This episode of "30 for 30" is about the life and career of Marcus Dupree--a phenom in high school and one of the top college prospects of the early 1980s. The show tries to explore why it is that such a hot running back would have a pro career that was, at best, mediocre and short--shortened by injuries and filled with 'what ifs'.
The show began with a discussion of Dupree's hometown of Philadelphia, Mississippi. The town's history of black church burnings and civil rights deaths was briefly discussed. Then the film talked about Marcus' early football career and his soon becoming one of the top prospects for colleges. At this point, a frenzy broke out--with dozens and dozens of schools begging, pleading and offering a wide variety of 'incentives' to play for them. When these bribes were offered, Dupree's family got in on the act and a huge feeding frenzy broke out--with him going to the highest bidder for college. In this case, the University of Oklahoma obtained his services and his college career was very productive as a freshman--but there was a lot of trouble brewing under the surface--problems with the coaching staff, problems with self-discipline and problems with injuries.
Eventually, Dupree cut his college career short and became pro--going to the new USFL (and soon to be defunct USFL). Unfortunately, instead of becoming a big star like Kelvin Bryant or Hershell Walker, Dupree's USFL career consisted of a series of injuries and lowered expectations. He soon retired as a result. Several years after retiring, Dupree made a comeback in the NFL--but it, too, was cut short due to injuries (and one of them they showed in the clips was HORRENDOUS--almost as bad as the famous Joe Theismann injury).
All in all, this is a sad but compelling story of wasted talent, bad advice, irresponsibility and how fragile the human body is--as MANY 'top picks' never even make it to the pros due to injuries. In other words, although Dupree was an obvious example of not achieving expectations, this occurs all the time in pro sports. For every overachiever, there are many who get hurt or make stupid choices who end up sweeping streets or going to prison instead. By the way, I watched this right after watching the "30 for 30" about Len Bias--another example of what might have been in pro sports.
Wouldn't this be a GREAT documentary to show hot high school sports stars?! Show them what COULD easily happen if they aren't very, very careful...and lucky.
And, if you do see it, watch the scene where Barry Switzer talks about the way he treated Dupree when he was a student at OU. He comes VERY close to saying he made a mistake but didn't seem to be able to say this. Interesting.
The show began with a discussion of Dupree's hometown of Philadelphia, Mississippi. The town's history of black church burnings and civil rights deaths was briefly discussed. Then the film talked about Marcus' early football career and his soon becoming one of the top prospects for colleges. At this point, a frenzy broke out--with dozens and dozens of schools begging, pleading and offering a wide variety of 'incentives' to play for them. When these bribes were offered, Dupree's family got in on the act and a huge feeding frenzy broke out--with him going to the highest bidder for college. In this case, the University of Oklahoma obtained his services and his college career was very productive as a freshman--but there was a lot of trouble brewing under the surface--problems with the coaching staff, problems with self-discipline and problems with injuries.
Eventually, Dupree cut his college career short and became pro--going to the new USFL (and soon to be defunct USFL). Unfortunately, instead of becoming a big star like Kelvin Bryant or Hershell Walker, Dupree's USFL career consisted of a series of injuries and lowered expectations. He soon retired as a result. Several years after retiring, Dupree made a comeback in the NFL--but it, too, was cut short due to injuries (and one of them they showed in the clips was HORRENDOUS--almost as bad as the famous Joe Theismann injury).
All in all, this is a sad but compelling story of wasted talent, bad advice, irresponsibility and how fragile the human body is--as MANY 'top picks' never even make it to the pros due to injuries. In other words, although Dupree was an obvious example of not achieving expectations, this occurs all the time in pro sports. For every overachiever, there are many who get hurt or make stupid choices who end up sweeping streets or going to prison instead. By the way, I watched this right after watching the "30 for 30" about Len Bias--another example of what might have been in pro sports.
Wouldn't this be a GREAT documentary to show hot high school sports stars?! Show them what COULD easily happen if they aren't very, very careful...and lucky.
And, if you do see it, watch the scene where Barry Switzer talks about the way he treated Dupree when he was a student at OU. He comes VERY close to saying he made a mistake but didn't seem to be able to say this. Interesting.