'30 for 30' - 'The Best That Never Was': Where have you gone, Marcus Dupree?
Jonathan Hock tells the heck out of the story of the college fooball shooting star
Marcus Dupree, today.
A week after arguably the weakest "30 for 30" film yet, we got one of the series' strongest installments with "The Best That Never Was." A few quick thoughts coming up just as soon as I give you my power of attorney...
It's been a while since a "30 for 30" film got a two-hour running time (most had to come in at an hour, and a handful got an hour and a half to two hours), and "The Best That Never Was" absolutely merited the longer slot. Jonathan Hock took a story I knew nothing about (as someone who doesn't follow college football, and was a little kid during Marcus' brief but brilliant Oklahoma career) and told the hell out of it. He got access to virtually all the major players, got tremendous candor from nearly all of them (Barry Switzer in particular, I thought), uncovered tons of great archival footage of Marcus' genius on the field, and covered all the angles. We got Marcus' story itself - which isn't exactly like any other college football story, but has parts in common with so many that it served as a stand-in for a lot of them - but also the story of Philadelphia, MS, and how the despicable villain of one true story (Cecil Price) can be a positive figure in another.
In sports, we talk about tiny fractions all the time as we look up the ladder of success: how only a tiny fraction of star high school athletes will go on to play big-time college ball, and how a tiny fraction of that group will do well in the pros. Marcus Dupree should have been one of those, but one thing after another went wrong. Maybe if he'd committed to Southern Miss to begin with, or if Switzer's staff had recognized that Marcus didn't need to be pushed in practice to be brilliant on game day, he'd have played three or four years in college, and gone on to the NFL. Maybe he'd have been in better shape throughout his pro career. Maybe he wouldn't have suffered that devastating knee injury. Maybe he'd have wound up with a legitimate agent who didn't leave him broke. But he made the decisions he made, others around him made theirs, and he had the life he had. Not a tragedy, exactly - how many get to shine as brightly as he did on the national stage, even if it was only for a season? - but not the triumph everyone expected from him.
What did everybody else think?
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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupZach L
November 9, 2010 at 11:12PM EST Reply to CommentWell reviewed Alan, agree bout how well done this 30 for 30 was. I've been a big fan of the series, and this episode ranks right along with "Winning Time" and the Terry Fox inspired "Into The Wind." I do not remember ESPN making sports documentaries prior to this, mainly Outside the Lines pieces, so hopefully they decide to continue this series in some other form.
sunset
November 9, 2010 at 11:45PM EST Reply to CommentI loved this film! It was very well documented and interesting. From the title on, this is a great watch! Anyone who loves college football or admires true athleticism should watch.
November 9, 2010 at 11:54PM EST Reply to CommentJust watched this tonight - it was awesome. I had never heard of Marcus Dupree, but this was a great story to watch. Better quality than any of the garbage coming out of hollywood these days.
Malcolm
November 10, 2010 at 12:00AM EST Reply to CommentWhile an excellent film, it is devastating...and the the foreshadowing of Marcus' fall was painful. You see a story about a good, yet naive kid, and you just want it to work out...you want him to somehow be this hall of fame NFL back even though it is obviously apparent that the opposite will happen.
conrad agreed. you really get the sense at how out-matched an 18-20 year old kid is against the college recruitment machine.
November 10, 2010 at 10:45AM ESTwas fitting to have the rain coming down when he was going through his old stuff in his mom's place.
i couldn't believe how big dupree was compared to the other h.s. players, not too mention in the tapes of him at o.u. and he was a freshman playing against juniors and seniors!
bigbors
November 10, 2010 at 12:02AM EST Reply to CommentThere's another Mississppi phenom quarterback Jason Campbell of the Oakland Raiders who used to play for the Washington Redskins and played for Auburn where he graduated with a public administration degree. This guy is tough because every year HE had a different offensive coordinator in college and the pros and is still playing in the NFL. As for Marcus Dupree he made too many excuses and thats why he didn't become a star. In fact Barry Switzer was right in pushing HIM because later Coach Switzer won a Super Bowl with the Dallas Cowboys.
Omagus It's probably more accurate to say that the Cowboys won that Super Bowl despite having Switzer as the coach. Regarding Marcus Dupree, in the film Switzer himself acknowledges that he probably should have handled the relationship differently. I think a relevant comparison is a situation that happened at Oklahoma's archrival Texas. When Vince Young initially went there, coach Mack Brown treated him a certain way and Young didn't react well. Brown recognized that and adjusted his approach. Young responded better, went on to become arguably the best player in college football and led Texas to a BCS national championship. I don't know if Dupree would have handled things the same way but don't we all wistfully imagine the "what could have been"?
