Michael Turner (American football)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Michael Turner during his tenure at Northern Illinois. |
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| Atlanta Falcons — No. 33 | |
| Running back | |
| Date of birth: February 13, 1982 | |
| Place of birth: Waukegan, Illinois | |
| Height: 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | Weight: 240 lb (110 kg) |
| National Football League debut | |
|---|---|
| 2004 for the San Diego Chargers | |
| Career history | |
| College: Northern Illinois | |
| NFL Draft: 2004 / Round: 5 / Pick: 154 | |
Teams:
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| Current status: Active | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| NFC Offensive Player of the week(2008 week 1) | |
| Selected NFL statistics (through Week 1 of the 2008 NFL season) |
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| Rushing yards | 1477 |
| Rushing average | 5.9 |
| Rushing TDs | 8 |
| Stats at NFL.com | |
Michael "The Burner" Turner (born February 13, 1982 in Waukegan, Illinois) is an American football running back for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League. He was originally drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the fifth round of the 2004 NFL Draft. He played college football at Northern Illinois.
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[edit] Early years
Turner went to North Chicago Community High School in North Chicago, Illinois. The school retired the number 8 jersey Turner wore on February 20, 2008. [1]
[edit] College career
Turner accepted a scholarship to Northern Illinois University. In his first college game in 2000, he ran for 230 yards against Eastern Michigan. As a junior, he finished second in the nation with 1,915 yards, including 282 in one game against Western Illinois. In 2003, he finished second in the NCAA in rushing, behind his former teammate Darren Sproles, with 1,648 yards. He left NIU with the school records for rushing yards (4,941), touchdowns (43) and all-purpose yards (6,038). Since his departure from NIU, two records (rushing yards and touchdowns) have been broken by Garrett Wolfe. Even though his records have been broken, Michael Turner is still thought of as one of the greatest football players to have ever played at Northern Illinois University.
[edit] Professional career
[edit] Pre-draft
| Pre-draft measureables | |||||||||
| Weight | 40 yd | 20 ss | 3-cone | Vert | BP | Wonderlic | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 237 lb (108 kg)* | 4.49s* | 4.15s* | 7.50s* | 31 in (78.7 cm)* | 22* | 35*[2] | |||
(* represents NFL Combine)
[edit] San Diego Chargers
Turner was drafted by the Chargers 154th overall in the fifth round of the 2004 NFL Draft. As a rookie, Turner played mostly on special teams, but started and ran for 87 yards in the regular-season finale against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Turner had again spent most of 2005 on the bench as backup to Pro Bowl starter LaDainian Tomlinson. But in the December 18 game against the undefeated Indianapolis Colts, Turner came off the bench to run for 113 yards, including a game-clinching 83-yard touchdown.
Since his career started he has rushed for 716 yards and 4 touchdowns on 118 carries (as of Oct. 19, 2006). He also has 4 catches for eight yards. As of the end of the 2005-2006 season Turner's 5.7 yards per carry average is the highest among active players.
During the 2007 off season, Chargers General manager A.J. Smith stated that the Chargers would be willing to trade Turner in exchange for both a first and third round draft pick.[3]. However, a day after 2007 NFL Draft concluded, A.J. Smith stated that Michael Turner would remain a Charger for the 2007 season. He would no longer be accepting trade offers from other NFL teams for Turner.[4]
On April 26, 2007, Turner signed the $2.35 million, one-year tender he received from the Chargers after becoming a restricted free agent.
On January 13, 2008, Turner gained attention when he filled in ably for the Chargers' injured starter Tomlinson early in an AFC Divisional playoff game against the Indianapolis Colts, gaining 71 yards on 17 carries, including several key runs.
[edit] Atlanta Falcons
On March 2, 2008, the Atlanta Falcons signed Turner to a six-year, $34.5 million contract with $15 million guaranteed. [5] Turner underwent shoulder surgery after the Chargers' season ended last year.
He was held out of the Falcons' first minicamp. Turner suffered a "minor" shoulder injury in December, but it hasn't been revealed until now.[6]
On his Falcon debut, Turner broke the Atlanta Falcons single game rushing record against the Detroit Lions on September 7, 2008, rushing for 220 yards on 22 carries with 2 Touchdowns.[7]setting a Falcons single-game rushing record . His 220 yards against the Lions marked the second-highest opening day rushing total behind O.J. Simpson’s 250 yards in 1973 and his rushing total is also the most in NFL annals by a player in his first game with a new team and surpassed the previous mark of 202 yards setting by running back Gerald Riggs on September 2, 1984. Coincidently, Turner becomes the first Falcons offensive player of the week following an NFL season opening weekend since Riggs earned the honor after setting his record in 1984. Was named NFC Offensive Player of the week by this performance
[edit] References
- ^ Masterson, Dave (2008-02-22). "'Turner the Burner'". Lake County News-Sun. Retrieved on 2008-02-27.
- ^ Packers.com » News » Stories » April 21, 2004: Gil Brandt's NFL Draft Analysis By Position: Running Backs
- ^ SignOnSanDiego.com > San Diego Chargers - Chargers GM: Turner creating 'a buzz'
- ^ Chargers.com - News » Headlines » Smith: ‘Turner will be a Charger in ‘07’
- ^ "Falcons agree to terms with former Chargers running back Turner" (2008-03-02). Retrieved on 2008-03-02.
- ^ Turner to be the Bettis in 'Exotic Smashmouth'
- ^ Ryan and Turner have quite a debut in Atlanta
[edit] External links
| Preceded by William Andrews |
NIU Starting Running Back 2000-2003 |
Succeeded by AJ Harris |
