He knows that young football players make a lot of mistakes. After he was released by the Rams, Dupree performed as a professional wrestler for the USWA in 1995. Dupree is not permitted to play for most of their games, and the University of Oklahoma suffers a string of devastating losses.Soon after these losses, Switzer makes the surprising announcement that the team is abandoning their vaunted wishbone offensive strategy in favor of one involving a single running back, favoring Dupree. The problem is, its not like high school when Coach (Joe) Wood made it fun. In the summer of 1990, Dupree is invited to Los Angeles to attend the Rams training camp. He returned to professional football in 1990, playing in 15 games over two seasons for the Los Angeles Rams before being waived prior to the 1992 season. Yes, you read that right; hes wearing No. According to an audit conducted by White's office, $171,000 in TANF money was used as the down payment toward Dupree's home and surrounding property. He also noted the "unreasonableness" of using federal welfare money, intended for job training and assistance for needy families, to help purchase a five-bedroom home and a horse farm for a state-contracted employee. Life, to me, is like a football game. He instead decided to go pro with the New Orleans Breakers of the USFL in 1984, signing a five-year deal for $6 million at the age of 19. We do the wrestling events to see kids cheer and see kids faces smile to it like I did when I was younger.. However, he did not play college football again until 1985 after the NCAA ruled that. Where Is Damani Whitlock from Last Chance U Season 2 Now? Dupree told Barr he "was shocked" to learn Nancy New, head of one of the non-profits in charge of Families First, pleaded guilty to federal and state bribery and fraud charges earlier this year. The small, somewhat isolated town of Philadelphia, Mississippi, has a history associated with the Civil Rights Movement as the site where three civil rights workers disappeared on June 21st, 1964, creating a national controversy when their bodies are discovered in a nearby dam. The Incredible Story of the Greatest Football Player You've Never Heard Of - Marcus Dupree I've wanted to tell the story of Marcus Dupree for sometime now. He was never the same. He views old footage of his high school games and visits the field where they took place, becoming emotional about the death of his mother, who passed away in 2004. "I was all over the state. 2023 www.clarionledger.com. Anyone who got to know Dupree while he was at OU realized he was a good person. To meet the classroom requirements, however, Dupree would need to pass 24 more hours of work between now and September. Three trades in a chaotic top five, NCAA panel eyes shorter football games in 2023, Ex-Vols staffers agree to show-cause penalties, UNC hires ex-Browns HC Kitchens as assistant, Syracuse QB Shrader to miss spring practice, Sources: Asst. In 2023, Marcus Dupree is a motivational and inspirational speaker who travels doing speaking engagements. Dupree was placed on injured reserve, meaning he would have to sit out for four weeks before he could play for the Rams.[12]. He regrets doing so, and recounts that he was burnt out at the time from the goings-on around him. He becomes a factor in the recruitment negotiations, and he advises Dupree to join the University of Southern Mississippi, as he feels they wanted him more and would do more than other schools to ensure his safety and success.In January 1982, Dupree narrows his choices down to three: Oklahoma, Texas, and Southern Mississippi. Dupree had not been a product of the Oklahoma system. Secondly, he married the former Cella Ruth Dupree, the daughter of Rev.. Favre has denied wrongdoing. Make no mistake: Mr. Dupree earned the money he was paid, and he never had any reason to believe the money was being improperly spent by state officials," Eichelberger wrote. He also finished with 13 touchdowns and was the MVP of the Fiesta Bowl, rushing for 239 yards. A missing persons report is filed, and the FBI launches a search for him. Several days later, Dupree confides in his friends that he feels he has made a terrible mistake in joining Oklahoma. On Wednesday, Dupree denied wrongdoing in an interview with ESPN. It resurrected his popularity. Arizona manages to win, and Switzer laments that if Dupree was in better shape he would have performed phenomenally and led Oklahoma to victory.Switzer goes on television immediately after the game to complain about Duprees performance. This incident serves to escalate the tension between Dupree and Switzer. [7], When Dupree arrived at the University of Oklahoma in 1982, head coach Barry Switzer said, "He was the best player on the field. Dupree played in four games in his sophomore season and suffered a concussion against the University of Texas. Commercials deleted. Coming back from Christmas break, he was out of shape and 10-15 pounds overweight, for which Switzer publicly criticized him. Unfortunately, this is how his career as a footballer ended. "But I