His predecessors as Donegal players, such as Manus Boyle, Brendan Devenney and Anthony Molloy, regard Murphy as the county's greatest ever footballer.

[7] With more than 500 points, Murphy is Donegal's all-time record scorer and he is also the county's top goalscorer, with a points-per-game average that is higher even than Martin McHugh.

[8] Born and raised in north-west Ireland, Murphy's hip was out of place from birth and required surgery at the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital.

A team decline under the management of McGuinness's deputy and successor Rory Gallagher was followed by two further Ulster SFC titles under Declan Bonner, all of which Murphy had achieved by the age of 30.

[11] Born with his hip out of place[12] Murphy underwent surgery at the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital in Dublin after Donegal's defeat to Meath in the 1990 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-final.

[13] Murphy attended the 1998 Ulster SFC Final, later recalling: "I remember exactly where I was sitting in the Gerry Arthurs Stand, watching out and seeing Geoffrey McGonagle's infamous dunt on Noel McGinley and all the dreams went".

In 2007, aged just 18, he was a key member of the Glenswilly side that had success in the 2007 Donegal Senior Football Championship, beaten only by St Eunan's in the final 0–12 to 1–3.

In 2011, Murphy was part of the Glenswilly team that won its first ever Donegal Senior Football Championship title, defeating St Michael's by 1–8 to 0–9 in the final.

[27] In October 2013, Murphy won his second Donegal Senior Football Championship title, as Glenswilly defeated Na Cealla Beaga by a scoreline of 3–19 to 2–6.

In 2011, with Donegal breaching four years without any silverware whatsoever, Murphy captained the senior team to the National Football League Division 2 title.

[42] Donegal went on to reach the All-Ireland SFC semi-final, where they suffered a narrow defeat to eventual champions Dublin in an extremely close match.

[45] Upon climbing the Hogan Stand after the game, lifting the Sam Maguire Cup and catching his breath, Murphy was handed a microphone to make his speech.

[48] Analysts praised the skills he displayed throughout that game; at one point in the second half he stretched high into the air to meet a miscalculated free from Paddy McBrearty and gave it an almighty thump with his fist over the bar, while on another occasion he left the Kildare defender stumbling along the ground as he sidestepped him and casually at an angle from distance, with the appearance of little effort whatsoever, kicked the ball over the bar.

[49][50] Against Tyrone on 3 March, he scored three from four of Donegal's points and then, shortly before half-time, having had a penalty saved by TG4 Man of the Match Niall Morgan, Murphy struck out and was issued with a second yellow card by Joe McQuillan.

Against Kerry on 10 March, man of the match Murphy dispatched a penalty and five points in Donegal's comfortable victory over the league's whipping boys.

[51] One of the more memorable moments of 2015 from Murphy was his touch to Ryan McHugh for Donegal's second goal in their Championship victory over Galway at Croke Park.

[54][55] Though he did not score from play, he gave a noteworthy performance against Armagh in the 2015 Ulster Senior Football Championship quarter-final and converted five frees.

[67] He returned against Armagh nearly two months later, scoring a decisive one goal and two points in a substitute appearance that helped his county to a narrow one-point win.

[70] Murphy scored 1–7 (including 0–4 in frees) against Kerry in their 2019 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship quarter-final meeting at Croke Park.

[9] In the 2020 National Football League, Murphy endured two Dublin players "hanging out of him" in their one-point loss to the five-times reigning All-Ireland champions at Croke Park.

[71] He scored six points from play against Armagh in the 2022 Ulster Senior Football Championship quarter-final and The Irish News described him as "finish[ing] the game looking flying-fit".

[90][91] Murphy was considered to be one of Ireland's best performers, finishing as joint-second top scorer with 19 points overall, including the opening goal in the first test.

While attending St Eunan's College and playing for the school team, opponents were already hailing him as the best young footballer in the country and likening him to Roald Dahl's Big Friendly Giant for the manner in which he could bundle county minor players aside and leave them poleaxed on the ground.

[13] During 2017, Murphy maintained his scoring capacity even after taking up a role as libero at the base of Donegal's midfield in the wake of the retirements and departures of Neil Gallagher, Rory Kavanagh, Christy Toye and Odhrán Mac Niallais.

[101] In a 2011 interview with the GAA website, Murphy listed as — among his other interests — reading, watching television, playing Xbox and listening to the music of Mumford & Sons and Snow Patrol.

[2] In October 2018, Murphy joined Donegal Junior League soccer side Lagan Harps during his winter break from club and county duties.

[115] Murphy worked as an analyst for eirSport during their coverage of the 2017 Donegal Senior Football Championship semi-final between Gaoth Dobhair and Naomh Conaill.

[116] He made his debut as an analyst on The Sunday Game for the night-time broadcast of highlights of the 2018 All-Ireland SFC semi-final meeting of Monaghan and Tyrone on 12 August 2018.

[117][114] His debut was received positively by viewers and reviewers alike, with one noting: "It shouldn't come as much of a surprise to learn that Murphy is competent in front of the camera.

[citation needed] Murphy appeared as a guest on 2020's second episode of The Sunday Game when play was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.