Jon Reginald Dupard (born October 30, 1963) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

. He played five seasons in 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 ...

. Dupard was selected in the first round with the 26th overall pick in the

1986 NFL Draft The 1986 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 29–30, 1986, at the Marriott Marq ...

by the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

. He played for the Patriots until he was traded to the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

midway through the

1989 NFL season The 1989 NFL season was the 70th regular season of the National Football League. Before the season, NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle announced his retirement. Paul Tagliabue was eventually chosen to succeed him, taking over on November 5. Due to ...

. Dupard prepped at

John Curtis Christian High School John Curtis Christian School is a co-educational, non-sectarian, private Christian K-12 school in River Ridge, Louisiana, in the United States. The school colors are red, white and blue and the school's nickname is Patriots. History The school w ...

River Ridge, Louisiana River Ridge is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is a suburb of New Orleans. The population was 13,591 in 2020. History The land that is now River Ridge was developed ...

, and went on to play at

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , prov ...

. He was drafted one spot behind his college teammate

Roderick Jones Roderick Jones may refer to: *Roderick Jones (journalist), (1877–1962), British director of Reuters *Roderick Jones (baritone) (1910–1992), Welsh opera singer *Roddy Jones Roderick "Roddy" Stephen Gerrard Jones (born 2 December 1944) is a m ...

. After retirement from the NFL, Dupard returned to SMU to complete his undergraduate degree and graduated in 1999. Today, he works for high schools in Texas to help marginalized youth graduate high school and inspires them to continue to pursue higher education and/or career certifications. Dupard is also cofounder with his wife of charit
Fit and Faithful Living
with a mission to grow youth and families strong by positively impacting lives through after-school programs, summer camps, family health and wellness programs, education awareness and empowerment.

References

1963 births Living people All-American college football players American football running backs New England Patriots players SMU Mustangs football players Washington Redskins players Players of American football from New Orleans {{runningback-1960s-stub