Despite his large impact on the field, it was the way Murphy carried himself off of it that most impressed his teammates and his coaches.
“Niall was probably one of the most energetic, fun-loving people I’ve ever really come across,” says former wide receiver Carl Morris ’03. “He was everybody’s favorite, really. Everyone loved him.”
“He definitely helped out any young player no matter where they were on the depth chart, and that was enormous for morale,” Raftery adds. “He really went out of his way to be kind to everyone, and that always made a lasting impression on me.”
All the while, the former strong safety dealt with a severe case of diabetes. Diagnosed at the age of 11, Murphy had to constantly check his insulin levels and self-administer multiple injections a day. But he refused to let the disease get in his way.
“He was a guy who would never make an excuse for not doing something,” says former running back Nick Palazzo ’03. “He just looked at [his challenges] like speed bumps—he never let them define him and he used them to actually become a better athlete and person.
In fact, Murphy didn’t even disclose that he had diabetes during the recruiting process.
“I can vividly remember how I found that out,” Tim Murphy laughs.
After walking into the locker room before one practice, the coach noticed someone injecting himself in the leg. “And I said, ‘Oh my God, what do we have here?’ I’m thinking the worst – we’ve got a kid shooting up or something.”
“And [Niall] looked up and said, ‘Coach, it’s not what you think,’” Murphy continues. “And he laughed and told me.”
But, diabetes wasn’t Murphy’s only obstacle in college—as a senior, he lost his mother.
“Nothing really ever came easy for him,” Tim Murphy says.
Following graduation, Niall eventually became director of recruiting at MetLife Insurance, though he made sure to maintain his close ties to Harvard and Catholic Central football. Even after his death, though he hasn’t donned a Crimson uniform for nine years and a Raiders uniform for 13, he continues to have a big presence at his former institutions.
“I’ve been at this school for 27 years, and we’ve had a lot of good, successful people come out of this school,” Adamopoulos said. “But if I had to choose one person to represent the school and its values…Niall Murphy would be a great representative. He really was just a phenomenal, phenomenal kid.”
—Staff writer Robert S. Samuels can be reached at robertsamuels@college.harvard.edu.