Louis Murphy

Louis Morris Murphy, Jr. (born May 11, 1987) is an American professional American football wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Florida, and was a member of two BCS National Championship teams. The Oakland Raiders selected him in the fourth round of the 2009 NFL Draft.

Early years
Murphy was born in St. Petersburg, Florida in 1987, of mixed Samoan and African-American descent. As a teenager, he completed the requirements to be an Eagle Scout. Murphy attended Lakewood High School in St. Petersburg, where he played for the Lakewood Spartans high school football team. In addition to playing quarterback and wide receiver for the Spartans football team, he was also a power forward for the basketball team, and anchored the 4x400-meter relay event for the track team&mdash;winning the state championship as a sophomore. Following his senior football season in 2005, he was ranked as the thirty-seventh best wide receiver in the country by Rivals.com. He chose to go to Florida over other top Division I schools.

College career
Murphy received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played wide receiver for coach Urban Meyer's Florida Gators football team from 2005 to 2008. As a freshman in 2005, he mostly played on special teams. During his sophomore season in 2006, he didn't play much, but he did get his first touchdown reception from freshman quarterback Tim Tebow against the LSU Tigers.

Murphy earned a spot on the 2007 starting roster during spring practice, and became one of the top receivers on the team. After the end of the regular season, he had 36 catches for 544 yards and five touchdowns.

As a senior team captain in 2008, Murphy led the team in receiving yards (655) and ranked second in receptions (38) and average receiving yards per game (46.8), averaging 17.2 yards per catch; he was also the recipient of the Gators' Fergie Ferguson Award. He surpassed the 1,000 career-receiving yards mark with 54 yards in the Gators' victory over South Carolina. Murphy extended his streak of consecutive games with a reception to twenty-seven, and scored his final college touchdown on a 20-yard pass in the first quarter of the Gators' 24–14 BCS National Championship Game victory over the Oklahoma Sooners. Murphy had knee surgery following the season.

Murphy graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in 2008.

Oakland Raiders
Murphy was chosen in the fourth round of the 2009 NFL Draft by the Oakland Raiders, and he has played for the Raiders in 2009 through 2011. He made his NFL debut on Monday Night Football against the San Diego Chargers on September 14, 2009, and caught a 56-yard touchdown pass from JaMarcus Russell. In 2009, Murphy caught a touchdown pass that helped the Raiders overcome the Cincinnati Bengals. Later in 2009, Murphy again led his team to a victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers by grabbing an 11-yard touchdown pass from Bruce Gradkowski with 9 seconds left in the game that put the Raiders up 27 –24.

Carolina Panthers
On July 23, 2012, Murphy was traded to the Carolina Panthers.