Wigan Warriors’ Tyler Dupree reveals US heritage, famous NFL relative

Eagle-eyed viewers of the Challenge Cup final would have seen a US flag placed on the floor alongside those of several nations as the celebrating Wigan Warriors players nodded to their birthplaces and heritage.

The US flag belonged to Tyler Dupree, who is of proud American heritage through his maternal grandfather “Champion Jack” Dupree, a famous blues singer from New Orleans who toured the world before settling in England while his great uncle, Billy Joe Dupree, won. Super Bowl with the Dallas Cowboys in 1978.

Other flags were celebrated in the Wembley sheds after Wigan’s win over Warrington, such as Lebanon (Abbas Miski), Samoa (Patrick Mago), Cameroon (Junior Nsemba and Sam Eseh), New Zealand’s Maori national flag (Tiaki Chan), Australia (Adam Keighran), Australian Aborigines (Bevan French) as well as a number of England flags for the club’s homegrown players.

Dupree is a current England rugby league international and while he is proud of where he was born and raised in Halifax, he also paid tribute to his American roots.

“For starters, this is all from Willie Isa, he’s very proud of the heritage and very proud of where people came from and he wants everybody else to be proud of that,” Dupree said. Loves Rugby League. “Until I had a few conversations with him, I think I took for granted where my family came from.

“I’m proud to play for England, but I’m also proud of my family’s heritage in America.

“It’s a story of adversity, my grandfather comes from slaves and I know if he was alive today he’d be proud of me, so I just want to pay him back by showing how proud I am of where he is.”

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Dupree has never had a chance to visit his family’s roots in America, but plans to visit there in the future with his mother and sister.

He added: “I was in Florida, but my plan was to go to America and travel and see where my family is from, go to New Orleans and places like that. It’s still a plan, but I don’t know when it will be, but it will happen.”

The England international has a close relationship with his mother Jackie, dedicating his successful rugby league career to her.

“Everything I do, I do for my mom,” Dupree said. “It’s a bit of a cliché to say, but I work hard because I want to be able to pay my mum.

“I know I could never repay her, but just little things that I do: I like to show her that I’m grateful for everything she’s done and I just want to keep making her proud.”

The Wigan powerhouse made his England debut in last year’s 64-0 mid-season win over France at Warrington and earned his second England cap in Saturday’s 40-8 win over their French counterparts in Toulouse.

Dupree added: “It was unexpected (the call-up) at that time last year and it was a little unexpected this time, but the feeling is the same: I’m proud to represent my country and I’m proud to represent where I’m from.”

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