Liberty Football’s Tyren Dupree Shares Team’s Goal: ‘See [God] Through Us’
By Movieguide® Contributor
The Liberty University football team finished their season 13-1, going undefeated in conference play, which secured them the championship.
Ahead of their bowl game against No. 8 ranked Oregon, Liberty’s defensive back Tyren Dupree shared his team’s number one goal.
“I hope they can see a team that competes just as hard as every other team in the FBS but truly has a love for God and just knows that’s who were playing for in the end,” Dupree told the media ahead of the Fiesta Bowl. “I just hope that everyone can just see Him through us playing and the love that we have for each other.”
Dupree was a force to be reckoned with on the field for the Liberty Flames. He finished the season with 124 tackles, the most by a Liberty player since 1998.
With his outstanding performance this season, he also secured the Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year.
But his time at Liberty wasn’t always great. The sixth-year senior redshirted his freshman year and, at one point, thought his love for football was gone.
Dupree never thought he could become the leader he is today.
“I’m telling you, there were a lot of times when I didn’t know if I would even be finishing here or if I wanted to play at times,” Dupree told The News Advance. “So just going through those hardships and having people around you to support you — coaches, parents, teammates that have come and gone — just having people around you that support you and want you to be the best version of yourself really helped me find love again for the game. And you have to love the game to play for six years in college. That’s just a testament to God and how he’s walked with me in my life.”
Through the ups and downs, Dupree relied on his mother. She encouraged and reminded him that life was about something bigger than him.
“You’re there to bring others around you up and encourage everyone around you,” he remembered his mom saying. “She told me to take a step back and see that it’s bigger than me and see what I could be doing to help others around me instead of just worrying about my own needs.”
Fast forward to 2023, Dupree is open and honest about his faith in God.
“I don’t have to go out and hunt for people that feel the same way I do about Christ,” he expressed. “I know that seems kind of cheesy to some people, but for a lot of people, respect is just not pushing them past their boundaries. So finding people who want to be the best versions of themselves and surrounding yourself with people who want to be great, that comes with the faith-based lifestyle.”
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