FORT WORTH, Texas — The average life expectancy for a male in the U.S. is 78 years.
The average career for an NFL player is just under four years.
Marion Barber’s NFL career lasted almost twice as long, while his entire life ended well short of the average male.
On Wednesday in Frisco, the former Dallas Cowboys running back died at the age of 38.
The cause of death is unknown.
Whenever the coroner’s report is finished it should include as a probable cause of death the word "football."
We are kidding ourselves if we don’t think football contributed in some way to his death.
“We are heartbroken by the tragic death of Marion Barber III. Marion was an old-school, hard-nosed football player who ran with the will to win every down,” the Dallas Cowboys said in a statement. ”He had a passion for the game and love for his coaches and teammates. Our hearts go out to Marion’s family and friends during this difficult time.”
Barber’s time as an NFL running back was memorable for long gains made possible by violent collisions that he won, which in the end led to this loss.
Since the NFL was done with Barber after the 2011 season, his life was headed this way. Some mental health issues.
A few incidents involving police reports. It wasn’t good.
Was the price of NFL success, the money, the fame, the fun — all seven years of it — worth it?
Would he give those seven years and all of the memories and experiences from his 99 regular-season games back to be around and in decent health today?
Given the amount of young men who destroy their bodies every fall in the point-nothing percent prayer of actually making the NFL, they are willing to take that risk to play 99 games in the NFL.
Only Barber knew if it was all worth it.
We know those hits have a price.
Barber played for the Cowboys from 2005 to 2010; his father, Marion Barber Jr., played 85 games for the New York Jets from 1982 to 1988.
Barber was drafted in the fourth round by the Cowboys in 2005. Then head coach Bill Parcells immediately took to the rookie from Minnesota.
Barber was quiet. Painfully shy.
He was the introvert off the field but the extrovert on it with flair, crazy hair, and violence.
He was not fast enough to out-run defenders. He was one of the few running backs strong enough and willing enough to run through the defenders.
Respectfully, Barber was one of the few dumb enough.
The NFL is one of those professions where dumb can be smart.
He was not a wordsmith, but he quickly realized his best chance to stick in the NFL was to out-violent his way to yards. To touchdowns. To fame. To the coveted second contract.
In May of 2008, Barber signed a seven-year, $45 million extension that included $16 million guaranteed. The Cowboys cut him after the 2010 season; he signed with the Chicago Bears where he played one more year in 2011.
By the time his NFL career ended, he had about 10 more years to live.
Not every player who plays football, and is lucky enough to play in the NFL, is doomed for a post-football life of sadness, misery and an early death.
Barber was in a Cowboys’ draft class that included DeMarcus Ware, Marcus Spears, Kevin Burnett, Chris Canty and Jay Ratliff.
You would never know Ware, who will likely go to the Hall of Fame, ever took a hit. Spears has made a nice career on TV as a talking head. Burnett is coaching. Canty is broadcasting.
Barber, however, was different.
He’s one of the sad ones.
Junior Seau. Dave Duerson. Vincent Jackson. Andre Waters. Add Marion Barber to the list of former players whose life ended tragically; all of those former NFL players were later determined to be affected by CTE.
Marion Barber the running back made it almost twice as long in the NFL as the average NFL player. That’s amazing.
Marion Barber the man didn’t make it half as long as the average American male.
That is tragic.
Only he knows if it was worth it.
