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

[Ghostsof1915]

I think there's some pieces to the story that haven't been told. I understand the need for privacy. But his sister seems a little cold, maybe she tried hard to help and just got flak from Joe about it. I'm glad Trevor Kidd is checking up on him. You'd think Edmonton or Detroit would be willing to provide some assistance, or even the NHL. 

He might be so unstable that when people ask to give him help he refuses, then complains that no one offers him help. 

 

Definitely needs to see a psychiatrist and get the help he needs. I know sometimes concussions the pain never goes away, which explains drug use, and how he spiralled out of control. 

 

Horrible, he's a little younger than I am or close to the same age. I hope at least his daughter sees him, that might help him start down a better road. 

[xereau]

3 hours ago, 112 said:

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.

Obviously, it would be in a controlled environment.  Even bother to read the article? Amazing breakthroughs are being achieved using psychedelics (not stimulants) in a theraputic clinical environment.

[Lancaster]

I think the NHLPA should do more to help the players post career.

Maybe some direct contribution pension or something.  Perhaps also some health insurance plan too?

 

I know it seems like too much like "nannying" players, but considering many doesn't really have any real actual life experiences as many are just insulated in the hockey world, the union should protect its own players more.  

[rekker]

Just watched it. Sad story. Top of the world to the bottom. I hope he can find some help and peace. Seems like a nice guy. 

[Phil_314]

Prior to watching the short, I'd like to say that in a broader spectrum, some athletes don't have the life skills and financial wherewithal to make it work after professional sports.  Google something like athletes who lost it all and you'll see people making misguided investments and business ventures.  It doesn't make it any easier that many of these guys left school early, don't have much life experience outside of what the limelight affords them, and some are also so physically damaged that they might not be able to care for and support themselves.  It'll be tough to address this issue for sure since it's so deep-rooted in the sports industry but hope things can be changed to help reduce the number of these sad, late-life stories.    

[Nuxfanabroad]

Back in the mid-80's I was skating with some buds at 4 rinks in Burnaby(at least, there were 4 back then, I believe?)..you paid(signing some sheet) to get on the ice everyone was sharing. On the list was only 1 name..Joe Murphy. We laughed, thinking someone was joking around. Sure enough he was out there.

 

There was a fair amt of hype, before the draft had even taken place. We joked about him making it big, but he didn't seem the most outgoing bloke(a lil high-strung? I don't know, only met him the one time).

 

Can't be easy, being natural around everyday folk, as you're about to rub elbows with the big stars & high society. It was probably WAYY too much for a lot of these kids, back then. Suppose highly drafted/touted youth are handled & assisted a lot better now, in transitioning to a pressure-filled, 24/7 spotlight of pro sport.

 

No hockey historian, but I guess the prominent stars coming out of BC in the 80's were sort of pioneers(Sakic, Anderson, Ronning, et al...). Were there that many prior to then? Seems like almost all the big names came from out East, or the prairies.

 

At any rate, hope he can get his life in order. Good luck to you, Joe Murphy.

[Tortorella's Rant]

Speaking of homeless, has anybody seen Elliot Friedman lately? This must be his way of decompressing from the hectic NHL schedule

[RonMexico]

Sorry no sympathy from me over this other than it's sad to see someone suffer after being a pro athlete.

 

I've had to learn everything about managing money on my own. I had to learn to live off $11 an hour when I got my first job outside of school. Why should athletes get special treatment? It's unfortunate that many athletes leave their sports and are broke within a few years but it's their own fault for the most part. Even the educated ones make bad decisions. Look at Brendan Morrison. He got ripped off by a builder who had his own TV show.

[chon derry]

1 hour ago, RonMexico said:

Sorry no sympathy from me over this other than it's sad to see someone suffer after being a pro athlete.

 

I've had to learn everything about managing money on my own. I had to learn to live off $11 an hour when I got my first job outside of school. Why should athletes get special treatment? It's unfortunate that many athletes leave their sports and are broke within a few years but it's their own fault for the most part. Even the educated ones make bad decisions. Look at Brendan Morrison. He got ripped off by a builder who had his own TV show.

treatment is treatment  him being an ex pro athlete doesn't/wouldn't make it special , so if he doesn't deserve treatment ,then I guess in your opinion nobody deserves it? turn the cheek approach works for you right?

[rekker]

4 hours ago, RonMexico said:

Sorry no sympathy from me over this other than it's sad to see someone suffer after being a pro athlete.

 

I've had to learn everything about managing money on my own. I had to learn to live off $11 an hour when I got my first job outside of school. Why should athletes get special treatment? It's unfortunate that many athletes leave their sports and are broke within a few years but it's their own fault for the most part. Even the educated ones make bad decisions. Look at Brendan Morrison. He got ripped off by a builder who had his own TV show.

