Feb. 27, 2001
LAS VEGAS – The Western Division-leading Las Vegas
Outlaws (3-1) added 29-year-old WR Yo Murphy to their
roster Monday, with the former Tampa Bay Buccaneer,
Minnesota Viking and Scottish Claymore wideout becoming
the second offensive addition in seven days. Nagging
injuries to Outlaws WRs Todd Floyd (concussion), Nakia
Jenkins (heel) and Brett Bech (back) necessitate the
move. Las Vegas now has 24 hours to reduce its active
roster to the XFL’s 45-man limit.
Murphy, whose legal name is Llewellyan but has always
been called Yo because his sister couldn’t pronounce
his real name, becomes the 13th former Scottish Claymore
(see note below) to rejoin Head Coach Jim Criner and
Offensive Coordinator Vince Alcalde on the current
Outlaws roster. The 5’10”, 188-lb. veteran has spent
the last four seasons with both Tampa Bay and Minnesota
practice squads, and was active for a total of eight
games during the 1999 season (seven with the Buccaneers
and one with the Vikings). In 1999, Murphy made four
catches for 28 yards, and returned 18 kickoffs and 3
punts for a total of 401 yards. His 55-yard kickoff
return on 11/7/99 vs. New Orleans is the fifth-longest
in Buccaneer history.
“I’m excited to get to Las Vegas and just play
football,” said Murphy, who arrives in Las Vegas late
Monday. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to play
for Jim (Criner) and Vince (Alcalde) again. In Scotland,
we had guys on the team that they know will work hard in
practice and go out and make plays. That’s what I’ve
seen of the Outlaws on TV, and those are the kind of
coaches that players want to play for. That way, on
Saturday and Sunday, they give you a game plan and you
can just go out there and perform.”
During the 1996 NFL Europe season, Murphy caught 21
passes for 298 yards and five TDs, and was named the
Most Valuable Player in Scotland’s World Bowl win over
Frankfurt, when he grabbed eight balls for 138 yards and
three touchdowns. One season later, in 1997, Murphy was
the league’s leading WR with 47 catches for 559 yards
and two TDs.
Murphy, a University of Idaho product who also played
with the B.C. Lions of the CFL for three seasons
(1993-95), could see extensive action on Sunday for Las
Vegas. This weekend, the Outlaws travel to Chicago’s
Soldier Field to face the winless Enforcers (0-4), a
team that has battled hard but suffered tough losses
against Orlando (32-29) and Los Angeles (39-32 in 2OT).
Sunday’s game will be televised live nationally on TNN
at 1:00 p.m. PT and represents the second of three
consecutive road games for Las Vegas, which heads to
Orlando on March 10 for a nationally-televised NBC game
between the current division leaders.
With today’s addition of Murphy and last week’s
acquisition of QB Mark Grieb, the Outlaws now have 13
former Claymores on the roster. They are, in
alphabetical order: QB Jim Ballard, S Chris Bayne, CB
Kory Blackwell, TE Rickey Brady, QB Ryan Clement, QB
Mark Grieb, DE Michael Mason, K/P Paul McCallum, WR Yo
Murphy, DE Ty Parten, CB Kevin Scott, RB Ben Snell and
CB Hurley Tarver. Also, running backs coach Ron
Dickerson, Jr. and tight ends coach Mike Rockwood played
for Criner in Scotland. |
