Police in the Dallas suburb of Frisco said Wednesday they made a welfare check at an apartment “believed to be leased” by Barber and were investigating an unattended death there.
“Marion was an old-school, hard-nosed football player who ran with the will to win every down,” the team said. “He had a passion for the game and love for his coaches and teammates.”
Barber’s father, Marion Barber Jr., played seven seasons with the New York Jets in the 1980s. .The younger Barber was third on Dallas’ career list for rushing touchdowns before getting passed in 2021 by two-time NFL rushing champion Ezekiel Elliott.
Barber finished with 53 overall and never had fewer than four in any of his seven seasons, even though he never had a 1,000-yard rushing season.
The former Minnesota player, a fourth-round draft pick by Dallas in 2005, had 24 touchdowns in 2006-07 despite starting just one game those two seasons. Barber’s career high was 14 TDs in 2006, when he rushed for just 654 yards.
Three years after his career ended, Barber was detained and taken to a hospital for a mental health evaluation. Police in Mansfield, another Dallas suburb, said it wasn’t clear what led to the calls that prompted their response.