Kelly Murphy Archives

Missouri Marine veteran becomes first ‘Tough As Nails’ champion

September 3, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

U.S. Marine Corps veteran Kelly Murphy of west-central Missouri’s Warrensburg says he wanted to be on the CBS show Tough As Nails to prove to himself that he can still bring it like his days as a Marine. Wednesday night, there was no doubt.

The man, who spent 22 years in the U.S. Marine Corps. and retired about eight years ago, capped off a dramatic finish in the season finale to become the first-ever Tough As Nails champion. He took home a $200,000 cash prize, a new pickup and maybe a few virtual oorahs from his Marine comrades watching from afar.

Kelly Murphy (Photo courtesy of CBS)

Murphy, along with competitors Danny and Myles put their heart, soul, blood and sweat on the line in the final race to victory. Their families showed up and rooted them on every step of the way in the finale.

“I’m not really surprised that he’s made it to this point. I don’t that he’s ever done anything halfway,” said Murphy’s wife Machelle.

“The pressure is on even more now,” said Murphy. “I’m definitely going to do my best today.”

The show, which started with twelve participants, tests their strength, precision, team building skills and mental toughness in blue collar challenges. Competitors included a roofer from St. Louis, a welder, drywaller, scaffolder, flight gate agent, firefighters, farmer and deputy sheriff jailer.

The final challenge included sledgehammering their way through a wall and stacking a pile of hay bales high enough to climb a partition. Then, came a maze of twisted chain to untangle and pounding metal stakes into thick pieces of wood. The sweat was pouring at this point.

You could see Murphy, 48, rallying towards the end of the episode. He pushed through the pure exhaustion while he sawed through several big pieces of wood. He stole the lead from Danny, who is 15 years younger than him, by finding his grove with the saw and especially the stair-building exercise.

“You’ve got it! Come on,” shouts Machelle.

In the bitter end, Murphy climbed the stairs he pieced together to grab the keys to his brand new truck. Tears of joy were flowing from the man standing 6’4 and soaking wet in his University of Central Missouri t-shirt. Cheers and applause broke out for Murphy.

“Are you Savage,” shouts his Savage Crew team members.

Murphy’s journey ended with him loading up his family and driving off into the sunset in his new truck.

“You know you asked me one time what it took to impress me? I’m impressed,” chuckles Machelle.

Murphy is the Director of the Military and Veterans Center at UCM in Warrensburg.

Missouri Marine veteran makes it to ‘Tough As Nails’ season finale

August 31, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

Two Missourians are on the first season of the CBS television show Tough As Nails. U.S. Marine Corps veteran Kelly Murphy of west-central Missouri’s Warrensburg and St. Louis roofer Lee Marshall are on the show that has allowed them to earn cash by using their bare hands. The show, centering around blue collar challenges, is an inspiring display of strength, precision, team building skills, grit, determination and mental toughness.

Kelly Murphy (Photo courtesy of CBS)

Other skilled men and woman on the show include a welder, drywaller, scaffolder, flight gate agent, firefighters, farmer and deputy sheriff jailer. The challenges are also about strategy and working smarter not harder at real world job sites. Participants have worked to build a farm fence, railroad track, lay bricks, pull a caboose, shovel coal, set up an irrigation system in a farm field, among other things.

Murphy, otherwise known as Murph, became a cast member after catching the attention of someone from the Discovery Channel. The individual saw videos on Murphy’s Instagram account showcasing his different physical fitness activities and reached out about one year ago to encourage Murphy to apply for the show. Murphy thought it was a joke at first but soon after found out that it was the real deal.

“It’s not very often you get an opportunity to do something like this and I never want to go through life passing up an opportunity,” he says. “You only get so many checks in the box of life and I didn’t want to pass this one up.”

Two teams of six compete on the show for a $60,000 team prize. Murphy is with Savage Crew and Marshall is with Dirty Hands. During last week’s episode, Dirty Hands clinched the team prize in a tiebreaker challenge.

The show’s season finale is Wednesday to determine the winner of the individual competition. Marshall has punched out of the individual competition but Murphy remains in it to the bitter end. He is chasing the title of Tough As Nails champion, $200,000 and a new pickup. He goes up against four other individuals on Wednesday for the crown.

Murphy, 48, served 22 years as a Marine. He stands about 6’4 tall and towers over many of the other competitors. He has led soldiers on deployments with three members to as many as 210. He has been deployed to the Persian Gulf, Australia and southeastern Asia.

Lee Marshall (Photo courtesy of CBS)

The military is made up of many blue collar jobs, which Murphy says members jokingly call “green collar” jobs. He held a variety of positions throughout his career, including in avionics, as an instructor and later a recruiter, in infantry, military police and motor transport.

Murphy was stationed at Fort Leonard Wood in southern Missouri in 2010. He retired about eight years ago to watch his four kids grow up. He is now the Director of the Military and Veterans Center at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg. The center is a one stop shop for veterans and their family members going to UCM. Murphy is sometimes seen on the show sporting a UCM t-shirt.

He says his toughest challenge came two weeks ago while tackling his fear of heights he developed later in life.

“When I repelled, I proved to myself that I still have what it takes,” he says. “And I think that’s why this past episode is one of my favorites. When I watched it again on Wednesday, I actually cried at the house because it was like ‘Wow I did overcome that,’ because it’s the first time you get to see yourself. I knew what I was feeling but then when I watched it, it was very powerful for me. That was a huge day for me. It will probably always be my favorite part of the show.”

Thanks to the show, he says he would give skydiving a shot and would not hesitate to repel again.

“It would be a little bit different because it would just be for leisure – it wouldn’t be under the pressure of competing for $200,000,” he says.

The show teaches viewers that America’s toughest come in all sizes and backgrounds. Murphy says Tough As Nails reinforced what he already knew – don’t judge a book by its cover.

Although filming ended in mid-February, he says Savage Crew remains strong and members talk to each other on a regular basis. They went through growing pains in the beginning to learn each other’s strengths, weaknesses and overcome communication problems. They fought back from a 4-1 deficit to force a tiebreaker in the final team challenge.

A restaurant in Warrensburg called Fitters is holding a watch party this Wednesday for the season finale at 8 p.m. Murphy will be there showcasing some of his favorite gear from the show, including a personal trophy – the piece of log he sawed off to defeat his Missouri counterpart, Marshall, in the team competition. During a rematch, Marshall claimed victory to win his team the grand prize.

Murphy’s Instagram account, kwmurph72, is chocked full of pictures from the show and his fitness videos.

The show, created by Phil Keoghan, has captured the number one spot in ratings several times and has averaged about four million viewers each week. It has scored a second season with CBS.

Hear the full interview with Murphy: