Frisco, Texas Marion Barber 3, the former Dallas Cowboys who was fourth in franchise history with 47 touchdowns, has died, the team said Wednesday. He was 38 years old.
Barber played one final season with Chicago in 2011 after spending his first six years with the Cowboys. He had mental health issues after his career.
Police in the Dallas suburb of Frisco, said Wednesday, that they have conducted a welfare check at an apartment “believed to be rented” by Barber, and they are investigating an unattended death there.
The Cowboys, who are headquartered in Frisco, said they were “grieved by the tragic death of Marion Barber III.”
The team said, “Marion was an old-school, hard-nosed soccer player who ran with a will to win every time.” “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 youngest barber was third on the Dallas career roster due to rapid relegation before being passed around in 2021 by two-time NFL racing champ Ezekiel Elliott. Barber finished with 53 and has never had under fours in any of his seven seasons, although he has never had a 1,000-yard dash season.
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The former Minnesota player, a fourth-round player by Dallas in 2005, had 24 touchdowns in 2006-07 despite starting only one game in those two seasons. Barber’s high was 14 TDs in 2006, when he rushed for just 654 yards.
Barber had a run of 975 high-speed yards and 10 TDs in 2007, when he made the only Pro Bowl. His role and production declined from there, and he had lows in transfers, yards and touchdowns in his senior year at Dallas in 2010.
Three years after his career ended, Barber was arrested and taken to the hospital for an evaluation of his mental state. Police in Mansfield, another Dallas suburb, said it was not clear what caused the calls that prompted them to return.
Both Barber and his dad played for Golden Gophers, and the youngest barber ranks second on the school’s career list with 35 touchdowns.
Barber and Lawrence Maroney, a first-round pick by New England in 2006, were the first pair of NCAA appearances to produce two 1,000-yard seasons in consecutive years on the same team. They did it in 2003-04.
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Barber’s younger siblings, Dom Barber and Thomas Barber, also played on the gopher team. Dom Barber spent four years as a defensive back with the Houston Texans.
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