Mark "Super" Duper (born January 25, 1959) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who was a wide receiver for the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) from 1982 to 1992. He played collegiately at

Northwestern State University Northwestern State University of Louisiana (NSU) is a public university primarily situated in Natchitoches, Louisiana, with a nursing campus in Shreveport and general campuses in Leesville/Fort Polk and Alexandria. It is a part of the Univer ...

and was selected by the Dolphins in the 2nd round of the

1982 NFL draft The 1982 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 27–28, 1982, at the New York She ...

Professional career

Nicknamed "Super Duper", he played 11 seasons for the Dolphins where his best years came while teamed with

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

Dan Marino Daniel Constantine Marino Jr. (born September 15, 1961) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons with the Miami Dolphins. After a successful college career at Pittsburgh and be ...

and fellow wide receiver Mark Clayton, the other half of the "Marks Brothers" wide receiver tandem. Duper, who wore #85, was a 3-time

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

selection in

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

and

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

. His best season was

, when he had 71 catches, 1306 yards and 8 touchdowns, and in

, when he tallied 67 catches, 1313 yards and 11 touchdowns. Duper had four 1,000-yard seasons, with the final one coming in

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

at age 32, when he posted 1085 yards. In 1990, Duper became only the second Dolphins player to surpass 7,000 career receiving yards. On July 17, 1993, the Dolphins released Duper, after re-hauling their receiving corps bringing in O.J. McDuffie,

Irving Fryar Irving Dale Fryar, Sr. (born September 28, 1962) is a former American college and professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for seventeen seasons. Fryar played college football for the Universit ...

, and

Mark Ingram Sr. Mark Valentino Ingram Sr. (born August 23, 1965) is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League who played for the New York Giants (1987– 1992), the Miami Dolphins (1993 to 1994), the Green Bay Packers (1995), ...

, and letting go of the Marks Brothers. Duper was also a track star, he won in the finals of the 400-meter relay at the 1981 NCAA track and field championships at Northwestern State University, and from the 1980 Olympic trials finished seventh in the 200-meter dash and reached the semifinals of the 100. he competed in the

100 meters The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contest ...

and

200 meters The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

, posting personal bests of 10.21 seconds and 20.77 seconds, respectively. In 11 NFL seasons, he caught 511 passes for 8,869 yards and 59 touchdowns. In 1994, he also appeared in two games with the

Miami Hooters Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at the ...

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

. On November 8, 2013, Duper revealed he had been diagnosed with

chronic traumatic encephalopathy Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated trauma to the head. The encephalopathy symptoms can include behavioral problems, mood problems, and problems with thinking. The disease often gets worse o ...

(CTE). Duper was inducted (with Mark Clayton) into the

Miami Dolphins Honor Roll The Miami Dolphins Honor Roll is a ring around the second tier at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, which honors former players, coaches, contributors, and officials who have made significant contributions to the Miami Dolphins franchise. ...

on December 15, 2003.

NFL Career Statistics

Regular season

References

External links

NFL stats

AFL stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duper, Mark 1959 births Living people Players of American football from Louisiana American football wide receivers Northwestern State Demons football players Miami Dolphins players American Conference Pro Bowl players Miami Hooters players African-American players of American football People from Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople

Professional career

NFL Career Statistics

Regular season

See also

References

External links