[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. Barry Switzer heard the news Tuesday morning that Marcus Dupree had dropped out of school at Southern Mississippi. Dupree said he has no intention of paying the state back, as White's office has demanded. His little brother Reggie was disabled and was unable to run or do activities like marcus or other kids. "I worked too hard on my reputation to do the right thing and be the right person, and I don't like what's going on. He also has a grandson. The superstar that he did not become and the man he is today are the subject of a new documentary airing. He knows that young people make mistakes. 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. However, his career went awry soon after leaving the University of Oklahoma in 1983. Anyone who got to know Dupree while he was at OU realized he was a good person. Dupree equates life to a football game and hes preaching something he didnt do while he was at Oklahoma. In 1984, Marcus Dupree signed with the New Orleans Breakers of the USFL and had a pretty good season, scoring nine touchdowns. He recounts that his father, long after being released from prison, takes great interest in the high school football games and becomes one of Duprees fans. Can the Lions fix their defense? I wish (Barry Switzer) would have treated me a little bit better, Dupree told OU Daily in 2010. My first paycheck was for $42,000. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. In 2011, Dupree was diagnosed with prostate cancer but recovered. 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. He is 19 years old and sitting before a cadre of sportswriters from Chicago and New York, L.A., Washington and. 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. After that, he started acting like he knew me and that we were friends. [7], On January 1, 1983, Dupree's freshman season ended with a 32-21 Fiesta Bowl loss against Arizona State. 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. My signing bonus was $300,000. Im just waiting on them to give me a call.. The season continues, and Dupree suffers chronic problems with his hamstring, sidelining him for a time. In two unimpressive seasons with the Rams, he scored one touchdown and had just 68 rushing attempts. Marcus Dupree made a name in the 1982 OU-Texas game, but ended his Sooner career with a disappointing performance a year later. The five-bedroom, 4,100-square-foot home is valued at just over $1 million, according to the real estate website Zillow. Dupree told ESPN he "was shocked" when he learned that Nancy New, the head of one of the nonprofits, the Mississippi Community Education Center, had pleaded guilty to 13 felony counts of bribery, fraud and racketeering. Upon being informed that because of NCAA rules, he would have to sit out both the remainder of the 1983 season and the 1984 season, he left after three months. Marcus Dupree was one of the most exciting college football prospects of all time. Marcus has had difficulty coping with the fact he cannot play college football until 1985 and has talked of the possibility of playing professional football, Jim Carmody, Southern Mississippis head coach, said in a New York Times article in 1984. 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. Marcus dupree was once the biggest name in the future of football. One relative, his uncle Curlee, is offered jobs and money by various coaches, and feels that he cannot ignore such offers. But he didnt give up, and now, hes gone on to become a USWA Professional Wrestler, while also running a sports bar and working in a casino. He left Oklahoma at mid-season. It was costing me so much in legal fees that I just said to forget it. Oklahoma faces their rivals, Texas, and he attempts to play despite his injured condition as a response to challenges leveled at him from some of the Texas players. On April 13, 2018, Dupree's foundation purchased the horse farm and residence in Flora where Dupree lives for $855,000. A lawsuit filed in May by the Mississippi Department of Human Services alleges Dupree was illegally paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal welfare money that was intended for the state's neediest families. 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. Oklahoma assistant coach Lucious Selmon spent six weeks in the Downtown Motor Inn in Philadelphia,[7] and after Dupree verbally committed to Fred Akers and the Texas Longhorns while on his visit there, OU head coach Barry Switzer sent former Oklahoma Sooner and Heisman Trophy winner Billy Sims to the town by private plane to appeal to Dupree. The superstar that he did not become and the man he is today are the subject of a new documentary airing. He ran for 249 yards in the Fiesta Bowl, despite being overweight and out of shape. I can't wait until we go to court. Dupree left USM after realizing he wouldnt be able to play football until the 1985 season due to NCAA transfer rules. Dupree said he wasnt having much fun. He was also the MVP of the Fiesta Bowl, rushing for 239 yards. Dupree, the film notes early on, earned the respect, and even the awe, of everyone who saw him play, including the deputy sheriff linked to the murders, Cecil Ray Price (in 1967, despite the. 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. Today, Marcus is a 46-year-old part-time truck driver, struggling to get . ", Dupree decries Favre comparison in fraud case, The Turnover Luck Index: Rating every 2022 team, from USC to Rutgers, Kiper's updated NFL mock draft: Who's moving up for a QB? College recruiters come out in droves to court Dupree; he estimates that several hundred schools attempted to recruit him. Once he recovered, he signed with the Los Angeles Rams in the NFL, but once again, suffered an injury and had to sit out for the first seven games. In February of 2020, agents from the State Auditor's Office arrested Nancy New, her son Zach New, Davis, retired wrestler Brett DiBiase, agency employee Latimer Smith, and nonprofit accountant Ann. 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]. Dupree leads his team to the Fiesta Bowl on New Years Day of 1983 against Arizona. After five and a half years away, he attempted a comeback to the NFL in 1990 with the Los Angeles Rams. "But I learned today that Marcus' mother may be ill," said Switzer. 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.". Marcus Dupree's age is 58. This time, however, he isn't running for glory or Heisman Trophies. [5] Author Willie Morris described the audience at Dupree's final high school game as "the most distinctive crowds I had ever seen four thousand or so people seemed almost an equal of mix of whites, blacks, and Indians After Marcus scored his touchdown, Sid Salter saw Cecil Price Sr. (who was linked with the murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner in Philadelphia, Miss.) I have to give . Throughout the year, he was injured and often was on the bench watching Buford Jordan take his carries. [4] In 1981, Marcus's final high school football game was played on the Choctaw Indian Reservation's tribal high school's Warriors Stadium. Back then, Dupree playing football in school had attracted national attention. The documentary chronicles the life of Marcus Dupree, perhaps the greatest running back ever in high school football. "If Mr. Dupree would like to argue that the amounts he was paid were reasonably justified for the number of speeches given and can show proof of the speeches, he will be able to make that argument in a court," White said. In two seasons (1990-91), he rushed 68 times for 251 yards and a touchdown. Fairley was by his side during the process. Here's what happened to football player Marcus Dupree and where he is now, in 2023. However, after a federal judge ruled that the eligibility rule violated antitrust law, the Breakerswho had just moved from Bostonquickly persuaded the New Jersey Generals to give up their territorial rights to Dupree (OU was among the Generals' territorial schools) in return for their first-round pick in the 1985 USFL Draft. 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. The brothers are quite close, and Duprees friends note that Reggie proves to be a motivating factor for Duprees prowess. When he resurfaced in Mississippi, he announced he was leaving OU and transferring to the University of Southern Mississippi. I know I shouldnt have left [OU], but I still love Oklahoma and I still love watching [the Sooners] play.. Whatever Happened to Jim McMahon, the Punky QB of the Chicago Bears? What did Marcus Dupree . But my grandmother told me from the start that she didnt like Ken and didnt trust him. Switzer wishes to avoid playing favorite and becomes known for criticizing elements of Duprees play style. Marcus Dupree was one of the most heavily recruited high school football stars in American history. Id never heard of him. It wasin 1985, Dupree earned the starting position for the season opener against the Arizona Outlaws, during whichhe sufferedthat knee injury that ended his career with the USFL. but not at Oklahoma," Switzer said. 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