learned today that Marcus' mother may be ill," said Switzer. Why do you have to check with him? Then it sort of hit me, Yeah, why do I always have to check with Ken if I want my own money?, My mama told Ken to his face one day, I may not be around to see it, but youre gonna get yours one day. I thought about that when that rainbow popped out. He also wrote that Dupree could have been the greatest running back of all time. I just looked at him asanother guy trying to get me to sign with his school. Dupree said he has no intention of paying the state back, as White's office has demanded. But statements coming out of the offices of the New Orleans Breakers of the United States Football League Wednesday made it sound as if Dupree will play for them this season. He is 19 years old and sitting before a cadre of sportswriters from Chicago and New York, L.A., Washington and. It was in 1985, Dupree earned the starting position for the season opener against the Arizona Outlaws, during which he suffered that knee injury that ended his career with the USFL. Their conversation was cordial, direct, but brief. He still wears his OU number 22 jersey when making special appearances for Crowbar Championship Wrasslin in Oklahoma. He plays with the Rams and leads in rushing until 1992, when he is cut from the team. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. For every Marcus Allen, Barry Sanders or Emmitt Smith, there's an Anthony Thompson, a Paul Palmer and a LeShon Johnson, guys who never matched their college success in the NFL. Hes happy with his life and doesnt look back. Im just living. [4] In 1981, Marcus's final high school football game was played on the Choctaw Indian Reservation's tribal high school's Warriors Stadium. Five have pleaded guilty. He was a sought-after college recruitplaying for Oklahoma and was named Football NewsFreshman of the Year.. Dupree signed with the USFL, playing for the New Orleans Breakers. Although Dupree was big at 6' 2", 225 lbs., he was deceptively fast, agile and tough. D. 22 for the Crowbar Championship Wrasslin (CCW). At the same time, Dupree comes to feel that he is being treated unfairly and is not being given the same privileges and benefits of the other players, such as preferential housing and monetary compensation. I did enjoy acting, Dupree said. Theyre the ones who didnt achieve NFL success for reasons of circumstance. Why do the Jacksonville Jaguars say Duval? Dupree was signed by the New Orleans Breakers of the United States Football League in 1984. The circumstances surrounding Duprees departure from football takes a tremendous physical and emotional toll on him, and at the age of 23 he is described as being like an old man. Around 1989, Dupree comes to believe that he might be able to play football again and begins an intense training regimen, dropping over 100 pounds in the space of a few months. Whether he will find still another NCAA school, transfer to a small college where he can play football this fall, or whether he will turn pro. He died april 13, 1986, at the age of 42. On February 12, 1982, Dupree announced he would attend Oklahoma instead of the other finalists, Texas, UCLA, and Southern Miss. Dupree said he couldn't quantify how many times he mentored teens at his horse farm, but he says over the roughly two-year period he was paid by the state he also made 20 to 30 appearances working as a liaison for Families First, traveling Mississippi to speak in prisons and schools and recording radio commercials. Producer: Fragmented Commitments. Prominent college football coaches turn up in person to speak to Dupree, and intense competition amongst them is expected. Host . An investigation by Mississippi Today was the first to reveal that the nonprofits that paid Dupree and others either misspent or stole at least $77 million in welfare funds in what's considered the worst public corruption case in state history. It is around this time that Dupree is born, and as a child he dreams of becoming a football player. However, he is not bothered by the decision, feeling that he accomplished what he set out to do. The player maintains that Switzer. Sentencing is set for Dec. 19. Heres what happened to football player Marcus Dupree and where he is now, in 2023. Barry Switzer heard the news Tuesday morning that Marcus Dupree had dropped out of school at Southern Mississippi. Ken took that, Dupree said. It is declared that he will never play again, and the money he made with the Breakers soon evaporates, particularly after a series of lawsuits concerning bad loans that Fairley took out. Thirty years of anger and frustration were eased when Dupree, 52, learned that pastor Kenneth Fairley, once the star football running backs adviser and business manager, was found guilty Monday in a Hattiesburg courtroom on three counts of conspiracy and theft in a federal case involving money taken from a federal housing program. Sadly, he was cut from the team as his coach, Chuck Knox, thought his performance wasnt up to the mark. Despite his numerous successes, tension continues between