Place an Ad Calendars Classified Forums Sports Weather

sptimes.com Text-only News sections Arts & Entertainment AP The Wire Business Citrus County Columnists Floridian Hernando County Hillsborough Letters Movies Neighborhood Times News Update North Pinellas North of Tampa Obituaries Opinion Pasco County South Pinellas Sports State Tampa Bay TV Times World & Nation  Find your local news section Weekly sections Brandon Times City Times Homes Outdoors Perspective Personal Tech Taste Travel Weekend Xpress Special Sections Arena football Buccaneers College football Devil Rays Lightning Police reports Schools Seniority Subscriber Services Subscribe Renew Help Advertise Place an ad In print Online Market Info Join Us Internships Scholarships Times Jobs Contact us

Kickin' back with Frank Murphy

... Just don't ask him to cook a meal

By ROGER MILLS
© St. Petersburg Times,
published December 2, 2001

In his second year in the league, receiver/returner Frank Murphy is single and loving life. He's got a few takes on gold teeth, women and men, cooking and the presidency.

Roger Mills: I noticed you got rid of the gold teeth.

Frank Murphy: About one month ago, the day before I scored a touchdown (against Pittsburgh). It was about time. A dog throws away his old tricks. I had this gold for about six or seven years. They were getting old.

RM: Why did you get them in the first place?

FM: The people I was around. If you're around that type of thing, where everyone had gold, then I liked it. It was cool. I kept them, kept them, kept them. Then it dawned on me, it was time. It was the year 2001. And I decided, let me clean this stuff out of my mouth. These are different times, different frame of mind. I'm a grown man and it's time to put away the childish things and I will call them childish.

RM: So, you've got some deep water issues?

FM: Yeah, I was afraid of water. I'm afraid of drowning. I can swim a little bit, but I can't control what water can do, and I don't like being in a place where I'm not in control. Pools are cool, but lakes, oceans, stuff like that, I'm not too comfortable.

RM: What should women know about men that they don't?

FM: I don't want to let out all the secrets. Can't give them away.

RM: What should men know about women that they don't?

FM: I think in general, women are real calm, slick. They always appear cool, but really, inside, they are not like that. They've got some tricks. They are much slicker than us, but just in a calm way. We're more obvious, more outspoken, more bullheaded, but women are sly.

RM: Women say we could never have babies because we couldn't take the pain.

FM: Obviously, we will never know about that. I know there's a lot of pain involved but I'm sure we can handle it. I don't want to go through it, but I'm sure we can handle it.

RM: You think a lot of that child birth pain thing is hype?

FM: To a certain extent. There are a lot of women who go through pregnancies and have no problems and have five babies. For others it's hard. But obviously some women like it because they have five or six kids.

RM: Can you cook?

FM: Man, if you want some messed up food, holler at me.

RM: What have you tried to cook and failed at?

FM: Spaghetti.

RM: All you do is bring a saucepan to boil and throw the noodles in.

FM: It's not that easy. I did what my momma told me. I was like, "Yeah! Here we go!" Man it was so nasty. It was soggy, sloppy.

RM: There's no hope?

FM: Man, I've given up. My girl comes down and takes care of me and will leave some stuff in the fridge. I might learn eventually. Maybe when I get married I'll learn a little sumtin-sumtin, put together a little meal on our anniversary. Well, actually, I'm going to go to Publix, get the Publix hook it up. She wouldn't know.

RM: What would you do if your girlfriend proposed to you right now?

FM: I'd have to look myself in the mirror and say, "Are you ready to give up some aspects of my game? Am I ready to be committed?" When you get married you want it to be special, you don't want it to be like you were dating. Right now, I would say, "Hold up."

RM: Would you be offended?

FM: Not at all.

RM: Night or morning person?

FM: Night person. I'm a late man. Even when I'm in the house chillin'. I've got to watch TV until about 1 or 2 in the morning. That's just me. That's the way I am.

RM: What's something you like to smell?

FM: Nice sweet smelling perfume. No favorites. But I like to smell it.

RM: What has more effect on a man, his environment or his genetics?

FM: The environment. What you see and hear, all the time, is going to become you sooner or later. If not all the way you, it's going to take enough of you until you look like another person. Deep inside you may be a different man but the only way to show that you're a different man is to get out of that environment. Get on up out of there. For sure.

RM: Being in the wrong place at the wrong time can be life altering.

FM: One such decision can alter your life forever.

RM: Should men open doors for women?

FM: You see ... I'm with that. But you know what, when you've been together for a while, they can open their own doors. I'll open the door for you, but sometimes you can open the door for me. It's 50-50 now. At the beginning. I think you should show that you are a gentleman, so do your thang. But, as the relationship grows older, we equal now.

RM: Will there ever be a female president of the United States?

FM: To be honest, if we're here for a long time, yes. A person like Hillary Clinton proved that she could handle herself in that type of situation. Someone like her can run for office. It's not going to happen in my lifetime, but it's going to happen.

RM: Will a woman president have an affair in the White House?

FM: What a women president will have to realize is that she can't be doing the same kinds of things and get away with it. It's not right, but it's the way it is. Just like we can't have babies, she couldn't carry herself that way.

RM: But I guarantee you, a woman president wouldn't have gotten caught having an affair with a White House intern.

FM: You're right. Because women are sly. They are so slick. A man gives himself away pretty obviously. A woman? They operate on the low-lows.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright