Lance Dunbar, Jr. (born January 25, 1990) 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 wi ...

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 handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

. He played college football at

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School, ...

and was signed by the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2012.

Early years

Dunbar was born in

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

and lived in New Orleans until 2005, when he was forced to move due to Hurricane Katrina. He initially attended

De La Salle High School (New Orleans, Louisiana) De La Salle High School is a private, Catholic secondary school run by the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools in New Orleans, Louisiana. The school's campus is located at the picturesque St. Charles Avenue in uptown New Orleans, n ...

where he played

and

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly dif ...

, but transferred after his family settled in

Haltom City, Texas Haltom City is a city, part of the Dallas–Fort Worth region, in Tarrant County, Texas, United States. Its population was 46,073 at the 2020 census. Haltom City is an inner suburb of Fort Worth, a principal city of the DFW Metroplex. The city i ...

. In his junior and senior years at

Haltom High School Haltom High School is a grade 9-12 high school located in Haltom City, Texas. Athletics The Haltom mascot is the Buffalo, and school colors are black, orange, and white. For the biennium 2020-2022, the Texas UIL classified the school as 6A, and ...

, he had over 2,200 combined rushing yards and was named first-team All-district both years.

College career

Dunbar accepted a football scholarship from the

, as it was close to his home. He played in his first college football game on September 6, 2008, against

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

. He had 10 rushing attempts for 72 yards and a

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

, and he also had three receptions for 25 yards. He played in five games that season, finishing with 178 rushing yards on 39 attempts, for a 4.6 average. In 2009, Dunbar played in all 12 of

North Texas North Texas (also commonly called North Central Texas) is a term used primarily by residents of Dallas, Fort Worth, and surrounding areas to describe much of the north central portion of the U.S. state of Texas. Residents of the Dallas–Fort Wo ...

' games. He did not have more than 16 rushing attempts during the first four games. On October 10, against Louisiana-Lafayette, he had 32 carries and set career-highs with 187 rushing yards and four

s. Against Florida Atlantic one week later, he ran for 238 yards, his highest total of the season, and had three touchdowns. Dunbar had 1,378 rushing yards and a conference-leading 17 rushing

s in 2009 and was the team's leading rusher.

had a record of 2-10. Dunbar was named to the preseason All-Sun Belt team in 2010. He did not rush for over 141 yards in any of the first seven games that year. However, in the last five games, he rushed for over 200 yards three times."Lance Dunbar Game By Game Stats 2010"
ESPN.com. Retrieved November 18, 2011. During the final game of the season, against Kansas State University, he set a career-high for rushing yards, with 270. He had 22 carries and averaged 12.3 yards per attempt that day. In addition, he scored three rushing

s and one receiving

lost that game and had a 3–9 record in 2010. He finished his junior year with 1,553 rushing yards and 13 rushing

s. He led

in rushing yards for the second-straight season and also ranked sixth in the entire country. In his final season in 2011, he had 1,115 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns to go along with 29 receptions for 350 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Dunbar finished his college career with many accomplishments: * Leading rusher in school history with 4,224 rushing yards * First in career

s with 49. * First in career all-purpose yards with 5,375. * Tied in career 100-yard rushing games (21) with Patrick Cobbs. * First in career points scored with 294. * First in career rushing

s with 41. * Second in career rushing attempts with 782. * First

in school history with three consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons. * Second

in school history two consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons. In 2016, Dunbar was inducted into the North Texas Athletics Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

After being passed over in the 2012 NFL Draft because of size concerns, he was signed as an undrafted free agent by the

on April 28,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

. Dunbar showed off his skills during the preseason and made the team's practice squad as a

and

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

player. On October 8, he was promoted to the Cowboys' 53-man roster. He was also used as a gunner covering punts, finishing with 10

tackles. In the 2012 season, he finished with 21 carries for 75 rushing yards. Dunbar began the 2013 season with the expectation of being a change-of-pace back that could play backup to

DeMarco Murray DeMarco Murray (born February 12, 1988) is an American football coach and former running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons. A three-time Pro Bowl selection and one-time first-team All-Pro, he was the NFL Off ...