Dupree and the Oklahoma coaching staff, owing to Duprees perceived laid-back attitude and lack of effort during practice sessions. He recounts his childhood, mostly spent playing football with other neighborhood kids. "I don't appreciate being lumped into something like I took money," Dupree said. As a junior in 1980, he rushed for 2,550 yards and scored 34 touchdowns (25 rushing, 9 by kick return). According to a 2019 state audit, Dupree was paid, in part, for "equine assisted learning," which Mississippi's state auditor, Shad White, told ESPN meant "teaching people how to ride horses.". He said he preferred running backs who "were a little more well-rounded, could catch the ball coming out of the backfield and could do some of the other things besides run with the football."[15]. The injury is severe enough to end his career with the Breakers, and when the NFL declares him eligible a year afterward it is already too late for him to recover. Dupree wasn't attending classes at OU and now he's quit school again. Ken had gotten my power of attorney. Maybe even ready for the NFL at that age."[7]. Marcus Dupree, who rose to fame in Mississippi and beyond after a brief but impressive football career that became the subject of an ESPN documentary, is speaking out about his alleged role in a sprawling welfare fraud case that has also entangled Hall of Fame NFL quarterback Brett Favre and dozens of others. In his senior year, he eclipsedHerschel Walkers national high school career touchdown record, collecting 36, giving him a total of 81. [7], On January 1, 1983, Dupree's freshman season ended with a 32-21 Fiesta Bowl loss against Arizona State. Contact Billy Watkins at 769-257-3079 orbwatkins@jackson.gannett.com. Today, Marcus is a 46-year-old part-time truck driver, struggling to get . He's been in and out of hospitals many times and still needs further medical attention. I can't wait until we go to court. Many label him as the greatest running back to ever play college football. I think Ill play this year, but it could be my last. The team gets off to a bad start, and Dupree suffers a leg injury during a game which takes him out of commission for a time. Now 52, the former heralded football recruit, whose career tragically vanished almost within no time, has now set foot in thepro-wrestlingring! The superstar that he did not become and the man he is today are the subject of a new documentary airing Tuesday on ESPN. In 1984, Marcus Dupree signed with the New Orleans Breakers of the USFL and had a pretty good season, scoring nine touchdowns. Dupree broke many records in both high school and college. Among all his other great runs, he also had a 77-yard punt return against Colorado, an 80-yard run against Kansas State, a 70-yard run against Missouri and an 86-yard run against Nebraska. He also has a grandson. The Oklahoma coach, by issuing a statement, simply acted to protect himself and to protect his team's future. He had a quick, spectacular impact on Norman, and that fact did not help the relationship with his coach. Text messages show he pressured Phil Bryant, a former Mississippi governor, to obtain $5 million in funds to help build a new volleyball center at his alma mater, the University of Southern Mississippi, where his daughter played the sport. That was unfair. Texas and Oklahoma send their recruiters, Tommy Reaux and Lucious Selmon, to live in Philadelphia full-time until signing day. But I think that rainbow let me know that she heard the news and shes mighty happy that, finally. In two seasons (1990-91), he rushed 68 times for 251 yards and a touchdown. (This program contains audiovisual errors. But it has done one thing: the American public should finally realize that the University of Oklahoma wasn't totally to blame for what happened while he was there. He left in the middle of his sophomore season and briefly attended the University of Southern Mississippi. marosa o, The Best Marcus Dupree Brother Reggie Died Ideas . Follow@BillyWatkins11 on Twitter. On the front porch at 274 Davis Street one recent afternoon sits Marcus Dupree, sophomore tailback at the University of Oklahoma, blowing up and then popping his bubble gum. When I got ready to buy my mother a car, I said, Let me check with Ken, Dupree recalled. I know I shouldnt have left [OU], but I still love Oklahoma and I still love watching [the Sooners] play.. Others were just a step too slow. "I'm getting lumped in with whatever Brett Favre and the governor had going on. Dupree sues Fairley in an attempt to recover some of his money. Some of the unfortunate ones were too small. [13], Before the 1992 season, Dupree led the Rams in rushing in the preseason, which included a 100-yard game in the final preseason game against the Los Angeles Raiders, but was one of the 14 players cut by coach Chuck Knox to trim the team down to the 47-player regular-season roster, and he retired shortly afterward. FACT CHECK: Dave Ramsey Made a Statement About America Online, FACT CHECK: CIA Director Gina Haspel Found Dead, FACT CHECK: Kwik Trip Launches Kwik Strip