Fulham captain Murphy caused a storm when he pointed the finger of blame at Wolves boss Mick McCarthy, Blackburn chief Sam Allardyce and Stoke manager Tony Pulis for the recent rash of dangerous tackles in the Premier League.
Thursday saw outraged Blackburn boss Allardyce call on the 33-year-old to be "man enough" to apologise and further condemnation followed yesterday from Wolves' McCarthy, Stoke's Pulis and several of their top-flight colleagues.
Murphy: "Much has been made of some comments that came from a conference I was asked to speak at last week.
"These were taken out of context to a large extent, and were blown out of all proportion.
"For the record, I have a huge amount of respect for the managers of the clubs that I named, and for their achievements in the game.
"Anybody who listened to the debate in its entirety would have understood the points I was trying to make, so let's draw a line under it."
Wolves boss Mick McCarthy has described as "a pile of nonsense" the bad publicity currently surrounding his under-fire club.
Wolves collected seven bookings in the draw with Newcastle and then a further six and the red in the last-gasp defeat at Fulham, resulting in two separate fines from the Football Association totalling £75,000.
McCarthy: "We're not a dirty team, but at the moment it looks like we are because of circumstances.
"I try my best not to offend anybody, but if that's the way people want to perceive me and my team, there's not a great deal I can do about it.
"But it's wrong, a whole pile of nonsense actually, but such is life.
"It suits a lot of people to suggest Mick McCarthy's team is that way inclined, but I've never, ever been labelled with that.
"There's not a great deal I can do about it, and we will continue to play the way we have been playing.
"All my teams have always played football, or been competitive, and that's the way we will continue to be."