, but injuries (three games missed) and fumble issues impacted his playing time at the start of the season. He was fighting for the third-string

position with rookie Joseph Randle, when he had a breakout game against the Oakland Raiders, registering 82 rushing yards (6.8 average), but also suffering a season-ending knee injury. For the year, he recorded 150 yards, averaging five yards per attempt, leaving the Cowboys with high hopes about his running ability. In

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, he did not see much playing time behind Offensive Player of the Year DeMarco Murray and also fell to third-string behind Joseph Randle. In 2015, after the team lost Murray to the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

free agency In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is ...

and

Dez Bryant Desmond Demond Bryant (born November 4, 1988) is an American football wide receiver who is a free agent. He played college football at Oklahoma State, where he earned All-American honors in 2008. He was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the fir ...

to injury in the season opener against the New York Giants, Dunbar earned a more prominent role in the offense. In the first game against the Giants, he registered a team-high eight receptions for 70 yards and was a key player in the fourth quarter game-winning drive with two catches for 40 yards. Against the Atlanta Falcons, he finished with a career-high of 10 receptions for 100 yards. He entered the fourth game of the season against the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

as the team's leading receiver and recorded a 45-yard run, before tearing the ACL, the

MCL The litre (international spelling) or liter (American English spelling) (SI symbols L and l, other symbol used: ℓ) is a metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3) or 0.001 cubic metre (m3) ...

and the

patellar tendon The patellar tendon is the distal portion of the common tendon of the quadriceps femoris, which is continued from the patella to the tibial tuberosity. It is also sometimes called the patellar ligament as it forms a bone to bone connection when ...

in his left knee, during a

kickoff return A kickoff is a method of starting a drive in gridiron football. Typically, a kickoff consists of one team – the "kicking team" – kicking the ball to the opposing team – the "receiving team". The receiving team is then entitled to ''return' ...

, which was a task he was assigned to replace the recently departed

Dwayne Harris Dwayne Lenard Harris (born September 16, 1987) is an American football wide receiver and return specialist who is a free agent. He was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the sixth round of the 2011 NFL Draft. He played college football at East Ca ...

. He was placed on the

injured reserve list The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

on October 10. On March 17,

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, Dunbar re-signed with the Cowboys on a one-year, $1.75 million contract. He began training camp on the physically unable to perform list, while recovering from his previous knee injury. He made a surprising recovery that had him available to play in the last preseason game and that made the Cowboys decide to keep

Darren McFadden Darren McFadden (born August 27, 1987) is a former American football running back. He played college football for the Arkansas Razorbacks and was selected by the Oakland Raiders in the first round with the fourth overall pick of the 2008 NFL Dra ...

on the Non Football Injury List. His injury knee flared up and was declared inactive against the Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, and

. With the emergence of rookie Ezekiel Elliott, the offseason addition of Alfred Morris, and the late season return of McFadden, his impact and production were limited, finishing with 31 rushing yards, 122 receiving yards, and one rushing

Los Angeles Rams

On March 16,

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

, Dunbar signed a one-year contract with the Los Angeles Rams, who were looking to replace Benny Cunningham. He also reunited with running back coach Skip Peete, who coached him in his first season with the Cowboys. He was placed on the

physically unable to perform Physically unable to perform (PUP) is a roster designation used in the National Football League (NFL) for players who suffered injuries during football-related activities prior to the start of training camp. Players on the PUP list may participate ...

list to start the 2017 season after dealing with a knee injury. He was activated off PUP to the active roster on November 11, 2017. He finished the season with 11 carries for 51 rushing yards and a touchdown in four games. On March 9, 2018, Dunbar was released by the Rams.

Dallas Renegades

In 2019, Dunbar was selected in the eighth round of the

2020 XFL Draft The 2020 XFL Draft was the inaugural player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams of the 2020 reboot of the XFL. The draft was held on October 15–16, 2019, via conference call, with results released through the XFL's social ...

by the Dallas Renegades. In March, amid the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, the league announced that it would be cancelling the rest of the season. Playing in all 5 games, he registered 30 carries for 146 yards and a score, as well as 26 receptions for 154 yards. He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10, 2020.

References

External links

ESPN profile

North Texas bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunbar, Lance 1990 births Living people People from Tarrant County, Texas Players of American football from New Orleans African-American players of American football American football running backs North Texas Mean Green football players Dallas Cowboys players Dallas Renegades players Los Angeles Rams players 21st-century African-American sportspeople