Gentlemens Clubs. Is Najee Harris Related to Pittsburgh Steelers Legend, Franco Harris? Dupree scored 87 touchdowns total during his playing time in high school, breaking the national high school record (set by Herschel Walker) by one. On October 16, 1982, he ran for 158 yards against Kansas, including a 75-yard touchdown run. His football journey was profiled in a 2010 ESPN 30 for 30 documentary, "The Best That Never Was.". "I'm getting lumped in with whatever Brett Favre and the governor had going on. Dupree was a standout in his freshman season at the University of Oklahoma in 1982, but his career was ultimately hampered by injuries. ", Dupree, 58, grew up in Philadelphia, Mississippi, where his highlight-reel-worthy performances as a high school running back made him the most sought-after football recruit in the country. He joined the United States Football League the following season and signed with the New Orleans Breakers in 1984. Favre has denied wrongdoing. White said his office found "limited evidence" Dupree or anyone else ever delivered those sorts of services to the needy. Who Is Kimmi Chex? But on Wednesday, Fairley said Dupree simply wanted to "play football" this year. It's been a while since a "30 for 30" film got a two-hour running time (most had to come in at an hour, and a handful got an hour and a half to two hours), and "The Best That Never Was . It would be best for him. "Since the announcement was made that Marcus was leaving school, a number of pro teams have inquired," Fairley said. ). Dupree had already displayed his supreme athletic prowess while at Philadelphia High School in Philadelphia, Mississippi. He was big, fast, and strong with incredible football instincts. "Neither Mr. Dupree, nor his foundation, will be making any payment in response to your demand. He also played an overbearing dad of a young football player in the film, Life at These Speeds. He also played on Philadelphia High's basketball team, which finished the year with a 334 record and reached the semifinals of the Mississippi state basketball tournament, and played first base and catcher for the baseball team, hitting for a .481 average.[3]. 57. After his freshman season at the University of Oklahoma, Marcus Dupree was on pace to become one of the all-time great college football running backs. After five and a half years away, he attempted a comeback to the NFL in 1990 with the Los Angeles Rams. And it would be the best for Barry Switzer and the OU Sooners. Marcus Dupree was a national star as a freshman running back at theUniversity of Oklahoma in 1982. Meet the Rumored New Head Coach of the Utah Jazz. His second and final season in the USFL was short-lived after sustaining a severe knee injury. He reported to campus late, missed the team photo and put on considerable weight. In high school, Marcus Dupree wowed everyone from players, to coaches to fans with his size and natural athletic ability. Have something to tell us about this article? He hastily issued a statement through the sports publicity office at the University of Oklahoma that said, in effect, Marcus Dupree will not be back to play football for the Sooners. One of my teachers at Philly High said there was someone she wanted me to meet, Dupree said. This becomes something of a semi-common occurrence at Duprees games, and other high school teams try to adjust their strategies specifically to deal with him.By 1981, Dupree is known throughout Philadelphia and draws a great deal of attention to the football scene there. If marcus duprees story was a fairy tale, it would read like this: Dupree was the center of the most heated recruiting frenzy in. Read on to know more about the footballer-turned-pro wrestler in our Marcus Dupree wiki. By: Aliya Khan - Published: October 18, 2017 at 12:56 pm | Last Updated: He is enthusiastically welcomed by the team and appreciates the attention he receives by them and the fans. [7] Switzer told Dupree, "If you'd have been in shape, you'd have rushed for 400 yards, and we'd have won the game."[9]. However, once he enrolls in Southern Mississippi, he is informed that his eligibility to play in the remainder of the 1983 season and the entire 1984 is uncertain. Last Name: Ricky Adams 1977-1981. During his post-playing days, Dupree maintained local-celebrity status within his home state, frequently appearing at public functions or events staged through his foundation. Such was the case with Marcus Dupree, a star running back who lit the college football scene on fire as a freshman in 1982.. After several days Dupree decides to contact his mother and reveal his location. "I was all over the state. He was named second-team All-American, first-team all-Big Eight Conference and Big Eight Newcomer of the Year. Ken Fairley, a friend of the family, was quoted on Tuesday saying Dupree wanted to play "college football" in '84. One of Duprees teammates is Cecil Price Jr., the son of the deputy sheriff convicted for his involvement in the deaths of the three civil rights workers in 1964. 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