Injury Ends Marcus Dupree’s Football Career

A torn knee ligament has apparently ended the professional football career of Marcus Dupree, former Mississippi high school star and a standout running back at Oklahoma.

“It’s really tough to take,” Dupree said after a weekend medical examination had led the examining physician to conclude that Dupree’s football playing days are over.

“I don’t think he’ll ever play football again,” Dr. Ray Haddad, an orthopedic surgeon at Tulane Medical Center in New Orleans, said after examining Dupree’s injured left knee.

Of Haddad’s findings, Dupree said: “He said he didn’t think it would be a good idea for me to play anymore. He said I could hurt the knee permanently, especially the way I run. He said there is no way I’d be able to cut the way I used to.”

Dupree played with Oklahoma for 1 1/2 seasons before disagreements with Coach Barry Switzer led him to quit the team in the middle of the 1983 season. After a brief enrollment at the University of Southern Mississippi, Dupree joined the New Orleans Breakers of the United States Football League in 1984.

He was injured during the first game of the 1985 season while playing for the Breakers, who had moved to Portland, Ore. The team no longer exists.

Dupree’s agent, Ken Fairley, said that he had notified the NFL not to include his client in its draft next week.