GREEN BAY − Mark Murphy was an NFL All-Pro safety and Super Bowl champion with Washington who led the NFL in interceptions in 1983. But after the 1984 season, in which he missed nine games with a knee injury, the team owner told him he'd never play again.
Trade rumors had him leaving Washington for Buffalo. Instead, on July 13, 1985, his 30th birthday, he was cut by Washington and his NFL career abruptly ended.
“I felt like I could still play,” Murphy said four decades later during an interview on the seventh floor of Lambeau Field before the Packers faced the Chicago Bears in the 2024 regular-season finale.