[1] Instead, he was a professional wrestler in the 1930s and 1940s, mostly competing in the Northeastern United States, sometimes billed as "Dr. John (Dropkick) Murphy".

[2] Murphy competed in matches, some promoted by Paul Bowser and Jack Pfefer, at places and venues including Portland, Maine, the Boston Arena and Mechanics Hall in Boston, Massachusetts, The Mosque (a roller rink)[3] in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the Rex Arena in Lowell, Massachusetts, the Philadelphia Arena, the Convention Hall on Line Street[4] in Camden, New Jersey, the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, the Montreal Forum, the Opera House in Newark, New Jersey, the Ridgewood Grove Sports Center[5] in Ridgewood, Queens, New York City, the Fort Hamilton Arena in Brooklyn, New York City[2][6] and St. Nicholas Palace (also called the Royal Windsor Palace) and Hippodrome, in Manhattan, New York City.

[7] Murphy, with his wife Marie (and after her death, his second wife Jean) owned a farmhouse at 42 Davis Road in north Acton, Massachusetts and adjoining property, near the intersection of Great Road (route 2A) and Main Street (route 27).

But long before facilities such as the Betty Ford Clinic made celebrity rehabilitation more public and acceptable, the Bellows Farm Sanatorium treated clients including, according to rumor and legend, celebrities from the sporting and entertainment worlds of Boston and further afield, such as Jackie Gleason.

None of the band's past or current members have any connection to Murphy; the name was chosen because founder and frontman Ken Casey liked the sound of it.