GREEN BAY, Wis. -- If Jack Kent Cooke could have seen what Mark Murphy has been doing for the past 18 years ...
"I think he'd probably be rolling over in his grave," Murphy chuckled in a recent interview with ESPN.
For Cooke, the late Washington owner when Murphy was a defensive back from 1977 to 1984, Murphy was everything an NFL owner despised in a player during that era. He was highly educated at Colgate University and served as Washington's player representative to the NFL Players Association. In that role, he helped lead the players' strike of 1982.
"He called me a communist because I wanted the players to share revenues with the owners," Murphy said. "There was one time at a welcome-back luncheon we had in Washington right around the time of the strike, and he said, 'Mark Murphy is a fine young man, but I do not want him as a partner.'"
He chuckled again: "The fact that I went into management ..."
Murphy might have gotten the last laugh. Since Dec. 3, 2007, when Murphy was named president and CEO of the Green Bay Packers, he has essentially served as the owner of the NFL's only publicly owned franchise -- although his wife, Laurie, calls him a "phoner" as in a "phony owner" or an "owner without the money."
His tenure will end later this month, when he reaches the Packers' mandatory retirement age of 70 for the board of directors, of which Murphy serves as the head. He will formally hand over control of the team to successor Ed Policy at the team's annual shareholders meeting on July 25.
Murphy's Packers legacy includes significant changes in Green Bay and a Super Bowl championship.
IN NEARLY 18 years in Green Bay, Murphy presided over a Super Bowl-winning season, two somewhat contentious quarterback transitions, a head coach firing and hiring, and a general manager hiring that also coincided with a radical shift in the team's organizational structure.
And those were just the football decisions.
On the business side, Murphy oversaw the development of the Titletown District -- a commercial and residential area that opened in 2017 adjacent to Lambeau Field where previously a Kmart store, a few small businesses and a desolate strip mall stood for decades. Titletown now includes restaurants, office buildings, a sports medical clinic and a luxury hotel, plus a sledding hill and skating rink.
Murphy also upgraded Lambeau Field, continuing the renovation and expansion projects that his predecessor, Bob Harlan, began with a major reconstruction in 2002. And he held two stock sales, which boosted total ownership to 538,967 stockholders who have a combined 5,204,625 shares of the team.
And his tenure was capped by this year's NFL draft, which was hosted in the Lambeau Field parking lot and drew an estimated crowd of more than 600,000 over three days.
All from someone who came to Green Bay from the world of college sports. He had previously served as athletic director at Northwestern University (2003-07) in Evanston, Illinois, and at his alma mater Colgate University (1992-2003) in Hamilton, New York. His post-playing journey also included a law degree from Georgetown University in 1988 and a stint as a trial attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice (1989-92).
His only significant previous connection to the Packers came when he played against them as an All-Pro safety for Washington in the famous "Monday Night Football" game on Oct. 17, 1983 -- a 48-47 Packers win which remains the highest-scoring game in team history.
"Mark has done a lot, especially as someone coming in from the outside," San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York said. "Going back before Mark, there were great people that had been a part of that organization for a long, long time. To bring someone in from the outside, who was able to fit in and made the Packers even more successful, and navigated some pretty challenging waters, there aren't many people who could've done it better than Mark."
NOTHING WAS MORE challenging than what Murphy faced just a few months into his tenure when Brett Favre retired in early 2008 only to change his mind that summer. By that time, then-Packers general manager Ted Thompson had decided to move on to Aaron Rodgers, who had sat for three seasons behind Favre.
It was largely unpopular with the fan base and led to a public standoff that wasn't settled until Favre was traded to the New York Jets that August. It got so ugly that Murphy and the team's executive committee employed the services of former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer to help with public relations.
Fans protested outside the stadium and the practice field, imploring Murphy, Thompson and then-coach Mike McCarthy to take Favre back.
Murphy said he never asked himself, "What did I get myself into?"
But ...
"It was definitely like, 'We ain't in Hamilton, New York, anymore,'" Murphy recalled, thinking of his days as the Colgate AD. "Just the media attention [was intense], but thankfully we had Aaron to step in for him. And then history repeats itself."
Current Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst, who was promoted to the position by Murphy in 2018, raved about the steady hand Murphy led with, especially during times like the Rodgers-to-Jordan Love transition in 2023.
"He's mentally tough," Gutekunst said. "He was really tough as a player, as well, but I think he's exceptionally mentally tough, loyal. And I just think he's -- like we all try to -- [following] the guiding principle: What's best for the Packers?
"It's never about one person. It's never about a player or an employee or anybody. It's about the Green Bay Packers and what's best for the Green Bay Packers. I don't think he's ever lost sight of that and has had to make some really tough calls along the way, and very appreciative for his support through all that stuff."
The one coaching change the Packers made during Murphy's tenure came about because of the shift Murphy made in the leadership structure. When he hired Gutekunst in 2018 after removing Thompson, Murphy decided that to improve communication in the organization, the team president would oversee both the GM and the coach. Previously, the GM oversaw hiring and firing the coach.
The firing of McCarthy with four games left in the 2018 season marked the only time in the 100-plus year history of the Packers that a coach was removed in-season.
Shortly afterward, McCarthy said: "It couldn't have been handled any worse."
IN EARLY JUNE, Murphy wrote in his monthly column on Packers.com that he regrets that the Packers made only one Super Bowl appearance during his tenure, winning Super Bowl XLV with Rodgers at quarterback during the 2010 season.
"I would have loved to win a Super Bowl with Brian Gutekunst and Matt LaFleur," Murphy wrote. "We were close many times, and I am confident that they will break through and win a Super Bowl in the not-too-distant future."
When asked if he had any other regrets, Murphy thought for a second.
"Not that we did everything right," Murphy said. "But overall, not a lot of regrets."
The current team gave Murphy a sendoff at the close of the June minicamp. LaFleur asked Murphy to break down the huddle after the final practice.
As the team gathered around Murphy, he counted off, "One, two, three."
The entire team responded: "Super Bowl!"
A moment for Mark at his last minicamp pic.twitter.com/4RJPCfVIew
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) June 12, 2025