Officials: Ex-Gophers, Cowboys RB Marion Barber died of heat stroke

FRISCO, Texas (AP) – Police in a Dallas suburb have concluded that heat stroke caused the death of former Minnesota Gopher and Dallas Cowboys running back Marion Barber III.

In a statement Monday, Frisco police say the Collin County medical examiner ruled Barber’s death an accident. Police provided no further elaboration, and the medical examiner’s office didn’t immediately respond to messages from The Associated Press.

Police making a welfare check on June 1 found the 38-year-old former running back dead at a Frisco apartment.

Barber spent six seasons with Dallas and one with the Chicago Bears. He made the Pro Bowl in 2007.

Barber graduated from Wayzata High School in 2001. He then proceeded to become one of the greatest Gophers running backs of all time becoming the first pair of Division I teammates, with Laurence Maroney, to each rush for 1,000 yards in consecutive seasons.