Bill Parcells was the Cowboys’ head coach when they drafted running back Marion Barber in 2005, and he has nothing but fond memories of coaching Barber.
Barber, who was found dead in his home on Wednesday, played six seasons for the Cowboys and one for the Bears in his NFL career, and Parcells said Barber did everything a coach wants from a running back.
“I hold him in high regard,” Parcells told the Dallas Morning News. “I hate to bring up football now because that’s not important, but he was almost like a perfect player. In this respect, he could run, block, he could catch, he was tough and he was always there. So that’s what I’ll say about him.”
Parcells also called Barber the kind of man he liked having in the locker room.
“I would say I found him to be a very nice, respectful young man,” Parcells said. “And I had a very high regard for him. He was like he could do everything you could ask him to do and he was always there.”
Barber was 38. No cause of death has been determined, but foul play is not suspected.