Nice article(long) on Trent Murphy...posted last season here on CF he would project as a Future 1st Rounder in the NFL...This nasty specimen has only solidified this draft status!! A first-team All-Pac-12 selection last year, Stanford's Trent Murphy (93) already has 9.5 sacks in 2013.
Lessons in toughness: The rise of Stanford linebacker Trent Murphy
On Thursday night, from his position at outside linebacker, Stanford's Trent Murphy will angle himself opposite one of Oregon's offensive tackles and set his sights on Ducks signal-caller Marcus Mariota. Murphy's primary mission will be to sack the quarterback, something he has done 9 1/2 times this season and 26 times in his career.
"I put my hand [on] the ground, get my hips up in the air and it's like I'm going hunting," said the fifth-year senior. "I'm going after something. There's an end point I'm trying to get to, and there's someone trying to stop me. It's man versus man. It's my favorite thing to do."
Murphy is 6-foot-6 and 261 pounds, with long arms, nimble feet and a spin move he perfected as the 2009 Arizona state discus champion. He is the most fearsome member of the sixth-ranked Cardinal's veteran defense. A year ago, the unit led No. 14 Stanford to a 17-14 overtime upset of top-ranked Oregon, and it will look to produce a similar result against the second-ranked Ducks this Thursday. A consensus midseason All-America, Murphy -- who was recently named as one of 16 semifinalists for the Bednarik Award, given annually to the top defensive player in college football -- ranks third in the country in sacks and fifth in tackles for loss (13.5). He also has a pick-six and seven pass breakups or deflections, even though he plays primarily at the line of scrimmage.
Murphy plays with a deadly serious scowl wedged between his bald head and lightly grown beard. His expression doesn't change until after the final whistle -- and sometimes not even then. Fellow fifth-year Stanford linebacker and Butkus Award semifinalist Shayne Skov is a more recognizable player nationally, but head coach David Shaw didn't hesitate earlier this season when asked to name his team's "nastiest" defender.
"Trent's in his own category," said Shaw, "because there's really no off switch. It's just always on."
Added senior linebacker A.J. Tarpley this week: "[Murphy is] no different on the field than off the field. He's an aggressive guy. He's got that badass mentality. He's not mean in the sense that he's going to wrong you, but I wouldn't want to be on his bad side."
For those who think this is all hyperbole, a heavy dose of the kind of football cliché commonly used to describe a hard-nosed defensive player, consider Murphy's unique childhood, which involved steer wrestling, father-son self-defense lessons and a lot of really, really big people.
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http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/co...trent-murphy-stanford-cardinal/#ixzz2jpxQeGDB
