Dez Bryant said he got his crying and yelling out before he shared a powerful PSA on Twitter about the death of his former Cowboys teammate Marion Barber.
“Too much to digest, so much too say… This is real life, it can be any of us,” Bryant tweeted Wednesday. “We need each other, we need unity… RIP Marion Barber may God rest your soul.”
Barber, who played for the Cowboys from 2005-10, was found dead in his Texas apartment at the age of 38 on Wednesday. The cause of death is unknown as of Thursday.
Bryant was quote-tweeting a message of his from July 15, 2021 in which he alluded to Barber not doing well.
“As I watch this video and me knowing exactly how Marion barber life is going right now today is why I built @personalcorner,” Bryant tweeted, including a video of Barber’s NFL highlights. “I can’t even enjoy it because he’s down and out bad … we are just a stat and moments to most people.”
Bryant, who as a rookie was teammates with Barber in 2010, founded Personal Corner, an NFT website, to assist athletes and influencers in digitizing their personal brands.
Bryant’s Wednesday tweet included a video in which the Pro Bowl wideout offered his condolences to Barber and Demaryius Thomas, who died last December after a seizure, his family said.
Warning: Graphic language
“I got my crying out the way, yelling, whatever the case may be,” Bryant began in the video. “I just want to be transparent… I could be in Miami. I could be on a yacht, I could be popping bottles, doing all that s–t, but I really choose not to — because I see the problem amongst ourselves. We can’t be walking around here thinking that it’s not gonna be me, because there has been more me’s than any one of y’all can imagine. Marion Barber 38 years old. Vincent Jackson, he was in his 30s. Young. You can’t tell this was happening. We don’t know, nobody knows. But I feel like I have a great sense of what it is.
“We have to bring unity amongst each other, that’s why I hit y’all up. You know who you are, and I’m very appreciative to the ones that respond back. I don’t know what you think. I ain’t clout chasing,” Bryant continued. “I don’t care about none of that… We all deserve to live like kings if you ask me. Gotta find these answers and that’s up to us. RIP Marion Barber. RIP Demaryius Thomas. RIP to all our fallen soldiers. I love y’all.”
Bryant and Barber were teammates for one season in 2010, which was Barber’s final season with the Cowboys and Bryant’s rookie year.
On Wednesday, Police in Frisco, Texas said in a statement that they responded to a welfare check at an apartment they believed to be leased by Barber. Police said they were investigating an unattended death at the location but didn’t identify the individual in their statement.
The Cowboys confirmed Barber’s death in a statement that read: “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. 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 would have celebrated his 39th birthday next week.