The way Daryl Turner was going, the Pro Football Hall of Fame was looking like a very real possibility.
Following a standout prep career in both football and basketball at Flint Southwestern High and an impressive college football career at Michigan State, Turner exploded onto the National Football League scene after being selected in the second round of the 1984 NFL Draft by the Seattle Seahawks.
He led all rookies with 10 touchdown catches in 1984 and was even more impressive in 1985, leading the NFL with 13 TD receptions. The 6 foot 3, 194-pound speedster caught 101 passes for 36 touchdowns in four seasons. Then, as quickly as he burst into the spotlight, his flame died. Self-destructive behavior ended his bright NFL career and his fourth season with the Seahawks was his last.
“(Among) the regrets I have is No. 1 that I didn’t play longer in the NFL,” Turner said. “As far as the accomplishments, that was fine, but it always comes back to you. What could you have done different? And what I would have done different was leave the drugs alone.”
Turner began drinking in the eighth grade and alcohol and drug abuse doused the flaming star too soon. “I see the guys now and how easy it is to get yourself in trouble with the drugs in sports,” Turner said. “I am who I am, but at that time that person was a drug-buying person. That was a person doing something that was easy to him. My off season training was just running a couple of miles and I was ready to go.”
“I don’t talk too much about what the accomplishments were because No. 1, that was small. Some of the things I did in Seattle, that was fine, but a lot more could have been accomplished if the drugs weren’t involved. It’s an honor,” Turner said of tonight’s induction. “It means a great deal that I could be recognized by my peers. It’s something I’ve always wanted to be a part of. There are a lot of athletes that come out of Flint, and to have your peers recognize you as one of them is remarkable.
When they first started the Hall of Fame, I wanted to be a part of it. Once I found out about it, I felt my talents were good enough to be in that Hall, and basically I had to get my life together to get myself in a position to be in the Hall of Fame.”
Turner, who caught 78 passes for 1,577 yards (20.2 average) at MSU, was All-State in football at Southwestern and also starred on the basketball court. “When it comes to a pure athlete I thought Daryl really fit that position,” said Jeff Grayer, former All-State basketball player at Flint Northwestern High and a 2003 inductee into the Greater Flint Area Sports Hall of Fame. He played every sport, and was an awesome talent.
Grayer remembers seeing Turner play in a game against Northwestern his senior year. “I went to watch Barry Stevens (of Northwestern) play and saw this guy keep coming down the lane and slamming down dunks and I was thinking, ‘Who is this guy?’ The next time I saw him he was catching touchdowns for Michigan State. I thought he was one of the best basketball players I’ve seen come out of Flint, and to do what he did in football is a testament to his talent.”
Former Central High basketball coach Clif Turner was among the many who were impressed by Turner as a high school athlete. “He was an outstanding athlete and was good at whatever he did,” Turner said. “He had quickness and strength. He had all the tools. He could have been a Division I college basketball player.”
Daryl Turner, who’ll be 45 this month, lives in Birmingham with his wife of three months, Diane. The couple met while Turner was working at the Salvation Army during his rehabilitation. “God sent her to me,” Turner said. “That’s what I believe and she believes it.”
One of the ways he turned his life around was by witnessing to youngsters. He joined other standout athletes from the area at the Flint Athletes for Better Education basketball camp, telling campers about how his experience with drugs and alcohol derailed his career and his life. “One of the things we preached back in June (at the camp) is there’s a time and place for everything, but doing drugs is not going to work,” Turner said. “You need to stay on your course and make education first and you’ll have time for recreation later on in life as you get older, but at this present time you don’t need that.”
Although he was one of the best receivers in the NFL, it’s not a football game that Turner mentions when asked about his favorite sports memory. No, it’s a high school basketball game he remembers most fondly. “The day I hit 40 points against Grand Rapids Central as a senior,” he said. “I was 15 of 19 from the field and 10 of 12 from the free throw line. That is the one that stands out to me all the time.”
READ FULL BIO
