There are very few men who are talented and physically gifted enough to play pro football right out of high school. In a three year span from 1980 to 1982 three men entered college as freshman who may have been able to do it – Herschel Walker, Marcus Dupree and Bo Jackson.
All three were running backs from the South. Walker was from Georgia, Dupree Mississippi and Jackson Alabama. Walker and Jackson stayed in state as Herschel went to the University of Georgia and Bo Auburn University. After being recruited heavily by Southern Mississippi and Texas, Dupree decided to sign with Oklahoma.
Herschel Walker was first on the scene. He set records at Johnson County High School including the one for most career touchdowns with 86. Walker took over the tailback position for the Bulldogs as a freshman in 1980. The college game had never seen a running back burst on the scene with such power and speed. He was 6-foot-1, weighed 225 pounds and was naturally strong. Instead of lifting weights he did 1,000 sit ups and push ups a day. Walker introduced himself by running over Tennessee defensive back Bill Bates to score the winning touchdown in his first college game. In the big game against Florida he broke free for a 72 yard touchdown run in the first quarter and finished with 238 yards on the day.
Walker finished the season with 1,616 yards rushing and 15 touchdowns. He was a consensus All-American and finished third in the Heisman Trophy balloting.
The Bulldogs finished the 1980 season as undefeated, untied national champions. In the Sugar Bowl against Notre Dame Walker ran for two touchdowns and 150 yards with a separated shoulder.
After suffering a wrist injury early in his sophomore year, Walker came back to post eleven 100 yard games that year. The Bulldogs lost only two games and Walker finished with 1,891yards. He was once again a consensus All-American.
In 1982 Walker led the nation in rushing with 1,752 yards. He was named consensus All-American for the third consecutive year. And he finally won the Heisman Trophy. The Bulldogs finished the regular season undefeated and untied. Georgia lost in the Sugar Bowl to Penn State which cost them the national championship.
Walker had to share some of the spotlight in 1982 with a young man from Philadelphia, Mississippi. Marcus Dupree was a physical specimen to behold. He was 6-foot-3 and weighed 210 pounds. He could run the 40 yard dash in 4.4 seconds. He could bench press 400 pounds ten times.
In his career at Philadelphia High, Dupree rushed for 5,283 yards and broke Walker’s touchdown record by scoring 87.
After arriving at Oklahoma Dupree did not start right away for the Sooners who preferred to run the wishbone offense. But head coach Barry Switzer decided to switch to the I-formation specifically to maximize Dupree’s talents. Still the freshman phenom did not start until the fifth game of the season.
Dupree made himself known to the nation in a game against Kansas on October 16, 1982. In that game he rushed for 158 yards and was named Big 8 Offensive Player of the Week. In the annual battle with Nebraska Dupree broke off an 86 yard touchdown run that he made look effortless. In only seven games Dupree rushed for 1,144 yards and scored 13 touchdowns. He was the first freshman ever to lead Oklahoma in rushing. He was named Big 8 Newcomer of the Year and first team All Big 8 by the Associated Press.
Dupree put on a show in the 1983 Fiesta Bowl that is unforgettable for two reasons. The first is that he ran for a Fiesta Bowl record 239 yards on 17 carries. The second is because he failed to score a touchdown and missed the entire second half after pulling his hamstring in the second quarter. Switzer and the Oklahoma coaching staff blamed Dupree for the injury as they felt he came back from the Christmas holiday’s out of shape and wasn’t ready to carry the load.
Vincent ‘Bo’ Jackson also came onto the scene in 1982. Built in the mode of Walker and Dupree, the 6-foot-2 222 pound Jackson lettered in three sports at McAdory High in Bessemer, Ala. Along the way he won two state decathlon titles.
Jackson was recruited by Alabama and Auburn. He decided to go to Auburn after an Alabama assistant coach told him, ‘If you go there, you’ll never beat Alabama.’ Jackson took care of that his freshman year by scoring the winning touchdown against the Crimson Tide in the annual Iron Bowl.
In 1983 Jackson ran for 1,213 yards and led the Tigers to an 11-1 record and the Southeastern Conference title. In the process Auburn ended Georgia’s string of SEC titles at three. The Tigers went on to defeat Michigan in the Sugar Bowl 7-3.
One of the reasons that Auburn was able to defeat Georgia is because Herschel Walker did not come back for his senior season. He signed to play for the New Jersey Generals of the new United States Football League. Walker was one of the first players to sign with a pro team before being four years removed from high school. The NFL had a rule in place at that time which did not allow players to enter their draft until four years after their high school class had graduated. The USFL had no such rule and drafted Walker.
Meanwhile Marcus Dupree was having second thoughts about his decision to go to Oklahoma. He and Switzer were not seeing eye-to-eye and the head coach’s hard line tactics did not suit the player. After the Oklahoma-Texas game Dupree went missing for a week. It was later discovered that he had returned to Mississippi and enrolled at Southern Miss. Because he had transferred, Dupree had to sit out the rest of the 1983 season.
Dupree never played a down for Southern Miss. Instead of coming back in the fall of 1984 he decided to sign a contract with the USFL’s Portland Breakers. While playing for them he suffered a knee injury which all but finished his career in 1985.
1984 was a tough year for Bo Jackson as he suffered a separated shoulder and missed six games. However, coming into his senior season and without Dupree to challenge him, Jackson was the favorite to win the 1985 Heisman Trophy.
He wasted no time proving why as he rushed for 495 yards and six touchdowns in Auburn’s first two games. But injuries to his legs and ribs slowed him for part of the season. He played in the Alabama game with two cracked ribs and scored two touchdowns while rushing for 142 yards. Despite the injuries Jackson finished with 1,786 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns. This was enough for him to join Walker as a Heisman Trophy winner.
Despite the fact that Walker, Dupree and Jackson came into college football with such bright futures and did much to fulfill them in college only Herschel had a significant NFL career. After three years in the USFL where he finished as that league’s all-time leader in rushing yards Walker played 13 NFL season with five different teams. He gained over 13,000 yards from scrimmage and scored 84 touchdowns.
After recovering from the knee injuries he sustained in the USFL, Dupree played two season s for the Los Angeles Rams where he was used sparingly.
Jackson joined the Los Angeles Raiders in 1987 and played with them for four seasons. He never played a full 16 games as his first commitment was to major league baseball and the Kansas City Royals. Jackson played both sports until a hip injury in 1990 ended his football playing days.
In four years with the Raiders Jackson rushed for 2,782 yards and scored 16 touchdowns while giving fans a glimpse of what could be if he just stuck to the gridiron.
Herschel Walker, Marcus Dupree and Bo Jackson.
Three of the greatest physical specimens to ever play college football.
Three men who were so physically gifted that they may have been able to play professionally right out of high school.