Jack Murphy (February 5, 1923 – September 24, 1980) was a sports editor and columnist for the ''San Diego Union'' newspaper from 1951–1980. Jack Murphy Stadium was named in his honor. He was affectionately referred to by fans simply as "The Murph" and "El Murph" by Spanish speakers.

Early life

Murphy was born on February 5, 1923 in Denver, Colorado. He was the older brother of New York Mets broadcaster

Bob Murphy Robert, Rob, Bob or Bobby Murphy may refer to: Sports Ice hockey *Robert Ronald Murphy or Ron Murphy (1933–2014), Canadian ice hockey player * Bob Murphy (ice hockey) (born 1951), Canadian retired professional ice hockey player *Rob Murphy (ice ...

Career

Murphy moved from Fort Worth, Texas in 1951 to become a sportswriter for the ''San Diego Union'' newspaper. On December 21, 1960, Murphy wrote a column for the ''San Diego Union'' proposing the Los Angeles Chargers

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

team become a San Diego franchise. Over the next year, through his ''Union'' articles, he would become a key figure in persuading San Diegans to relocate the Chargers. He also helped secure the Padres baseball team as a National League expansion team in 1969.

Jack Murphy Stadium

After the Chargers began to outgrow Balboa Stadium, Murphy assisted in lobbying for a new San Diego stadium in his sports articles for the ''San Diego Union''. A 50,000-seat stadium was proposed to and approved by San Diego voters in 1965. The eventual 54,000-seat San Diego Stadium was renamed San Diego–Jack Murphy Stadium after Murphy died in 1980. It was also known by its shortened name "The Murph". The stadium was renamed Qualcomm Stadium in 1997 and

Qualcomm Qualcomm () is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Diego, California, and incorporated in Delaware. It creates semiconductors, software, and services related to wireless technology. It owns patents critical to the 5G, 4 ...

retained the naming rights until 2017. The stadium was renamed SDCCU Stadium in 2018 after

San Diego County Credit Union San Diego County Credit Union (SDCCU) is an American financial services company headquartered in San Diego, California. The credit union is San Diego's largest locally owned financial institution and the fifteenth largest credit union in the U.S ...

purchased the naming rights. In order to continue to honor Murphy, the city named the stadium site Jack Murphy Field.

Personal life

Murphy owned a black Labrador Retriever named Abe that he would write about in his articles. A statue of Murphy with Abe is located in front of Qualcomm Stadium. Murphy was a third cousin of billionaire investor Warren Buffett. Murphy died on September 24, 1980 of lung cancer.

Awards

On May 3, 1988, Murphy was inducted into the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Jack 1923 births 1980 deaths Sportswriters from California Writers from San Diego San Diego Padres San Diego Chargers American male journalists 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American male writers Deaths from lung cancer