According to the 30 for 30 Run Marcus Run, Marcus Dupree considered going to Oklahoma and Texas before Nebraska coach Tom Osborne sent former Nebraska running back/wide receiver/wingback Johnny Rodgers to his hometown of Philadelphia, Mississippi by plane, to convince him to come to the University of Nebraska. Dupree committed to the University of Nebraska.
As a freshman, he was red-shirted his first year, since Roger Craig was still an RB. Then, in 1983, he was a member of the Nebraska football team, complimenting Heisman winner Mike Rozier and helping Nebraska win a National Championship over Miami in the Orange Bowl, 35-31, in what is still considered one of the best college games of the 1980s. He would become the main back for Nebraska in the 1984 season, rushing for nearly 2,000 yards, but coming up short in the 1985 Orange Bowl vs. Washington, 27-21.
After his senior year in 1985, he entered the 1986 draft, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers drafted him #1. (1) He became one of the best players in Tampa Bay up to that point (which isn't saying much, considering how much the Bucs weren't good up to that point) and, along with Steve Young, anchored the Tampa Bay offense of the late 1980s and early 1990s that went to the playoffs several times and to Super Bowl XXV, winning it in an upset over the Houston Oilers. (2)
So, WI he didn't go to Nebraska and went to either Oklahoma or Texas? Would he have had the Hall of Fame career he did in the NFL?
(1) ObWI: WI the Buccaneers had drafted Bo Jackson instead of Dupree? They did consider him, but he wound up going to the Houston Oilers. OTOH, without Jackson on the Oilers, the Astros don't sign him--and we don't get the PR of him playing for the Astros and Oilers as both teams made playoff runs (with the Astros losing in seven to the Boston Red Sox in the World Series, and the John Elway-led Oilers (3) going to the divisional round before falling to the Browns, who would lose Super Bowl XXI to the Giants).
(2) Those Buccaneers teams were better than people thought, IMO...
(3) ObWI: WI the Oilers don't draft John Elway? Here's an idea: have them win one game in 1982--their 0-9 record (which included several close losses) led to them having the #1 pick. Behind them was Baltimore, which Elway has stated he wouldn't have played for, because they had Frank Kush as their head coach. Take Elway away, and the Oilers don't draft Rozier and Jerry Rice, among others, and then trade Rozier to the Falcons in 1989 for the pick that became Barry Sanders. If that's the case, maybe Oilers owner Bud Adams does move the team...
As a freshman, he was red-shirted his first year, since Roger Craig was still an RB. Then, in 1983, he was a member of the Nebraska football team, complimenting Heisman winner Mike Rozier and helping Nebraska win a National Championship over Miami in the Orange Bowl, 35-31, in what is still considered one of the best college games of the 1980s. He would become the main back for Nebraska in the 1984 season, rushing for nearly 2,000 yards, but coming up short in the 1985 Orange Bowl vs. Washington, 27-21.
After his senior year in 1985, he entered the 1986 draft, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers drafted him #1. (1) He became one of the best players in Tampa Bay up to that point (which isn't saying much, considering how much the Bucs weren't good up to that point) and, along with Steve Young, anchored the Tampa Bay offense of the late 1980s and early 1990s that went to the playoffs several times and to Super Bowl XXV, winning it in an upset over the Houston Oilers. (2)
So, WI he didn't go to Nebraska and went to either Oklahoma or Texas? Would he have had the Hall of Fame career he did in the NFL?
(1) ObWI: WI the Buccaneers had drafted Bo Jackson instead of Dupree? They did consider him, but he wound up going to the Houston Oilers. OTOH, without Jackson on the Oilers, the Astros don't sign him--and we don't get the PR of him playing for the Astros and Oilers as both teams made playoff runs (with the Astros losing in seven to the Boston Red Sox in the World Series, and the John Elway-led Oilers (3) going to the divisional round before falling to the Browns, who would lose Super Bowl XXI to the Giants).
(2) Those Buccaneers teams were better than people thought, IMO...
(3) ObWI: WI the Oilers don't draft John Elway? Here's an idea: have them win one game in 1982--their 0-9 record (which included several close losses) led to them having the #1 pick. Behind them was Baltimore, which Elway has stated he wouldn't have played for, because they had Frank Kush as their head coach. Take Elway away, and the Oilers don't draft Rozier and Jerry Rice, among others, and then trade Rozier to the Falcons in 1989 for the pick that became Barry Sanders. If that's the case, maybe Oilers owner Bud Adams does move the team...