I dont think it's a money thing so much as a support thing. Murphy deserves support from his union and the expertise they have when dealing with head injuries. If you watch the story they turned their back on him when he asked for help. With the money the unions, owners, players make there is no excuse for them not being there for him. It is after all a workplace injury that isn't as simple as a broken bone to heal. 

[Master 112]

16 hours ago, xereau said:

Obviously, it would be in a controlled environment.  Even bother to read the article? Amazing breakthroughs are being achieved using psychedelics (not stimulants) in a theraputic clinical environment.

MDMA has stimulating properties.

 

You can control an environment, but you can't predict whether introducing a foreign compound to a person's brain chemistry will produce a positive effect or a profoundly negative one. I had a psychosis a year or two ago whose cause was psychedelics, and bad trips are horrifying and entirely more likely when the stressors of street life are either latent or active in one's mind.

 

I really question the mentality that informs the belief that psychedelics can help a person get out of homelessness. In the first place it implies that the reasons people are existing without homes are entirely psychiatric/psychological when in reality it's a complex issue that has socioeconomic roots as well. Secondly, if someone's mental state is a contributing factor to their homelessness, there is a good basis upon which to argue that their brain isn't suited for these types of compounds. There are absolutely populations that should not be using these substances, many of whom are living on the streets. Hallucinogens and moderate-severe mental illness are typically a bad mix.

[RonMexico]

1 hour ago, chon derry said:

treatment is treatment  him being an ex pro athlete doesn't/wouldn't make it special , so if he doesn't deserve treatment ,then I guess in your opinion nobody deserves it? turn the cheek approach works for you right?

 

Yes, I'm selfish and I have never hid behind that opinion.

 

However, if it does appear that his homelessness is a result of his concussions then I do think he deserves some help but it's the league, and to a lesser extent the PA, that should be taking responsibility.

[chon derry]

Just now, RonMexico said:

 

Yes, I'm selfish and I have never hid behind that opinion.

 

However, if it does appear that his homelessness is a result of his concussions then I do think he deserves some help but it's the league, and to a lesser extent the PA, that should be taking responsibility.

in the vid he does seem receptive so thats a start , some people do need counselling , myself I didn't  , my experience you cant give them anything but a place to stay or something to eat,    nothing that can be sold or traded  into...…? I didn't really care for the exwife and daughters opinions ,since theres a possibility of them still living off his success with an unwillingness, but who knows ,hopefully he wants to turn the corner.

[Kanukfanatic]

8 hours ago, RonMexico said:

Sorry no sympathy from me over this other than it's sad to see someone suffer after being a pro athlete.

 

I've had to learn everything about managing money on my own. I had to learn to live off $11 an hour when I got my first job outside of school. Why should athletes get special treatment? It's unfortunate that many athletes leave their sports and are broke within a few years but it's their own fault for the most part. Even the educated ones make bad decisions. Look at Brendan Morrison. He got ripped off by a builder who had his own TV show.

The bolded --> dont' use any common sense here pal!!  

 

We live in a world where there is no longer any personal accountability. Some idiot in the States spills hot coffee on herself and gets 20 million in a lawsuit. Trudeau gives a terrorist 10.5 million and lets our veterans rot. Constant whining from people thinking the world owes them something. 

 

Murphy earned more than 15 million in his career and somehow he blew it all.  Poor guy. 

 

I will save my limited amount of sympathy for people who worked hard all their lives and lost their homes or pension because of things outside of their control. Not some rich dude who pissed it away. 

[Pete M]

Can only imagine what brain damage does to someone's life...

 

a bought of vertigo was enough to send me spinning and feeling ill and not myself...

 

brain damage now that could be life altering, if severe or not ...Joe's case may be made better by someone having enduring power of attorney over him...can be assessed by a doctor and if anyone cares enough could take on that role.

[xereau]

11 hours ago, Tortorella's Rant said:

Speaking of homeless, has anybody seen Elliot Friedman lately? This must be his way of decompressing from the hectic NHL schedule

Fun fact:  his beard grows inside his lip pouch too.

[IBatch]

12 hours ago, Pete M said:

Can only imagine what brain damage does to someone's life...

 

a bought of vertigo was enough to send me spinning and feeling ill and not myself...

 

brain damage now that could be life altering, if severe or not ...Joe's case may be made better by someone having enduring power of attorney over him...can be assessed by a doctor and if anyone cares enough could take on that role.

It can be pretty much hell and take a very long time to dissipate, and some mental faculties might never quite be the same.    During a few of my head injuries it took some time even to speak words properly, you'd think cheese and say squirrel or something just as strange and it was like speaking through mud.   Headaches come and go and it makes it very difficult to motivate yourself.  

