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Finding Joe Murphy? Ex-Detroit Red Wings No. 1 overall pick reportedly homeless


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Finding Joe Murphy? Ex-Detroit Red Wings No. 1 pick reportedly homeless

Detroit Free Press Published 11:42 a.m. ET Aug. 21, 2018

 

Where in the world is Joe Murphy?

 

Northwestern Ontario, apparently. And he's homeless. 

 

Murphy, the former Michigan State star who was drafted No. 1 overall by the Detroit Red Wings in 1986, is the subject of a TSN documentary that will air Wednesday. The Canadian sports network published a trailer of its feature on Twitter on Monday. 

 

According to the video, Murphy has been living in Kenora, Ontario, located north of the Minnesota border. A man identified as Murphy is shown walking the streets of the small city in the video. 

 

The scene is a stark contrast to the life Murphy once lived as a hockey forward, including helping Michigan State win the 1986 national title and helping the Edmonton Oilers win the 1990 Stanley Cup.

 

Murphy moved around quite a bit during his NHL career, playing for the Red Wings (1986-89), Oilers (1989-1993), Chicago Blackhawks (1993-96), St. Louis Blues (1996-1998), San Jose Sharks (1998-99), Boston Bruins (1999-2000) and Washington Capitals (2000-01). 

 

He scored 233 goals in his career (528 points) and twice led his teams in scoring. 

 

Murphy was among the former players who were part of a failed class-action concussion lawsuit against the NHL this year. (Murphy still can pursue his own claim against the league, his lawyer, Michael Cashman, told TSN in July). 

 

In Murphy's part of the lawsuit, filed in October 2014, the NHL was accused of, "Until very recently ... actively (seeking) to suppress and obscure the truth about the long-term effect of concussions suffered while practicing and playing hockey in the NHL."

 

"Mr. Murphy suffered multiple head traumas during his NHL career that were improperly diagnosed and treated by the NHL," the lawsuit argued. "Mr. Murphy never was warned by the NHL of the negative health effects of head trauma."

 

It's unclear exactly how many concussions Murphy suffered during his career. Or whether the injuries led to him being homeless.

 

The discussion on concussions and brain injuries in sports has reached a fever pitch in recent years after hundreds of lawsuits were filed by former NFL players and their families, who alleged the league didn't properly disclose the link between football and brain trauma, including the degenerative brain disease, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which can only be diagnosed postmortem. 

 

In 2009, Reg Fleming became the first former NHL player diagnosed with CTE, per Murphy's lawsuit.

 

In 2011, ex-Red Wings star Bob Probert was diagnosed with the disease, and Johan Franzen's wife said in May her husband continues to struggle with post-concussion symptoms from his playing days in Detroit. 

 

Franzen, on long-term injured reserve, is still being paid by the Wings. He last played for the franchise during the 2015-16 season. 

 

https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nhl/red-wings/2018/08/21/joe-murphy-homeless-detroit-red-wings/1051302002/

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Too sad!

 

Concussion related? Depression, drugs, something different? No sense speculating.

 

Good luck to him regardless of why! Anyone else in his position...

 

Peace first to give him a chance to consider his health! Recovery, deal with any demons? Hopefully some happiness.

 

Yup, good luck. 

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41 minutes ago, Ghostsof1915 said:

Wasn't there a former Nashville Predator that they've been looking for, who has not been answering calls, and they were concerned about as well? 

There was Matt Johnson of the Wild that was also homeless:

 

https://patch.com/minnesota/southwestminneapolis/former-minnesota-wild-player-now-homeless-report

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2 hours ago, jmfaminoff said:

Worked selling Honda's with a former Blackhawk who played in the 1970s. Nicest guy in  thr world but all a his money was long gone. By today's standard, these guys did not make a lot of money.

No, but you think if it was invested responsibly instead of hiding under the bed mattress it wouldn't matter. 

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3 hours ago, jmfaminoff said:

Worked selling Honda's with a former Blackhawk who played in the 1970s. Nicest guy in  thr world but all a his money was long gone. By today's standard, these guys did not make a lot of money.

The 80s were different.  Murphy would have made a lot of money (relative to most people) and so there is more to the story than lack of funds.     He signed several contracts during his career including in 1996 where he inked a 3-year, $10 million deal to join the St. Louis Blues.    He made a lot more than that over his career.

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1 hour ago, nuckin_futz said:

I suspect it's not so much a matter of him being broke but rather him being broken.

Can't help someone that doesn't want any help.......

 

Pretty sure he had a major brain injury... concussion / fractured skull ....   Could be part of the problem....

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20 minutes ago, kingofsurrey said:

Can't help someone that doesn't want any help.......

 

Pretty sure he had a major brain injury... concussion / fractured skull ....   Could be part of the problem....

He needs some mushrooms or MDMA to break him out of his funk, perhaps.

 

https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/5/21/17339488/psychedelics-mental-health-michael-pollan-lsd-psilocybin

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1 hour ago, xereau said:

He needs some mushrooms or MDMA to break him out of his funk, perhaps.

 

https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/5/21/17339488/psychedelics-mental-health-michael-pollan-lsd-psilocybin

Speaking as someone who has experienced homelessness and experimented with substances, the last thing a person in such a situation should be doing is toying with stimulants and hallucinogens, particularly when there are compounding mental health concerns as appears to be the case with Mr. Murphy.

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I don't see how it's the NHL's responsibility to inform players that getting a concussion will have lasting effects. If anything, teams/their doctors are responsible for this (ie. not telling a player that if they continue to play it could have serious repercussions on their future life). I think the litigation of tobacco companies is a fair comparison:

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/tobacco-litigation-history-and-development-32202.html

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3 hours ago, kingofsurrey said:

Can't help someone that doesn't want any help.......

 

Pretty sure he had a major brain injury... concussion / fractured skull ....   Could be part of the problem....

Pretty sure he is in the same boat as Pittsburgh Steeler great Mike Webster.

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