In his senior year, he led the nation in rushing and won the 1990 Walter Payton Award as the most outstanding player in Division I-AA football.
[1][2] He also has a younger brother who played soccer, Keith, who was one of Louisiana's leading interscholastic players, and with whom he shared a bunk-bed according to their mother.
He earned the nickname "American Express" due to the belief of his coach, Eddie Robinson, that the team should 'never leave home without him', a saying similar to the slogan of the eponymous credit card company.
Sports Illustrated called Dean possibly the "best runner produced by a predominantly black college since Walter Payton came out of Jackson State in 1975.
"[2] Former Grambling and Los Angeles Rams fullback Paul "Tank" Younger said about Dean, "You take one look at him and you think, hey, he doesn't look that tough.