 

Chris Nilan went to pain killer to keep the symptoms at bay and ended up a heroin addict.  Alcohol and drugs are available easily for these guys and many enforcers ended up with depending on them, Probert, Rypien, Belak, Boogard are all dead from varying degrees of substance abuse and head trauma that affected their bodies and mind negatively (Proberts heart attack may have never happened if it wasn't for the coke, narcotics and alcohol use).   

 

The NHLPA shouldn't turn a blind eye and take care of these guys better, it's a little disgraceful.  Others like Darren Macarty also lost everything because of his substance abuse issues related to his enforcer role. 

 

Part of me wonders if the NHL mandated collectively in secret to remove the enforcer from the lineup because of the lawsuits and optics (Bettman publicly stating that their is no proof that fighting causes concussions is ludicrous) as it's suspiciously lined up with the class action suit timing. 

 

Now injuries are way up and Crosby and other stars have nobody watching their back.

 

Duncan Keith would have thought twice about taking out D. Sedin, and Boston would have not played us as hard if we had a fearsome Semenko or Odjick type dressed.  The game has changed, every team struggles with a ridiculous amount of injuries each year probably a bit of equipment has become a weapon (shoulder and elbow pads) and players have no fear of an ass-kicking anymore.  

 

I didn't know about this story until today, I'm glad it's getting some attention and hope the NHLPA steps up and gives him the help he needs.  I get those that have worked hard their whole lives to make a few million when these guys make that in a year or less, but I also get that some never get to really enjoy it because they have issues resulting from playing the game and they deserve help.

[Squamfan]

On 8/23/2018 at 8:44 AM, RonMexico said:

Sorry no sympathy from me over this other than it's sad to see someone suffer after being a pro athlete.

 

I've had to learn everything about managing money on my own. I had to learn to live off $11 an hour when I got my first job outside of school. Why should athletes get special treatment? It's unfortunate that many athletes leave their sports and are broke within a few years but it's their own fault for the most part. Even the educated ones make bad decisions. Look at Brendan Morrison. He got ripped off by a builder who had his own TV show.

WHAT HAPPENED TO mORRSION, IS HE HMELESS NOW?

[rekker]

3 hours ago, IBatch said:

It can be pretty much hell and take a very long time to dissipate, and some mental faculties might never quite be the same.    During a few of my head injuries it took some time even to speak words properly, you'd think cheese and say squirrel or something just as strange and it was like speaking through mud.   Headaches come and go and it makes it very difficult to motivate yourself.  

 

Chris Nilan went to pain killer to keep the symptoms at bay and ended up a heroin addict.  Alcohol and drugs are available easily for these guys and many enforcers ended up with depending on them, Probert, Rypien, Belak, Boogard are all dead from varying degrees of substance abuse and head trauma that affected their bodies and mind negatively (Proberts heart attack may have never happened if it wasn't for the coke, narcotics and alcohol use).   

 

The NHLPA shouldn't turn a blind eye and take care of these guys better, it's a little disgraceful.  Others like Darren Macarty also lost everything because of his substance abuse issues related to his enforcer role. 

 

Part of me wonders if the NHL mandated collectively in secret to remove the enforcer from the lineup because of the lawsuits and optics (Bettman publicly stating that their is no proof that fighting causes concussions is ludicrous) as it's suspiciously lined up with the class action suit timing. 

 

Now injuries are way up and Crosby and other stars have nobody watching their back.

 

Duncan Keith would have thought twice about taking out D. Sedin, and Boston would have not played us as hard if we had a fearsome Semenko or Odjick type dressed.  The game has changed, every team struggles with a ridiculous amount of injuries each year probably a bit of equipment has become a weapon (shoulder and elbow pads) and players have no fear of an ass-kicking anymore.  

 

I didn't know about this story until today, I'm glad it's getting some attention and hope the NHLPA steps up and gives him the help he needs.  I get those that have worked hard their whole lives to make a few million when these guys make that in a year or less, but I also get that some never get to really enjoy it because they have issues resulting from playing the game and they deserve help.

Yip. People need to get over the "they are rich and made millions and played a game for a living". They got paid because they are the best and entertain us. Nobody is going to pay to watch me or us play. A work place injury is a work place injury and should be healed reagardless of stature. 

[Tre Mac]

On ‎8‎/‎23‎/‎2018 at 8:11 AM, Tortorella's Rant said:

Speaking of homeless, has anybody seen Elliot Friedman lately? This must be his way of decompressing from the hectic NHL schedule

Think he was calling the Swimming Championships in Japan on the weekend.  Still found the time to troll Canuck fans, what a warrior.