Oklahoma Football Legend Helps Save Woman After High-Speed Car Crash

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Oklahoma football legend Marcus Dupree found himself in the right place at the right time earlier this week.

The former running back was driving from Norman—where he attended the Sooners' annual Red-White Game—to Tulsa on Tuesday for an NFL Draft charity event when he witnessed a high-speed crash on the Turner Turnpike.

"She was pulling around me, I was in the fast lane and I guess she was going to zip around," Dupree told KOCO.

He watched as the female driver clipped the back of an 18-wheeler.

"I couldn't even believe it was happening in front of my eyes," Dupree, 57, told Sports Illustrated.

The car flipped multiple times and landed on the driver's side. Dupree pulled over, called 911, and began helping to free her from the vehicle.

"The back part was blocked. It was bent. She couldn't get out," he recalled of the crumpled SUV. "The window was busted. Luckily it wasn't on fire. It was tough getting her out of there."

The woman was safely out of the car when firefighters arrived.

"We got on scene, and I made contact with him initially," Wellston Police Chief and Fire Chief Todd Beesley told SI. "He was walking towards me, and I asked him if he was in a crash. He said he wasn't, that he witnessed it, and told me that he'd helped remove the driver through the back window of the SUV, and said he pulled her out and helped her get out through the back window."

"Then he told me who he was," he laughed.

The woman was transported to the hospital where she was treated for minor injuries.

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Dupree was born and raised in Philadelphia, Mississippi, where he attracted national attention as a high school football player. In 1982, his first year at Oklahoma, he was named Football News Freshman of the Year, second team All-American, and Big Eight Conference Newcomer of the Year.

His career was marred with injuries, and after short stints in the USFL and the NFL, he retired from professional football in the early 90s.

"Sooners help Sooners," Dupree told KOCO. "Sooners help people. Sooner Nation."