FRISCO, Texas (Washington Insider Magazine) – Marion Barber III, the veteran Dallas Cowboys running back who ranks fourth all-time in team history with 47 running touchdowns, died on Wednesday, according to the team. He was 38 years old at the time.
Barber spent his final season with Chicago in 2011, after 6 years with the Cowboys. According to ABC NEWS, he battled mental health problems after his career.
Authorities in Frisco, Texas, said they conducted a welfare check at an apartment thought to be rented by Barber on Wednesday and were investigating an unreported death there.
The Cowboys, whose headquarters is in Frisco, stated they were “heartbroken” by Marion Barber III’s death.
Marion Barber Jr., Barber’s father, spent 7 seasons with the New York Jets in the 1980s.
Before 2-time NFL rushing champion Ezekiel Elliott eclipsed him in 2021, the younger Barber was 3rd on Dallas’ career ranking for rushing touchdowns. Barber had 53 total touchdowns in his 7 seasons and never had less than 4 in any of them, despite never having a 1,000-yard rushing season.
Despite playing only one game in each of the 2 seasons, the erstwhile Minnesota player, who was drafted in the 4th round by Dallas in 2005, recorded 24 touchdowns in 2006-07. Barber’s career best was 14 touchdowns in 2006, while only rushing for 654 yards.
Barber set a career record with 975 yards rushing and 10 touchdowns in 2007, his only Pro Bowl appearance. His role and output deteriorated from there, and in his last year in Dallas in 2010, he set career low points in carries, touchdowns and yards.
Barber was arrested and transported to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation 3 years after his career ended. It’s unclear what sparked the calls that triggered the police reaction in Mansfield, another Dallas suburb.
Barber and his father were both Golden Gophers players, and the younger Barber ranks 2nd on the school’s career rushing touchdown chart with 35.
Barber and Laurence Maroney, a 1st-round draft by New England in 2006, were the very first NCAA running backs to have two 1,000-yard seasons on the same team in successive years. It was completed in 2003-04.
Barber’s younger siblings, Thomas and Dom Barber, were also Gophers players. Dom Barber was a defensive back for the Houston Texans for 4 years.