Oklahoma State University Athletics
Former OSU Wrestler Ray Murphy Dies
July 20, 2010 | Cowboy Wrestling
July 20, 2010
STILLWATER, Okla. - Former Oklahoma State wrestler Ray Murphy Jr. died today at his home in Tulsa. Murphy was 63.
Following an All-American wrestling career for the Cowboys, Murphy suffered a freak accident during an all-star match in 1970 and spent the next 40 years living as a quadriplegic.
"Ray was an amazing guy," said OSU Senior Associate Athletic Director Dave Martin. "The thing about him... he was a guy who couldn't breathe on his own, couldn't walk, but you'd go see him and ask how he was doing -- `I'm doing great!'
"He was the kind of person that if you were around him, he would brighten your spirits. He was a very uplifting person to the people who came to see him. He was never down or felt sorry about his circumstances. The guy was truly remarkable."
In 1967, Murphy made the Oklahoma State wrestling team as a walk-on in his junior year after winning an intramural match and gaining the attention of former OSU wrestling head coach Myron Roderick. As a senior, he was co-captain of the Cowboys' 1969 national championship team, placed second at the NCAA tournament in the 145-pound weight class and was named an All-American for the second time in his career.
In the process of getting his MBA at Oklahoma State, Murphy was a participant in an East and West All-Star match put on by the United States Wrestling Federation on April 11, 1970. During a match, he tried to brace himself with his head during a throw. As a result, Murphy was paralyzed from the neck down.
In spite of his spinal cord injury, which also left him requiring mechanical assistance to breath, Murphy achieved many things until his death. He was actively involved in the development of sip-and-puff technology, a method in which a person can sip and puff in a straw in code to send commands to mechanical devices. Murphy used the technology to do such things as adjusting lights in a room, changing channels on a television, typing on a keyboard and controlling his wheelchair.
Jim Blazer served as the co-chairman of the Ray Murphy Fund. Every year, buckets would be passed around at an OSU sporting event for fans to donate money to help pay for Murphy's medical expenses.
Blazer, who was also a Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity brother of Murphy's, said Murphy was among OSU's biggest fans.
"The most important part of Ray's life was he bled orange before Harry Birdwell ever came up with that phrase," Blazer said. "Ray lived for OSU things, and he loved the university more than anything. I would equate him to T. Boone Pickens in his love for the university. If Ray had the money, he would have done everything he could for OSU. He loved the university -- he listened on the radio if a game wasn't on TV or he'd go to okstate.com. We'd read him articles about OSU in the newspaper. That's what he really lived for.
"He knows how loyal the school was in allowing us to pass the buckets for one game a year. That was the one day a year he got out of the house, and he couldn't wait to go to the game. A great part of his desire to live was because he couldn't wait for OSU basketball, baseball, football, wrestling seasons.
"His faith, his friends and his love of OSU is what sustained him."
Following his accident, Murphy became a national leader in research of new additions to the sip-and-puff technique. He was employed as a computer programmer by ConocoPhillips and other corporations to advance it and other handicapped-assisting technologies.
Murphy earned a computer science degree in 1988, received national recognition as Handicapped Person of the Year in 1989, was named the 1990 Citizen of the Year by the Oklahoma Rehabilitation Association and was the recipient of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Medal of Courage award in 1998.
Blazer said many doctors consider Murphy the longest living quadriplegic on a respirator known to medical science.
"They don't know of anyone in his condition who lived longer," Blazer said.
Blazer added, "Ray was the coolest guy in our fraternity before anyone used the phrase `cool guy.' He was truly an All-American. His faith sustained him through this entire ordeal. Not one day in 40 years did I or anyone else around him on a regular basis ever hear him complain, not one time. All he wanted to know was two things -- how you and your family were doing and what's going on in the outside world and especially at OSU."
Services for Murphy will be at 11 a.m. Friday at Southern Hills Baptist Church in Tulsa, 5590 S. Lewis Ave. Viewing will be from 2-9 p.m. Thursday at Floral-Haven Funeral Home in Tulsa, 6500 S. 129th East Ave.