November 10, 2010 at 12:39AM ESTOld Woman Can appreciate the "MAN" Marcus became considering the wrongs against him and no one to direct him and help. I thought this at the time he went absent (I am an Oklahoman) from OU, He just need some direction and someone helping him instead of
July 7, 2012 at 6:49PM ESTusing" him. I marvel at his strength, and ability to forgive. Much more than I could or can do.
Albert
November 10, 2010 at 12:14AM EST Reply to CommentWhat a talent Dupree was. Enjoyed the story, well done.
Ryan
November 10, 2010 at 12:32AM EST Reply to CommentI think this was one of the greatest player I have ever seen in my life. The story was excellent and the film was awesome. It had me happy, amazed, sad, shocked every emotion you can have while watching the film. I recommend everyone try to see it.
Ian
November 10, 2010 at 12:51AM EST Reply to CommentIncredible installment in a really groundbreaking and exciting 30 for 30 series. This story had everything and made the viewer so immersed in DuPree's life, talent, family, values, and lessons. Well reviewed too, Cheers.
citylife80
November 10, 2010 at 4:05AM EST Reply to CommentWinning Time is so overrated I can't stand it. It told the story of two failed teams! It was a run of the mill '30 for 30' best! Come on! Reggie Miller and Pat Ewing. Child, please.
kabak child please?
November 10, 2010 at 11:24AM ESTthanks ocho
lib4 Agreed. Of all the 30 for 30 series i watched i thought "Winning Time" was at best average. I really didnt get anything new from Winning Time as the Reggie Miller/Knicks/Spike Lee saga had been played out in other media for years. Run Ricky Run was a more compelling story in my eyes.
November 10, 2010 at 1:13PM ESTJimmy B 100% agree. Most overrated film of the series. Not as original stylistically as it's credited to be, and called "Winning Time" even though neither series decided a championship.
November 10, 2010 at 2:45PM EST
November 10, 2010 at 5:57AM EST Reply to Comment“They didn’t get see all of it. There was so much more to give and so much more to see we didn’t get to.†~ Barry Switzer.
This quote describes how I feel about the film. Terrific subject matter. A unique story. But I felt all along that Hock only was nibbling around the edges of parts of the story. But maybe that was intentional. Maybe Hock wanted to produce an enigmatic story about an enigmatic individual. It seemed to me that the myth of Dupree was often more important than the real Dupree. And I found it very unsatisfying that we didn’t get all of the story.
A few thoughts.
Who was that little boy who referred to Marcus as Pop while watching a game from the stands in Philadelphia? Was he Marcus’ son? Was he simply a kid from the town?
Marcus’ brother Reggie is referred to a few times as an inspiration to Marcus. But we don’t get much exposition on that point. We see Marcus cry at the mention of Reggie near the end of the film as Marcus reminisces about his family watching from the stands. But Marcus has to be reminded by Hock that Reggie was his biggest fan. Throughout the film it was implied that Reggie had passed on. However, we get a note at the end that Reggie is happily married. I found that shocking especially that we didn’t see Reggie in the present day.
We didn’t get too much exposition from Marcus himself about how he ended up at Oklahoma. We got lots of commentary from coaches, family members, friends, journalists. We heard about deals and offers being made. But none of this was truly addressed directly by Marcus. I think this is a major flaw to the film especially since a large portion of it was dedicated to Marcus’ recruitment.
The civil rights angle was interesting, but well known. I would have liked to have seen more from Marcus about how that affected his life growing up in Philadelphia. Conversely, it was fascinating to know that Deputy Sheriff Price was such an integral part of Marcus’ life.
The film largely ignores Marcus’ role in his troubles with OU. No doubt Switzer mishandled his relationship with Marcus. He should definitely have told Marcus that he was going to ride him so the other players didn’t think Switzer was playing favorites. There are many stories in the history of sport of just such coach-player relationships working well. Chances are that if Marcus had been told this he would have understood and been able to deal with it. And there is no question that his lax work ethic at the time lead directly to his injuries in the Fiesta Bowl. Marcus has to own that but the film ignored this aspect. Some comments from Marcus about that time would have added a lot of insight and added to Switzer’s admission that he did it the wrong way. And certainly Switzer was completely wrong in how he criticized Marcus in public in particular after the Fiesta Bowl. You just don’t do that as a coach.
One of the more troubling aspects to me was the fact that Marcus quit on his teammates during his sophomore season at OU. That wasn’t talked about at all. I found it interesting that there were no former Sooner teammates featured in this film. I would like to know how some of them felt about him leaving the way he did.
It is clear to me that Marcus lacked desire to be great. I don’t fault him for that and it doesn’t make him a bad person. But it’s part of who he is and part of his story. The film should have talked more directly about it.
