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Dunn never gave up

By ROGER MILLS

© St. Petersburg Times, published December 3, 2000

TAMPA -- It is -- at least to running back Warrick Dunn -- the most memorable play in the history of the Super Bowl.

Ahead 52-17 late in the fourth quarter, Dallas was well on its way to winning Super Bowl XXVII when Bills quarterback Frank Reich fumbled and Cowboys linebacker Leon Lett recovered the ball.

Lett ran 64 yards downfield. About 10 yards shy of the goal line, he raised his hands in premature celebration. It was then that not-to-be-humiliated Bills receiver Don Beebe knocked the ball away.

"I was a Cowboy fan, a big Cowboy fan, but that play is something I would never forget," Dunn said. "That was the biggest play in Super Bowl history. The biggest."

Dunn said the image of Beebe chasing, catching and stripping Lett sent a message to him about the importance of finishing what is started, and more important, finding purpose to keep battling no matter how bad the score is.

That message was significant for Dunn that year..

A few days after his 18th birthday, Jan. 5, his mother, Betty Smothers, a single parent and Baton Rouge, La., police officer, was shot to death while at her off-duty job as a security guard. Dunn, the oldest of six children, became the parent to his siblings. "I think about my man, Beebe, and even though they were getting (beaten badly), he didn't care, he kept coming. I love guys like that," Dunn said. "I wanted to be that kind of person, where even though you're down, no matter how down you were, you keep fighting, keep fighting. I think that year for me, with what I went through, with friends and family, that's what I did. I kept fighting."

Q: What other challenges did you face in 1993?

A: "Passing the ACT. I took it three times. It was so stressful because it decided where you will go (to college), whether you're going to (junior college) or Division I, who recruits you and things like that. Most of the teams that were recruiting me at the time, like Notre Dame, backed off because I didn't pass the ACT the first time. And you know, you really can't study for it. It's one of those things. I just kept taking it, taking it, and finally I got it."

Q: What wisdom would you impart to the Warrick Dunn of 1993?

A: "If I wasn't just a teenager and didn't have the kind of responsibility I had back then, there would be some advice that I could give myself. But because I was trying to help raise (my siblings), it's kind of hard to say this would have worked better and this wouldn't have. Sure, there are things I could have done better. I could have communicated better with my brothers and sisters, talked to them about why they're doing this and why they're doing that. I would have been a little more outspoken on some things and not let people run over me."

SUPER BOWL XXVII

Jan. 31, 1993

Pasadena, Calif.

Cowboys 52, Bills 17

MVP: Troy Aikman, Cowboys quarterback (22-of-30 for 273 yards and four touchdowns).

IN THE NEWS: March 1-on: Federal agents descend on the Branch Davidian religious compound in Waco, Texas, after six are killed in a raid. April 17: Two white police officers are convicted in Los Angeles on civil rights charges in the beating of black motorist Rodney King during a traffic stop. April 19: Fire kills 72 at the Branch Davidian compound as a standoff ends with a federal assault. Aug. 28: An Israeli-Palestinian accord is reached. Nov. 1: Europe's Maastricht Treaty takes effect, creating the European Union. Nov. 18: South Africa adopts a majority rule constitution.

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