NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — He was arguably the Norfolk Admirals' biggest fan, a Newport News man who had a love beyond words for the local hockey team.
Eric Murphy's collection of team memorabilia is huge, dating back nearly three decades. Now, his passion may help aspiring college students achieve their dreams.
Since October 3, the sea of cheers at the Admirals games is a little quieter.
"Five days before his 45th birthday," his mother, Patricia Boyd said. "Congestive heart failure. His dad had it too, but his dad made it until 49 and we thought Eric would make it at least that long but he went to sleep and didn't wake up."
Eric wasn't your typical fan; he was a super fan, and his mother blames herself.
"I was working and somebody gave me two free Admirals tickets and I gave them to Eric and that pretty much started it," she said.
That was back in the mid-1990s. More than 700 games later, Eric leaves behind an unrivaled collection of pucks, jerseys, ticket stubs, posters and more.
"He had a passion for the memorabilia," Patricia said. "He had the patience to wait around for things to be signed. It was just something he absolutely loved, but he never played hockey, out of all the sports he played."
Patricia said her son had another passion: computers. He was a Thomas Nelson Community College grad-turned campus employee with a stack of certificates in IT.
"He was the family person to go to if your pictures were lost or you got a virus or whatever," she said. "He was your person."
If there's one thing he loved more than hockey, it was his Thomas Nelson family. So much so, he made a request.
With the help of Newport News Land of Goshen Auction House, the goal is to turn Eric's collection into $30,000 and start a scholarship fund for IT students at Thomas Nelson.
"This is the one thing he so wanted. He really wanted that scholarship," Patricia said.
13News Now reached out to the Norfolk Admirals, who said they are working to do a tribute to Eric in the New Year by promoting the auction at a game. The final details of that have not been made.