After suffering a knee injury in the first game of his fifth-year senior season, Dumas missed the remainder of the year.
[1][2] His high school coach Lou Grasso praised Dumas for his talent: "He's one of the outstanding players in this area.
[4] In his final year of prep football, Dumas had 120 tackles, 650 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns, and helped Abraham Clark advance to the North Jersey Group II state semifinals.
[4] In July 2003, he played in the Governor's Bowl, an all-star game matching the best players from New York and New Jersey.
[3] He received scholarship offers from Rutgers, Ole Miss, West Virginia, North Carolina State, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Minnesota, but he chose Syracuse University.
In its reporting on the game, the Syracuse Herald American noted: "Encouraged by the interception, Dumas began to fly around the field making hits.
[7] As a junior in 2002, Dumas suffered a badly sprained ankle early in the season and injured his groin when he continued to play with the injury.
[12][13][14] In January 2003, Dumas announced that he was leaving school for undisclosed reasons to return home to Roselle, New Jersey.
[15][16] Before he left, Syracuse coach Paul Pasqualoni told Dumas the door was open should he decide to return.
[7] As a senior in 2003, Dumas suffered a knee injury in the season opener against the University of North Carolina.
[25] Dumas finished his college football career at Syracuse with 179 tackles and earned All-America honors.
[27][28] Sports Illustrated pointed to Dumas as one of the AF2 players who "can recite a saga that purports to explain why he's playing in this quirky indoor league that's at least a Hail Mary from the NFL.
"[29] An earlier account on Dumas noted: "His speed is his greatest asset, and the injuries robbed him of it.