Photo by Ben Liu ’15
Brophy defeated Red Mountain 40-34 Sept. 19 in two overtimes.

By JP Hajjar ’16
THE ROUNDUP

Defensive end Connor Murphy ’16 goes into this spring with 11 D1 football scholarship offers including Stanford, Oregon, Nebraska, UCLA, Oregon State and more as of Thursday, Feb. 19.

Murphy said he has not narrowed his list down yet but is looking to make a top five group around June or shortly before his senior year.

“I’m not favoring any one school yet or leaning towards any right now,” Murphy said. “Just trying to keep an open mind with it all and just see where I end up fitting in best.”

Murphy said his senior year will be his year to live up to the hype and prove that he can play.

“Next year is probably going to be my biggest year mainly because I don’t have a lot of football under my belt,” Murphy said. “Last year was my very first full football season in my entire life so next year I hope I can live up to the hype and prove myself.”

Murphy said none of the schools really stood out to him yet, so he is keeping his options open.

“My dad, my brother and I believe that there is a life after football,” Murphy said. “And if football doesn’t work out for me, then I want to go to a high academic school like Stanford or Vanderbilt, but for now I am just keeping my options open.”

Connor’s brother Trent Murphy ’09 played football at Stanford and is now on the Washington Redskins but Connor said that his brother isn’t pushing him to play there.

“No, he is just like my dad and wants me to go wherever I want to and wherever I feel like I am going to strive the best,” Connor Murphy said.

Teammate Cade Knox ’16 said he has seen Murphy grow a lot since he first started football just a year ago.

“I remember his first play he sacked the quarterback,” Knox said. “That was pretty crazy. Just watching him grow from that to what he is now, where he now knows the game and knows his technique. He definitely improved his form and his speed and strength, too.”

Although his teammate plays on the other side of the ball, Knox says Murphy pushes the team to be better and is a leader.

“He is always hard working and is willing to do the hustle plays and do everything right,” Knox said. “He always gives it his all and he is a competitor.”

Murphy said his main goal is to play in the NFL.

“That’s my main goal, to make it to the NFL, and hopefully that will work out,” Murphy said. “If not, hopefully I will have my masters in something to fall back on.”