“Character is not measured by how hard you get knocked down; but how well you get up and come back.” This is the motto that has driven Marlin “Scooter” Dyess to success in athletics and in business. Dyess was the Running Back and Wide Receiver for the University of Alabama from 1957-1959 and was also an active member of the track team during this time.   

Dyess was voted captain of the 1959 team, coach Bear Bryant’s 2nd season as head coach at Alabama.  “The greatest award or honor I have ever received was being elected captain, a title that Coach Bryant described as ‘leadership.’  Coach Bryant always related athletic traits to how a person would face life’s challenges,” Dyess said. 

During his career at Alabama, Dyess was a participant in the Blue-Gray Football Classic, the Senior Bowl and the Liberty Bowl, and was the MVP of the Alabama-Auburn game in 1959. Dyess graduated from Alabama in 1961 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering.  In 2001, Dyess was inducted into the Wiregrass Sports Hall of Fame.

Dyess opened Scooter Dyess Enterprises in Montgomery, Ala. in 1974 for the challenge and independence of doing things his own way.  Scooter Dyess Enterprises is a sub-contractor and supplier of metal products for architects and a contractor of commercial products in the southeast.