AD may have been better all around because AD wanted to be that good. The thing about Marcus is that he just showed up and did that. If he had Adrian's work ethic, oh what could have been.
AD may have been better all around because AD wanted to be that good. The thing about Marcus is that he just showed up and did that. If he had Adrian's work ethic, oh what could have been.
Great looking trailer...I don't know about him being better than Hershel, but he definitely had some freakish talent.
Sad to see how it ended for him. ESPN's 30 for 30 is just fantastic.
Better.
Than.
Hershel.
SoonerinabileneOh sweet jesus. Its like watching the special olympics in high definition on here now.
Dupree had everything - size, sprinter's spreed, strength . . . but AD has one thing over him: Determination.Originally Posted by primetime43
In my mind, Durpree could have been the BEST ever. Not Barry Sanders, Durpree - the best in college, the best in the pros, IF he worked at it.
He was already big, but if he worked hard and lifted weights . . .
It boggles the mind.
My mind is boggled.
It was a different time and admittedly players trained differently then too. Marcus was supremely gifted, no question...and the Sooners that year were, well, not one of the better squads. But Marcus...man. I only got to see him play live, in the Fiesta Bowl. Arizona State is still trying to tackle him.
He rushed for 239 yards on 17 carries (!) (14 yards per!!) before leaving the game with a pulled hamstring in the third quarter. He left the game three times because of rib and thigh injuries before that.
Switzer was mad at him for coming back from the Christmas break overweight and short-winded and he was still running all over ASU. Probably would have won the game if he'd have stayed in. The first of three Fiesta Bowls I've seen us lose.
Marcus did not play the first two games of the season so he wasn't on the field against West Virginia. He didn't get into a game until USC and not until the very end of that game. I think he got 3 carries for 12 yards.
And then came the sa*et game and the whorns looked like every other team when he ran, they couldn't stop him. I stood on my chair the whole game laughing everytime he was handed the ball and thinking, "Take a good look sa*et, three more years of this! (players weren't leaving early for the pros then).
That Missouri linebacker, the two of them collided, both of em straight up and he went over backwards as Dupree literally ran over him. And he scored on that play. MD had a string of games where he scored on a run of 60 yards or more. When people who saw him talk about him, it was because he was that good. Until Adrian Peterson came along, none who did see the Marcus Dupree era ever thought we would witness that kind of talent again.
I was trying to study while listening to the first half of the '82 OU/KU game before I finally just gave up.. called the girl friend and headed on over to Lawrence to watch the second half. We got free tickets from some KU fans leaving the game and watched from the north end zone among other OU fans.
Marcus Dupree was the best Sooner running back that I've ever seen from 1971 on. Great talent but his attitude and work ethic totally sucked.
OU 20 UT 36 "It is what it is." Mack Brown 10/12/13
all this love for a "quitter".
he left OU !!!!
Kind of a latter day Joe Don Looney. A man among boys, but hampered by what is (or isn't ) between the ears. Difference is that apparently Mama got in the way Marcus. He could do no wrong in Mama's eyes, and Barry had turned into a mean coach asking him to do all that practicing & play with his minor ouchies.
Agree he coulda had it all. Coulda won the Heisman and had everything that went with it, but basically shot himself in the foot. Spoiled baby type.
Just goes to show you that a player can have all the physical ability in the world, but if his head isn't on straight, or the OU standards just aren't a fit for a HS prospect, it can be trouble.
Exactly.Marcus was probly the most gited runningback in OU history but had no heart.AD had a hair less talent but 10 TIMES the heart and work ethic.
As far as greatest runningbacks in OU history I go
Billy Sims
AD Joe Washington
AD
Steve Owens
Billy Vessels
Q
Demond Parker
Mike Gaddis
Tommy McDonald
DeMarco
Lydell Carr
Prentice Gautt
Chris Brown
James Allen
Spencer Tillman
Dupree ranks somewhere below all these guys.MD had all the POTENTIAL in the world but these guys actually produced on the gridiron.How can anyone who follows Sooner football rank a quitter who played 14 or so career games above ANY of these career proven SOONERS.
Dupree quit because he was unwilling to work hard,unwilling to get tough,unwilling to lead.He was a quitter.
Owen '05-'26 122-54-16 .677 (Foundation)
Wilkinson '47-'63 145-29-4 .829 (DYNASTY 1) 3 NC
Switzer '73-'88 157-29-4 .837(DYNASTY 2) 3 NC
Stoops '99- PRESENT 179-46.793 (DYNASTY 3) 1 NC and still WAITING
At OU tradition is about more than just one coach 861-319-53 .720
Scattergun toting Posse member
It wasn't just his mama, it was everyone around him in Philadelphia, Mississippi...
Outside of his family it was mostly his coaches growing up who didn't make him be a teammate and work like every other player, they let him do whatever he wanted since he had incredible talent. He thought Switzer was a hard *** for making him work....there is no way he would have been able to play for a Bo Schembechler, Bear Bryant or Woody Hayes (and many others) if he thought Switzer was hard.
How's this for size, power and speed, and this is against 21st century size, power and speed. There's no comparison.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6nv4rUP90Q
TAKE IT BACK
'50 '55 '56 '74 '75 '85 '00
March 8, 2010:
Epic.
AD is the best running back ever at OU. He can do it all: catch passes, run over people, make people miss and run like crazy for his size. What if AD hadn't gotten hurt? What if's are just that.
where's Pruitt & Clendon Thomas ???
I don't know if I would use the words "size, power, and speed" to describe the Detroit Lions, no matter what century it is.
Great run, though.
at this point in the process, I can only assume it was a typo and they meant to say "cram"...
what if Billy Sims hadn't gotten hurt ???
he was @ OU 5 years, & only played 2 complete seasons.
barring injury, he coulda had 2000 to 3000 more yarda.
Looney had head problems like MD.
that's where the comparison pretty much ends. Looney worked hard to build up his body. i don't remember what his weight was, but it was far greater than the 165 lbs he got down to after football was over.
guessing in the 190 to 200 lb range. hate to be racist; but he had extreme speed for a white boy. i remember (i think) that he could do a 9.6 100 yds.
Bud's only JC transfer.he ruined it for the guys behind him. got kicked of the team
also got kicked off of some pro teams.
I remember we had two top recruits in 1982,
one in football, one in basketball.
One was a bum, one was a Saint.
nuff said
posse member
That 82 game was the Last time ive been to the RRW
Quote
If God wanted Men to look women in the eyes, He wouldnt have gave em Boobs !
I'll agree. I've been watching Sooner football since the days of Steve Owens. No player in any college anywhere sticks in my mind for raw talent like Dupree had. Oh what could have been.
Give this guy a work ethic and we're talking Sayers/Kelley/Walker type great.
The Looney analogy is a good one. I heard somewhere the first week of practice Looney almost got into a fight with the quarterback of the Baltimore Colts, Johnny Unitas. Never have been able to confirm that. Doesn't seem too bright for a rookie to be picking a fight with a franchise (soon to be hall of fame) quarterback.
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