Thug Murray Explained

Roger Murray
Birth Date:8 May 1898
Birth Place:Jackson, Tennessee, U.S.
Death Place:Jackson, Tennessee, U.S.
Player Sport1:Football
Player Years2:1919–1920
Player Team2:Navy
Player Years3:1921–1922
Player Team3:Sewanee
Player Years4:1923
Player Team4:Cumberland
Player Positions:Tackle
Coach Years1:1923
Coach Team1:Cumberland (TN)
Awards:Walter Camp All-America Honorable Mention (1920)
Billy Evans's Southern Honor Roll (1922)
Cumberland Athletics Hall of Fame
Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame
Sewanee All-Time Football Team

Roger Goodman "Thug" Murray (May 8, 1898 – August, 1979) was an American college football player and coach.

Naval Academy

Murray played on Navy teams which beat Army twice. The New York Times wrote of Murray's play in the 1920 game, praising Murray for opening holes through which "a wagon could be driven." He was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon.[1] [2]

Sewanee

After a short stint with the Merchant Marines, Murray played for the Sewanee Tigers in 1921 and 1922. He wore number 10. Billy Evans selected him All-Southern in 1922, placing him on his "Southern Honor Roll."[3] Walter Camp gave Murray honorable mention on his All-America team.[4] Murray was placed on Sewanee's "All-Time" football team.[5]

Cumberland

He then went on to Cumberland to finish his law degree, as well as perform the function of football player, head football coach, and athletics director. Murray was posthumously inducted into the Cumberland Sports Hall of Fame in 1981,[6] and into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 1983.[7] He was the first posthumous inductee of the latter.[8]

Notes and References

  1. General Catalogue of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. 1918. 540.
  2. News: Sewanee Alumni News. 5. S. A. E. Reunion.
  3. News: Evans' All-Southern Honor Roll. Miami District Daily News. December 10, 1922.
  4. News: Camp's All America Stars Show Why They Are Winners; Have Brains, Power, Spirit. Harrisburg Telegraph. December 26, 1922. March 8, 2015. Newspapers.com. 15.
  5. Sewanee's All-Time Football Team. Sewanee Alumni News. February 1949.
  6. Web site: Hall of Fame.
  7. Web site: Murray Sr., Roger G..
  8. Sewanee News. March 1983 . Past Glories Recalled For Hall of Fame. Latham Davis.