Kerry Lee
Marbury Biography
Monongah
High / (Class of 1970) Carolina, WV
Classification:
A Boys
Specialty:
Sprints
West
Virginia University / Fairmont State University
Kerry Lee
Marbury (born March 21, 1952) grew up in tiny Carolina in Marion County, West
Virginia -- a coal town located not far from Fairmont. He was a son of the late
Arthur Laster and Lizella Hines Marbury Lewis.
While at
Monongah, Marbury was a standout in football, track, and basketball. He was All-State
1968 & 1969, All-American 1969, West Virginia Back of the Year in 1969, and
ranked in the top 100 players in the U.S. in 1969. He won four letters in
football, four in track, and two in basketball. He also compiled the highest
number of points in the state track meet his junior and senior years.
By the time
he was a junior at Monongah High School in 1968, Marbury had developed an
impressive reputation in West Virginia prep football circles. Playing alongside
quarterback Nick Saban, Marbury helped Monongah to two consecutive state titles
and finished his career with more than 6,000 yards rushing. He once gained 402
yards in a game against Kingwood High.
In track, he
was a two-time state champion in the 100-yard dash, three-time state champion in
the 220-yard dash, ran a leg on Monongah’s state champion 440-yard relay team,
and won high point honors two straight years. Marbury held records in the 100-
and 220-yard dashes his senior year. He also held records in the 440-yard relay
his sophomore year and 880-yard relay his senior year. Marbury held the
all-time 100-yard dash record at 9.7 seconds and ran 9.6 in the trials.
Marbury was
recruited by just about every major college in the country, but he decided to
sign with nearby West Virginia University to play football and he would also
participate on the track team.
[Early
Years]
As a
youngster, Marbury was a former pee wee football teammate of Nick Saban. He was always one of the smallest football players
on the field. To play Pop Warner football, he once had to stuff his stomach
with bananas and drink enough water just to make the minimum 76-pound weight.
Marbury
would bribe his mother Lizella by doing some work around the house before
sneaking off to the football field, where he perfected his game under the
watchful eye of Nick Saban, Sr.
“Since I was
5, football was all I wanted to do. Jim Brown was my hero,” said Marbury.
High
School
While
attending Monongah High School, Maybury was coached by Joe Ross in track.
[Sophomore
Year - 1968]
Monongah’s
Kerry Marbury won the 220-yard dash in 22.9 seconds and ran a leg on the Lions’
(Hines, Miller, Marbury, Horton) record-setting 440-yard relay team (44.2).
Park
Central’s Thundering Herd returned to the top of Class AA in ’68, routing the
field with a 30-point victory. It was the fourth title for the veteran coach,
Elhanier Willis. Dennis Blevins led Park Central with 15 points but lost the
individual trophy to Magnolia hurdler John Carlson. Kerry Marbury led Monongah
to a fourth-place team finish with 16 points.
[Junior
Year - 1969]
Monongah’s
Kerry Marbury won the high point trophy with 13 points, edging Fayetteville
hurdler Cornelius Tyler. Marbury won the 100-yard dash in 10.2, 220-yard dash
in 22.1, and placed fifth in the broad jump.
After scoring
only five points during their two-year stint in AAA, Mount Hope returned to
Class AA and recaptured the title they had won in ’66. Gene Spodaro’s squad won
despite scoring in only five events, fortunately, four of those were victories.
Kerry Marbury led Monongah to a seventh-place team finish with 13 points.
[Senior
Year - 1970]
Monongah’s
Kerry Marbury repeated as high point man with 15 ½ points, setting the 220-yard
dash mark (21.9) and tying the 100-yard dash (10.0). In the 200-yard dash finals,
Marbury won over his fellow teammate (Charlie Miller) in 22.7. He also placed
fourth in the broad jump and ran a leg on the Lions’ third-place 880-yard relay
team. This was the 880-relay team, which finished third after having set a
state meet record of 1:32.9 in the trials. Marbury ran with a pulled muscle in
his upper left leg that he sustained after winning the 100-yard dash. Marbury’s
injury made a difference.
In what was
supposed to be a Magnolia-Mt. Hope battle, Poca pulled a major upset to capture
the AA crown with 39 points. The Dots were powered by a 1-2-3 finish in the
high jump, led by Terry Lett’s record 6-2 5/8. Lett did so by using the new
“Fosbury Flop” jumping style. Kerry Marbury led Monongah to a fourth-place team
finish with 25 points.
