30 for 30: Marcus Dupree

InmanRoshi

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Did anyone watch it last night? Wow, what an amazing talent and an amazing story. When I was growing up he was portrayed as some cocky young punk who was lazy. The truth was he was just a good natured, intraverted shy kid from some podunk town in the south (a town with a lot of backstory to it, as the documentary showed) who just wasn't cut out for the limelight, and played at a time that was relatively primitive in dealing with injuries, concussions and dealing with different learning/personality types.

You're looking at an 18 year old kid in these clips. 6'2" 240 lbs who ran easily a 4.3 flat. Chris Johnson meets Jerome Bettis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qg2bHHY3d84
 
I live in Mississippi and Dupree was only a couple of years older than me so I kept up with his career more than most. Dupree let Ken Fairley totally ruin his career and attitude. Fairley was a was a leach and only wanted Dupree`s money. Marcus had one of the best combinations of size and speed and moves that any running back ever had. Fairley took advantage of Dupree in the worst way. It is a shame because Dupree could have been one of the best ever if he only had some people around him that really cared for him instead of his money.This is one of the worst cases of greed that I have ever seen. Fairley is total scum.
 
I saw it. Great story. Sad story.

What could have been . . .

Edit: When I watched the show, I was left with the impression that he was back living in Philadelphia MS, and essentially broke.

But this from Wikipedia (I know) makes it sound like he's had some post NFL success:

Dupree has involved himself in many ventures since then. He was an executive host for a casino, and a professional wrestler for the USWA in 1995 (trained by Tom Prichard). He also scouted for the Washington Commanders and was a general manager for an arena football team.
 
Those high school clips of him were amazing! It looked like a NFL player going against Pop Warner kids! He was clearly a once in a generation type of back who was unfortunately sidetracked by injuries & having the wrong people in his ear.
 
HoleInTheRoof;3687580 said:
I saw it. Great story. Sad story.

What could have been . . .

Edit: When I watched the show, I was left with the impression that he was back living in Philadelphia MS, and essentially broke.

But this from Wikipedia (I know) makes it sound like he's had some post NFL success:

Dupree has involved himself in many ventures since then. He was an executive host for a casino, and a professional wrestler for the USWA in 1995 (trained by Tom Prichard). He also scouted for the Washington Commanders and was a general manager for an arena football team.

Honestly, I'm not sure how much success I would qualify that as. Low level scouts don't get paid much. Wrestling on some low level circuit pays you practically noting, and many of those 2nd and 3rd tier Arena Leagues that have come and gone over the last two decades couldn't even make their payrolls before they went belly up.
 
jnday;3687571 said:
I live in Mississippi and Dupree was only a couple of years older than me so I kept up with his career more than most. Dupree let Ken Fairley totally ruin his career and attitude. Fairley was a was a leach and only wanted Dupree`s money. Marcus had one of the best combinations of size and speed and moves that any running back ever had. Fairley took advantage of Dupree in the worst way. It is a shame because Dupree could have been one of the best ever if he only had some people around him that really cared for him instead of his money.This is one of the worst cases of greed that I have ever seen. Fairley is total scum.

Yeah, he came across as a total and complete slimeball. Actually, Dupree's background, natural athleticism, personality and mannerisms actually remind me a lot of Dez. That's the biggest worry I have with Dez, having the bad people around him and in his ear advising him. What amazes me is Dupree could easily be a bitter or resentful person, but I actually found him to be very positive and very proud of what he achieved, even if it didn't meet the expectations of everyone else. He didn't even come across as overly angry at Fairley, just more of a resigned "What are you going to do? It is what it is." type of attitude.

I do really wonder if maybe he body wasn't too freakish for it's own good. He was 235 lbs. of solid muscle as an 18 year old kid with no body fat. If he ever got any time off his body rapidly gained weight, which tells me his natural set weight was much higher than that. As he got older and his body matured I think he would have wound up in the 260-270 range, and I don't know if his knees could have held up carrying that much load and running that fast even with modern medical proceedures. He also had chronic hamstring problems, which makes me think his muscle mass was just too dense and high strung. He was a world class high performance Ferrari, I'm not sure he was cut out to drive long distances.
 
Saw the ESPN 30 for 30 show about him.

Supernatural talent.

Shame we never got to see it on the pro level except for a few carries.
 
ConcordCowboy;3688710 said:
Yeah he was something at Oklahoma.

Some sick high school stats too...2500 yard seasons...35 tds...9 kick off returns for TD's...typical season.

He was probably close to NFL ready as a senior in high school.

Switzer, who coached hundreds said he was, hands down, the most talented athlete he ever coached.

Shame is...he also said, the way he coached him was his greatest regret

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9R4T7mukapE

check out the run at 19 seconds, hit cuts are all at top speed...

Ran a 4.4 40 and a 9.5 hundred in high school
 
Juke99;3688726 said:
Some sick high school stats too...2500 yard seasons...35 tds...9 kick off returns for TD's...typical season.

He was probably close to NFL ready as a senior in high school.

Switzer, who coached hundreds said he was, hands down, the most talented athlete he ever coached.

Shame is...he also said, the way he coached him was his greatest regret

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9R4T7mukapE

check out the run at 19 seconds, hit cuts are all at top speed...

Ran a 4.4 40 and a 9.5 hundred in high school


I saw the show and recalled him at OU. Man, what a talent. Those HS numbers are jaw dropping.
 
Great documentary.

On a sidenote, according to Wikipedia he will be on another show coming out soon that details him blowing his money away and a 3rd marriage where he abandoned the kids.

Shame b/c the show painted him as a guy that just got taken advantage of.
 
Those 30-for-30 documentaries have been overwhelmingly interesting, well presented, non-sensationalistic and informative pieces of great journalism.

So my only question is this: What the heck are they doing on ESPN?!? :laugh2:
 
InmanRoshi;3687385 said:
You're looking at an 18 year old kid in these clips. 6'2" 240 lbs who ran easily a 4.3 flat. Chris Johnson meets Jerome Bettis.
He reminded me of Bo.
 

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