Former Oklahoma football star Marcus Dupree is now a pro wrestler

Published Jan. 27, 2017 7:25 p.m. ET

Barry Werner

Marcus Dupree is in an Oklahoma uniform of sorts again. This time, however, he isn't running for glory or Heisman Trophies.

The former heralded football recruit, now 52, whose career vanished in a blink, is now wearing a No. 22 and stepping into the pro wrestling ring for Crowbar Championship Wrasslin'.

Once the most coveted recruit in the land, the 6-foot-2, 285-pound Dupree, a native of Philadelphia, Mississippi, decided to take his talents to Oklahoma.

His brilliant speed and strength were on display for a short time before he exited and took a circuitous route to the USFL, where he blew out his knee, an injury that looked career-threatening.

Years later, Dupree recovered and signed with the Los Angeles Rams. But he never reached the heights expected.

A 30-for-30 documentary "The Best There Never Was" told Dupree's story.

After trying his hand at a number of gigs, Dupree decided to give wrestling a full-time try in the mid-1990s, "and returned to the ring once or twice a year since then," the Houston Chronicle reports.

"I just like to make people happy," he said. "We do the wrestling events to see kids cheer and see kids' faces smile to it, like I did when I was younger."

Check him out at a recent show at Sugar Creek Casino in Hinton, Okla.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQr4lTLqKdE

Gregg Swabb, the promoter of the event, told the Chronicle: "The people that did come, that's what they came to see. You go to a movie because Brad Pitt's in it. They got Marcus Dupree."

One fan agreed. "I was shocked to see him," said Sam Walley, a fracker raised in Sandhill, Miss. "He's still a legend in college football."