The most powerful section to me was watching Marcus view the film of his old high school days. You could see the expression on his face go from wonder at seeing the old highlights to amazement at just how good he was to sadness and regret wondering what could have been.
I don’t think it was clear whether or not Marcus is living in his mom’s old trailer home or not. It’s in horrible condition and at one point we see his fingers absolutely covered in dust leaving the impression that the place hasn’t been cleaned in years. But then we also see him picking up dirty laundry. Is this where he lives?
I was also left wondering if Marcus has a family. Did he ever have any relationships? I think it’s hard to paint a picture of a person without talking about this.
And what about Rev. Ken Fairley? We’re told that Rev. Fairley had power of attorney and handled investing Marcus’ money. But what exactly happened? Obviously all the money was lost. But we don’t know how it was lost or how much. Rev. Fairley has the gall to say a $5 million contract was Marcus “coming into a little bit of moneyâ€. That’s a lot of money. Now, I know the USFL went under before that contract could be fully paid. But still, I am sure Marcus was paid a lot of money for the time. At one point Marcus mentions a figure of $300,000 and that it was running out. But we don’t get much of a picture as to what happened to his money. The film certainly implies that Rev. Fairley swindled Marcus. But Hock never really says this directly nor does anything appear to exonerate Fairley. I find this extremely frustrating and felt the film should have done more to explain it. What were the results of the lawsuits mentioned by Marcus, for example?
Overall a pretty good film. But for me, certainly far from the best of the series.
Melissa I agree with every point you made. I thought the doc was good as a very general, "this is what happened" film. But, there was no depth to the story. It's obvious the documentarian didn't ask hard questions or seem to do much research other than to interview friends for their positive impressions of DuPree. Even Switzer was tempered in his replies.
November 10, 2010 at 6:59AM ESTRE: DuPree's mother - the ending said that she died in 2004 but when Marcus was in her house, it did sound like she was just not at home. If she died five or six years ago and no one has bothered to go through her stuff? That's just downright strange.
ChampSkins Your points are fair and valid... but um the film was already 90 minutes long. Did you expect it to be 5 hours? Only so much could be done.
November 10, 2010 at 10:00AM ESTAlso I think the major thing about the story wasn't the smaller details you mentioned, more the major talent he was and how a few bad, naive decisions here and there can ruin it.
By no means did I watch and think that Marcus wasn't responsible, he did afterall state that the worst thing he did was leave Oklahoma and that he should have listened to his mother.
I think this story should be played for every single big recruit nowadays. There are way too many Reverand Fairly's out there that have the young kid's "best intentions" and wind up filling their heads with the wrong things.
Truly and incredible film and I appreciate Hock's magnificent work.
#22'sBiggestFan ESPN was gracious enough to allow for a two hour edit. The fact that you have so many inquiries is a testament to how many layers the Marcus Dupree story, however only so much of his life can be told in two hours.
November 12, 2010 at 5:15AM ESTThe child you mention is Mr. Dupree's grandson, who is an athletic talent.
As the film states, Reggie Dupree is happily married and living in Birmingham, AL.
After discussing his options with his mother, Mr. Dupree chose to go to Oklahoma because; among the reasons explained in the film, he wanted to play for a team that had televised games.
No, Mr. Dupree does not live in his mother's old home. He and Reggie wanted it left "as-is" for personal reasons. Family members live adjacent to the home and keep close watch on the property.
Yes, Mr. Dupree has a family, but the focus of the film was not intended to be about his current family dynamics.
As far as Ken Fairley is concerned a blind bat can see what happened! It is not necessary to give viewers a copy of Mr. Dupree's bank statements. The fact is Fairley was a so-called "advisor" (who then used the term, "agent") who essentialy stole Mr.Dupree's money and mis-appropriated funds because the family trusted him in a fiduciary capacity.
I hope this helps.
Dean Winchester
November 10, 2010 at 11:35AM EST Reply to CommentFigured I'd stick this comment in here since its sports related...
Alan, I think you've alluded to in the past that you're a baseball guy, and since Sunday Night Baseball is a tv show, any chance we'll see a post from you on the departure of Joe "Take Your Stinking Numbers and Shove 'Em" Morgan?
As someone that grew up listening to John Miller when he was the radio voice of the Orioles, I'm really sad to see Miller go as well, but if losing Miller is the price to pay for putting Morgan finally, mercifully out to pasture, I'm cool with it.
sepinwall Not sure I can say it any better than Mike Schur, aka Ken Tremendous from Fire Joe Morgan, put it on Twitter after he heard the news:
November 10, 2010 at 11:53AM EST"Farewell, Joe. You were never my favorite announcer, but at least you were stubborn and unreasonable."
Dean Winchester Yeah, that does about cover it.
