Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • Page 4-6

123456 6 CHICAGO SPORTS daughter Katie is a basketball player. But sometime this week, perhaps as early as Wednesday, he will be introduced as the successor to Northwestern athletic director Rick Taylor. Taylor, 61, announced in March that he would retire, effective Aug. 31. talked to him and very said Patriot League executive director Carolyn Femovich, whose conference includes Colgate.

a great fit for both Northwestern By Skip Myslenski Tribune staff reporter It was just over a year ago that Colgate athletic director Mark Murphy reportedly turned down a chance to take over as AD at Harvard, where his eldest and Mark. The future is bright for both of have not talked to Mark, but not surprised to hear said DePaul athletic director Jean Lenti Ponsetto, who chairs the NCAA Competitions Committee, which includes Murphy. a very high-quality person, and based on his experience at Colgate, another outstanding academic institution, I think a wonderful fit for a good one if they get said Cincinnati athletic director Bob Goin, another member of the competitions committee. a class act. a guy who gets people focused on missions.

seems to have a nice, smooth approach to doing that. not combative. I think his great strength is a consensus There are, in fact, many facets to Murphy, who starred in football and baseball at Colgate. After graduating in 1977, he signed as a free agent with the Washington Redskins and was a fixture in their defensive backfield over the next nine seasons. He was co-captain of their Super Bowl XVII championship team, was named to the Pro Bowl in 1983 and received the 1984 Miller Man of the Year Award for his community work.

He played one more season and then retired, moving on to spend three years as an assistant executive director of the NFL Players Association. But he never was concerned only with sports. During his playing days, Murphy spent his off-seasons attending American University. He earned a in business administration there in 1983 and then enrolled at Georgetown University Law Center, where he received his law degree in December 1988. That same year, while working at the Street Law Clinic, he got a Distinguished Achievement Award for his contributions to a program that gave prison inmates a practical knowledge of the law.

In 1989 he was hired by the Justice Department, where he worked as a trial lawyer before returning to Colgate in January 1992. prepared, then, Goin said. Murphy was to arrive Monday in Hershey, for Patriot League meetings that begin Tuesday. I know he has to talk to his staff and take care of things Femovich said Monday afternoon. we may not see him Messages left for Murphy at his Colgate office and at a Hershey hotel went unanswered.

Asked if Murphy was indeed his successor, Taylor said, not free to But others were. just a wonderful Femovich said. no pretense about Mark at all. very caring, very much interested in the welfare of the student-athlete, and I say that tritely. genuinely interested in the kind of experience they have.

a team player, a competitor, someone who has a great, innate sense of intercollegiate athletics and what it means to And as a golfer? not going to tell you his she said with a laugh. a very fine golfer and he plays it competitively. What do you expect? an always been the voice of reason on the cabinet, which includes all NCAA Ponsetto said. always helped the cabinet move to a place that was positive, and he always emphasized how would affect the kids. it going to be a good experience for them, a meaningless experience for them? and practicing is one of the things we deal with.

Missed class time. Reduction of practice time. very much on the side of things that enhance the experience for the remember the first time I met said Tom Byrnes, an assistant executive director of the Patriot League. was at a Colgate football game in 2001. I asked someone if Mr.

Murphy was around. He was down on the sidelines wearing sweats and a baseball cap. an average Joe. very, very low-key. the kind of guyyou can sit around with and shoot the bull with.

He fits in with you, me or a college president. He fits in with COLLEGES NU set to name Murphy as AD Former Redskins star, lawyer will succeed Taylor a very high-quality person, and based on his experience at Colgate, another outstanding academic institution, I think a wonderful fit for AD Jean Lenti Ponsetto Murphy.