Marbury’s
High School Running Resume:
State
Final PR's:
100 Yard
Dash – 10.0 (Tied Record - 1970)
220 Yard
Dash - 22.1 (Marbury set a record of 21.9 in trials - 1970)
440 Yard
Relay - 44.2 (Record - 1968)
880 Yard
Relay – (Monongah set record of 1:32.9 in trials - 1970)
Broad Jump –
could not find result
State
Titles:
1968 – 220
Yard Dash, 440 Yard Relay
1969 – 100
Yard Dash, 220 Yard Dash, High Point
1970 – 100
Yard Dash, 220 Yard Dash, High Point
Other
State Places:
1969 – 440 Yard
Relay (4th), Broad Jump (5th)
1970 – 880 Yard
Relay (3rd), Broad Jump (4th)
State
Meet All-Time Lists:
2nd (Tied)
AA-A Boys 1960's 100 Meters – 11.38 – Trails (converted)
1st AA-A
Boys 1970's 100 Meters – 11.27 (converted)
2nd AA-A
Boys 1960's 200 Meters – 22.20 – Trials (converted)
1st AA-A
Boys 1970's 200 Meters – 22.00 – Trials (converted)
1st AA-A
Boys 1960's 4x100 Meters - 44.17 (Jerome Hines, Charlie Miller, Kerry Marbury,
Rocky Horton)
1st A Boys
1970's 4x200 Meters – 1:32.57 – Trails (Charlie Miller, Chris Yanero, John
Fazio, Kerry Marbury)
[College
1971-1972]
Heavily
recruited, Marbury decided to stay home at play at WVU for Jim Carlen. But,
before he ever got the chance, Carlen left to coach Texas Tech after beating
North Carolina State, 14-3, in the Peach Bowl.
When Hall of
Fame coach Bobby Bowden took over, problems developed. However, the problems
Marbury had weren’t what most people thought, which included him getting upset
over a suspension being dealt to one of his friends.
This is the
story he told a reporter in 2011:
“I was very
disappointed after the Peach Bowl loss. I hurt my ankle in the last game of the
year, the Syracuse game, and I shouldn’t even have been playing in the Peach
Bowl. When they brought me into the locker room before the game, they stuck a
needle, probably four inches long, into my ankle. I could hear the bones
pressing up against the needle.
“I was so
distraught over that. I thought, ‘They treat racehorses better than this. That
ultimately led to my leaving. After the shot, I couldn’t tell whether I had a
foot, let alone run. If I had broken it, I wouldn’t have known it until the
Novocain wore off.”
And so, he
left school after his junior year, and went to Canada, playing in Toronto and
Ottawa.
[Note: As
a freshman at WVU, Marbury carried the ball 61 times for 308 yards and scored
two touchdowns. However, he hurt his ankle that year but recovered—and then some—during
the spring. As a sophomore, he was one of the outstanding runners in the
nation. He was four yards short of breaking the sophomore record set by Garrett
Ford in 1965, even though he missed three and one-half games. That year, he
carried the ball 145 times for 890 yards and six touchdowns. He also set new
rushing mark in a single game with 291 yards in three quarters against Temple.
He was named ECAC All-Star team twice for an October 9 showing against William
and Mary and October 23 for his play against Temple. Marbury also competed on
WVU track's 440-yard relay team.]
[Professional]
Marbury
decided to skip his senior season at WVU and signed a professional contract to
play for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League in 1973. He had a
brief stint in the CFL with The Ottawa Rough Riders in 1974.
He then
returned to the United States in 1975 and played briefly with the Birmingham
Vulcans of the World Football League before it folded.
He was
selected by the New England Patriots in the 16th round of the NFL draft the
following spring. Because Seattle and Tampa Bay were added to the league that
year, Marbury was picked in the expansion draft by the Cleveland Browns. He was
cut during training camp. His football career was over at age 24.
[Personal]
Disappointed
and discouraged, Marbury drifted down a path of drug use that eventually led to
a short period in prison. It was at that point that he decided to quit blaming
others for his problems and make something of his life.
Once he got
out Marbury made the most of his second chance. He returned to West Virginia
and received his bachelor's degree in 1990 at Fairmont State University. A year
later he earned his master's degree from WVU.
Before
retiring, Marbury was a full-time professor at Fairmont State College, where he
taught a class in race, gender, and sexuality, as well as an FSU Safety
Director.
He decided
to make an example of his life to help others avoid making the same mistakes.
In 2014,
Kerry Marbury was one of seven distinguished pre-1980 meet record-holders that
attended the 100th state track and field meet at the University of Charleston
Stadium/Laidley Field in Charleston, West Virginia.
The others
on hand were Ansted’s Tom Pridemore (1974 A 120 hurdles), Duval’s David Bowman
(1976 AA mile), Woodrow Wilson’s Tom Reid (1972 AAA 100 and 220 dashes),
Wheeling’s Bob Rieves (1969 AAA 440), DuPont’s Cynthia Shelton (1978 AAA 220,
440, 110 hurdles) and Huntington’s Wilson Smith (1968 AAA 880).
Marbury died
from cancer on June 23, 2019, at his home in Fairmont at the age of 67. He
is survived by his wife,
Deborah (Freeman) Marbury, of Clarksburg and daughter, Trevia Holland, of
Fairmont.
[Memorial
Scholarship]
The Nick’s
Kids Foundation established by University of Alabama head coach and Monongah
native Nick Saban and his wife, Terry, funded a scholarship to honor Kerry
Marbury, a long-time family friend.
The Kerry
Marbury Memorial Scholarship will provide funds to Fairmont State students from
Marion County with financial need starting in fall 2020.
Kerry
Marbury biography compiled by Mike McMillion (updated 08/05/2022)
[Sources:
RunWV, Jesse Skiles, Nick Saban, Bob Hertzel, and John Antonik/West
Virginia University Varsity Club]