November 10, 2010 at 12:38PM ESTAt least the internets still have Tim McCarver to snark on.
lib4
November 10, 2010 at 1:08PM EST Reply to CommentThis was probably the best sports documentary I have ever seen. I am an avid college football fan and I had no idea about this story. The perfect balance of the social aspect and the sports tragedy is what made this documentary so compelling. The fact that Marcus was not openly bitter throughout the whole saga was astounding to me. I loved the fact Marcus was able to redeem himself in his eyes with his brief NFL stint. He seems a content man in the wake of a cruely shortened football career. The archival footage was amazing and to get not only the NCAA and the NFL to release their footage for a documentary film is a coup in itself. The candor of all involved especially Barry Switzer really made this story come alive. I would have to say this 30 for 30 documentary along with "The Two Escobars" and "Without Bias" are in my Top Three Sports Documentaries of all time. All three took a no prisoners stance to their subject matter and all three delivered heart wrenching drama that defied sports.
WheresWallace
November 10, 2010 at 1:58PM EST Reply to CommentRev. Ken Fairley = Clay Davis.
Timm S
November 11, 2010 at 1:16PM EST Reply to CommentIt was the focus on the myth of Marcus DuPree that made this installment of "30 for 30" so riveting. The title alone hooked me immediately, and I was nto disappointed. The way Hock treated DuPree as a would-be stand-in for possibly thousands of singularly talented high school athletes is what made this film really go for me. I could not help but think of William Gates from "Hoop Dreams" as another kid who had all the physical tools to make it, yet injury and mental make-up, and the messages and advice he received from well-intentioned adults, ultimately did him in. Granted, Gates was not arguably "the best to ever play the position" as was DuPree, but the environmental factors at play were strikingly similar. And I think the film did a wonderful job of showing how this probably happens to more kids than we think.
There were a couple of moments that really resonated with me as I watched this.
First, there was the relationship with Little Cecil (Price). His interviews struck me as desperate, as a kid longing to have the legacy of his dad be that he helped this black kid get a trucking job, and NOT be the man who helped the KKK get away with the murder of the three Civil Rights workers. Even as he was describing the events leading to Marcus getting his CDL, he unwittingly admitted that his dad was above the law and was willing to condescend to make sure this "boy" had a job. It was sickening to watch the equivalent of "I'm not prejudiced. I have a lot of black friends...". Growing up in a racially divided town in SE Texas, this sentiment has been around for decades, and still persists.
Secondly, Hock did something smart and unexpected by not drawing a clear picture of what happened with "Rev" and how he mishandled Marcus's money. He let the viewers draw the conclusion for themselves, leaving me yelling at the screen, "You f***ing stole millions from this kid!!!" It made the impact of the deception all the more powerful.
Finally, I was struck by how disaffected DuPree seemed as he spoke about his life. I wanted so badly to feel sorry for him, like he got a raw deal, but it's hard to when he doesn't seem to feel sorry for himself. And that screams "triumph of the human spirit" louder than swelling music and slow-motion runs ever could. It's almost as if they showed this as a counter-point to the one they aired only a week prior.
Anyway, thanks for reviewing these, Alan. I've thoroughly enjoyed (almost) all of them.
cal
November 13, 2010 at 1:47AM EST Reply to CommentSuper story about a gentle man who did what he wanted to do and is now a content man. My husband and I watched the well documented and poignant story. Did Marcus ever get married?
Jimmy
November 23, 2010 at 12:16AM EST Reply to CommentAgreed..."The Best That Never Was" ranks with some of 30 for 30's best...for me, it goes right alongside "The Two Escobars," "No Crossover," "June 17, 1994" and "Into the Wind" as series highwater marks...and I'm really looking forward to the Bartman film...
varmintito
January 12, 2011 at 3:16PM EST Reply to CommentI read "The Courting of Marcus Dupreee" ages ago, and it was a fascinating parallel history of the civil rights murders of 1964 and their aftermath in Philadelphia, MS, and the the on- and off-field life of Marcus Dupree. I am sorry I missed this.
June 5, 2011 at 2:13AM EST Reply to CommentThere's a lot of Marcus Duprees in the world and you don't have to play football to be one.
SANDY
February 2, 2013 at 1:03PM EST Reply to CommentJust watched The Best That Never Was on On Demand. The movie's description caught my interest as I graudated from high school in 1981. Marcus's story is very very sad to me. His career was so mishandled, no one seemed to care about the young man he was at the time, just about bringing his "story" to their school. He did not receive the medical attention he needed after the hit that caused the concussion; just unbelievable. I thought the movie was awesome and should quite candidly how most lived in MS at that time in that part of the state. Hopefully Mr. Dupree has a good life today.