experience, Murphy has some encouragement for young athletes.
“To all the little guys out there, don’t ever stop working hard,” he says. “You may not be a stud, but you mean just as much. A team is a well-oiled machine, and it needs every part to work. So never give up, and don’t be afraid to go out and try a new sport. You never know if you’ll like it, so even if it’s hard, keep pushing through.”
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