Bob Murray was born July 16, 1948 in Peterborough, Ontario. A graduate of the Peterborough Jr. Petes, Murray went on to play three seasons at Michigan Tech University where he was a WCHA First Team All-Star (1971) and an NCAA West First Team All-American (1971).
A stay-at-home defenceman, Murray who had signed in 1971 as a territorial exemption by the Montreal Canadiens from Peterborough, Murray went on to play two seasons in the AHL with the Nova Scotia Voyageurs where he was an AHL First Team All-Star in 1973 before he was traded to the Atlanta Flames later on that spring.
Murray spent parts of two seasons with the Flames before the team traded his rights to the Vancouver Canucks in the latter stages of the 1974-75 NHL season. After parts of three seasons in Vancouver with a brief stint with the CHL's Tulsa Oilers in 1976-77, Murray took his game overseas in 1979-80 and went on to play six seasons in Germany before retiring as a player in 1987-88.