John Murphy retires as Buffalo Bills play-by-play announcer

Murphy, who took over the job after the retirement of the late Van Miller, the Bills’ first voice, said his voice has not returned to the point where he will be able to return to calling games in the broadcast booth.

Alan Pergament: In a harrowing play-by-play account, John Murphy reveals what happened to him

“It’s a little ironic,” Murphy said in an interview Wednesday at his Orchard Park home. “I’m in the best shape of my life and I can’t talk.”

Murphy, who lost 70 pounds and attends daily speech and occupational therapy, means he can’t speak to an acceptable degree to do a play-by-play.

“I’m retiring,” Murphy said. “I was still waiting to get better. The recovery is slow and I know I won’t be ready in September, so I said, “That’s it.” I don’t speak well enough to do a show.

Murphy, who has one of the best voices in Buffalo sports broadcasting history, said he gave himself a June deadline to decide whether he would return, but decided to announce that he left the booth a few weeks earlier to help the team. Bills are planning his replacement.

Chris Brown, a Bills employee who hosts the show “One Bills Live” on MSG and WGR-AM, took over for Murphy on play-by-play alongside analyst Eric Wood for the 2022 regular season finale -23 against New England and two playoff series. matches this season and for all matches in the 2023-24 season.

The Bills and rights holder Audacy, which owns WGR and WBEN-AM, had delayed naming a permanent replacement, giving Murphy time to recover.

Brown is a candidate, but there will be a search for the coveted position, said Jeff Matthews, Bills vice president of media and content.

Murphy said he realized in March, while visiting relatives in Arizona, that he wasn’t coming back.

“I’m at peace with it lately,” Murphy said. “When I’m done with this and I’m done doing interviews, I’ll be at peace with it.”

Murphy, 67, added that in recent years he has been complaining more about travel and schedules.

“I just couldn’t take it anymore,” he said. “There were other things, but if I hadn’t had a stroke I would want to do it. But I found a lot of faults in this work, I suppose.

He kept his sense of humor. He asked this journalist if his speech was understandable.

He was told yes, he snapped, “so I’m not retiring.”

He is not completely retired. He plans to do short pregame editorials at home games, assuming his voice continues to improve.

“Just to keep your hand in,” he said. “I think about things during a season that aren’t said. I even need to speak better to do that.

His wife, Mary Travers Murphy, said his prognosis was a full recovery, but it could take another six to eight months.

“The prognosis is great because it works and they can measure it,” she said.

“I’m really lucky,” Murphy said. “I put a lot of work into it, but I’m lucky.”

Even though he eventually made a full recovery, Murphy admitted he couldn’t do play-by-play.

“After two years, you can’t do it anymore,” he said.

Buffalo Bills say play-by-play announcer John Murphy suffered stroke last weekend

Murphy suffered a stroke on January 1, 2023, the day before the Bills’ highly anticipated prime-time game against the Cincinnati Bengals at the end of the 2022-23 season, which was canceled after Bills safety , Damar Hamlin, suffered a cardiac arrest on the field.

Murphy said Wednesday afternoon that he no longer thinks about the day he suffered a stroke.

“I try to forget that day,” Murphy said. “I didn’t want to go to the hospital and Mary insisted. And it all went downhill from there. I never think about it.

He worked on Bills radio broadcasts for 35 years, 19 years on play-by-play after Miller retired and 16 years as an analyst working with Miller.

Asked for highlights, Murphy mentioned several people he worked with on the Bills broadcasts on and off air. He singled out the four analysts he has worked with over the years: Alex Van Pelt, Mark Kelso, Steve Tasker and Eric Wood.

When it comes to the highlight game, he thinks about the 13-second game — the 42-36 overtime loss to Kansas City on Jan. 23, 2022, in an AFC divisional playoff game.

“It was a really good match,” Murphy said. “They go back and forth. (Patrick) Mahomes vs. Josh (Allen). I couldn’t even breathe between rides. It was incredible to the point that when it ended, I didn’t even react like it was a loss. I didn’t fully understand that they should have won. I was so captivated, what a great match. I think it would be match number 1.

Murphy wrote in the book “If These Walls Could Talk: Stories from the Buffalo Bills Sideline, Locker Room and Press Box,” which he co-wrote with Rochester sportswriter and author Scott Pitoniak, whom he dreamed of exclaimed one day on the air. The Buffalo Bills are Super Bowl champions!

If that happens, Murphy’s distinctive voice won’t be shouting those words.

“I’ll be happy for them,” Murphy said. “It would be sad for a moment, but not really.”

Then he cracked: “Nineteen years of doing play-by-play. I certainly gave them enough opportunities to do that.”

He uses the same words to describe how he feels about the end of his play-by-play career.

“It’s sad. But it’s not really,” he said. “We have two grandchildren. … Our whole family lives around here. I’m happy. I wish it had lasted longer. It wasn’t the way I wanted to get out of it. It was 19 years of good times and good people.