John Murphy, Buffalo’s longstanding play-by-play announcer, has announced his intention to leave the brilliant post he has held in the booth for the previous 19 years, capping a radio career spanning more than three decades.
Murphy served as “the voice of the Bills” following the retirement of legendary play-by-play man Van Miller at the end of the 2003 NFL season, until he announced his retirement.
John Murphy, who was inducted into the Buffalo Broadcasters Association’s Hall of Fame, quickly established his own myth on the radio.
Although Murphy’s rise to play-by-play duties in the primary chair was inevitable, it came easily because of his two spells (1984–1989 and 1994–2003) as a Bills analyst (and color commentator) working alongside Miller. Murphy was also the presenter of
Only 16 months have passed since Murphy’s stroke prevented him from calling the Bills’ Week 17 Monday Night Football game against the Cincinnati Bengals in January 2023. The night of safety Damar Hamlin’s on-field cardiac collapse, which was later determined to be commotio cordis, is what most remember about that particular game.
Murphy’s battle back has kept Hamlin out of the game since, even though he has now triumphantly returned to the field. Murphy was allegedly healing at home and making daily improvement after receiving initial medical attention in the hospital, and he is still reportedly doing so now.
Murphy then made his first public appearance in August 2023 during a visit to the Bills training camp, emphasizing the encouraging developments in his recuperation process.
Murphy discussed the paradox of being in the best physical condition of his life—having shed seventy pounds—yet not being able to talk clearly enough to do his duties as the team’s play-by-play announcer in an interview with Alan Pergament of The Buffalo News.
