FRISCO, Texas – Marion Barber III, the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback, the fourth in the franchise’s history with 47 quick touchdowns, has died, the team said Wednesday. He was 38 years old.
Barber played his last season with Chicago in 2011 after spending his first six years with the Cowboys. He had mental health problems after his career.
Police in the Dallas suburb of Frisco said Wednesday that they had inspected the welfare of an apartment believed to be rented by Barber and were investigating an unattended death there.
The Cowboys, headquartered in Frisco, said they were “devastated by the tragic death of Marion Barber III”.
“Marion was an old-school, hard-working footballer who ran away with the will to win every time,” the team said. He had a passion for the game and a love for his coaches and teammates.
Barber’s father, Marion Barber Jr., played seven seasons with the New York Jets in the 1980s.
The younger Barber was third on Dallas’ list of fast touchdown careers before being overtaken in 2021 by two-time NFL champion Ezekiel Elliott. Barber finished with a total of 53 and has never had less than four in any of his seven seasons, although he has never had a 1,000-yard running season.
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The former Minnesota player, selected in the fourth round of the 2005 Dallas Draft, had 24 touchdowns in 2006-07, although he started only one game in those two seasons. Barber’s career peak was 14 TD in 2006, when he rushed just 654 yards.
Barber had a career-high 975-yard run and 10 TDs in 2007 when he made his only Pro Bowl. From there, his role and output dwindled, and he had low career levels, yards and touchdowns in his final year in Dallas in 2010.
Three years after the end of his career, Barber was detained and taken to a mental health hospital. Police in Mansfield, another suburb of Dallas, said it was unclear what led to the calls that prompted their response.
Barber and his father played for the Golden Gophers, and the younger Barber is second in the school’s career charts with 35 quick touchdowns.
Barber and Lawrence Maroni, selected in the first round of New England in 2006, were the first pair of NCAA defenders to spend two seasons of 1,000 yards in consecutive years on the same team. They did it in 2003-04.
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Barber’s younger brothers, Dom Barber and Thomas Barber, also played for the Gophers. Dom Barber spent four years as a defender with Houston Texas.
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