Turner's defining moment comes in Tampa Bay, when he returned a punt 80 yards for a touchdown -- the first regular-season punt return for a TD in Buccaneer history. Hatcher had received the skull from two Indiana civil rights activists, a husband and wife who themselves had gotten the skull from a longtime school administrator in Indiana. Thats something I really need to do for myself.. "Coach stepped in and helped me," said Turner. If it is confirmed as Turner's, it will be laid to rest alongside other descendants. tells the inspiring story of how the now 44-year-old Turner moved as a young child from the mean streets of Bedford-Stuyvesant to a quiet neighborhood in Sunnyside, where he discovered a love for. read vernon turner's ou bio Those are good, but might not be good enough to get a spot on Team USA. The book is broken into four sections -- football quarters -- and despite his troubled younger life, the essence of Turner has remained: He's still optimistic and determined. Owsley confirmed that the institution retains possession of the skull but did not offer details on the progress of the forensic analysis or an estimated date of completion. At some point in his life,Nat Turner got kicked in the head by a mule. The Turner family will provide genealogical information as well as DNA samples in hopes that the skull matches their genetic profile. Turner was sidelined. Bats and agaves make tequila possibleand theyre both at risk, The new year once started in Marchhere's why, Jimmy Carter on the greatest challenges of the 21st century, This ancient Greek warship ruled the Mediterranean, 3 ways Jimmy Carter changed the world for the better, The meaning of the cross of ashes on Ash Wednesday, This disease often goes under-diagnosedunless youre white, The groundbreaking promise of cellular housekeeping. Turners high school coach connected him to an agency, who reluctantly signed him. My entire life has been one big arcade game, Turner laughs. Turners agent, Howard Shatsky, told him to always carry his gym bag around and whenever a scout was visiting for a workout, show up with his teammates. But available evidence strongly suggests that this sordid tale had a gruesome appendix, and there began the mystery of what happened to Nat Turners body, and whether part of it now resides in a lab of the Smithsonian Institution. Turner was named an Advance All Star in 1984 and '85, and took home Fugazzi and Fabbri awards during his senior year. These guys helped me mold myself into a professional athlete. She is quick to point out that she does not speak for all of Turners descendants who, seven generations on, are numerous. And I had an okay college career, Turner says. In recent years, Francis has been leading tours around Southampton to acknowledge some of the important sites, although hes conducted none since the onset of the pandemic. Some sources contradict one another. "I can never repay that man for what he's done for me and my familyhe's my everything," added Turner of Olivieri. "I know you're frustrated. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. Turner's mother Jackie finally succumbed to her addiction during his freshman year -- though football kept Vernon going and his only two goals from that point forward were to play ball and keep his family together. Curators are realizing that returning looted artifacts isnt closing museumsits opening new doors. Id been hurting for over a year, he said. tells the inspiring story of how the now 44-year-old Turner moved as a young child from the mean streets of Bedford-Stuyvesant to a quiet neighborhood in Sunnyside, where he discovered a love for football that took him from Curtis High School to Carson-Newman (Tenn.) College to an improbable NFL career with four different teams. You either run fast enough or you dont. He speaks highly of many well-known Staten Island sports figures, starting with former Curtis head coach Fred Olivieri, who filled the role of father-figure to Turner upon his arrival at the St. George school. The cast is almost set. But it is of immeasurable value because it is a poignant reminder of the price of freedom. I was just here practicing, he said with a glance around OUs indoor track. "He took an interest in my family. Bruce Turner said many people sympathized with his ancestors motivations. With objective measures of skeletal remains, its possible to estimate the age of an adult within about 10 years, he said. When hes not providing viewers with the weather forecast, you can find Vernon spending time with friends and family, or giving back to his community. Turner pours out the rest early in the book: He lost his mother during his freshman year in high school and his Italian stepfather, Sam, while in college. At quarterback, Turner rewrote the school record book at the time -- tossing for a then-record 3,654 career passing yards, tallying 537 rushing yards during his senior season alone. In 2021, he placed fourth in the NCAA Indoor and fifth in the NCAA Outdoor, not with the dizzying heights of 7-7something, but still. All rights reserved. Vernon Maurice Turner Position: WR-RB 5-8 , 185lb (173cm, 83kg) Born: January 6 in Brooklyn, NY (Age: 56-025d) College: Carson-Newman Weighted Career AV (100-95-. OU baseball rewind:David Sandlin's 'outstanding' outing highlights bounce-back week for Sooners. Singing in his youth in church choirs and informally for tips . Bruce Turner said he learned more about it from reading history books in California than he did as a boy in Southampton. Oklahoma's Vernon Turner is the NCAA high jump champion after clearing 7-7.25 on Saturday at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Birmingham, Alabama. Alarm spread through the countryside, and the rebels lost the element of surprise. He was a 21-year-old kid who had promised his mother before she died that if anything happened to his father, hed step up and assume the responsibility of the household. The Southampton County Historical Society began a push to create a tour years ago, and Francis said that walking guides of Courtland will be available soon and that an official driving tour will be developed. Langley recruited Turner out of Yukon and stayed with the program even after a head-coaching change, which helped persuade Turner to return to Norman. Update: October 13, 1:45 p.m. The family has temporarily given the skull to the Smithsonian Institution, which will conduct a DNA test to determine if it is, in fact, Turner's. I was five-foot-nine. Because I'm you, from the future. [6] Despite concluding his senior campaign only second in rushing yards to teammate Robert Thomas, he was selected to the first team All-South Atlantic Conference in 1989. When does spring start? Bob Franklin made many attempts to find a fitting home for the heirloom, including offering it to the Smithsonian Institution. After the NCAA Outdoor Championships in 2018, Turner says he was told his scholarship would be increased to a hundred percent. But now, only South Koreas Sanghyeok Woo has jumped higher than Turners 7-7 this year. "He took a special interest in me not only as an athlete, but also as a human being," wrote Turner of Olivieri. He moved to Staten Island New York in 1973. What got him there was why he was so motivated to succeed in the first place the need to take care of his family. Abandoned Country is a companion blog to that project. That gave him the confidence to believe in what theyre doing right now.. "The Next Level" is filled with touching snapshots of Turner's formative years as he was transformed from a 98-pound freshman running back at Curtis to a productive NFL wide receiver/kick returner/running back for the Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Rams, Detroit Lions and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In 1993, Turner signed with the Detroit Lions, backing up return specialist Mel Gray. Aguirre, the Turner descendant from Washington, expressed strong interest in contacting Hatcher to see if hed be amenable to returning the skull to Virginia for a proper burial. If we are encouraged to face the truths of our past through certain events that capture peoples attention or imagination, if it pushes people to learn and understand history, that is a good thing., Ben lives in Williamsburg, Virginia. The Richard Porter House, where rebels found that the homes namesake had fled, was standing as late as a few years ago. The first was decent but didnt clear. At the time, the school still was a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), earning five Division I national championships during the 1980s. There is a reference in 400 days to Vernon's group having lost both Vernon and Brie but no specifics as to how exactly Vernon died. During those conversations, he says he often shares the following quote (widely attributed to Mark Twain): The two most important days of your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why., That was pivotal for me, Turner emphasizes. A small group gathered last week in a hotel suite on the outskirts of Gary, Indiana. When the Yukon High product went missing in 2019, the rumors started to swirl. Please be respectful of copyright. Turner, a phenom when he was coming out of Yukon High School, How risky strategy propelled Oklahoma State's Taylor Roe to national title, Five things to know about the Sooners' first-round opponent, David Sandlin's 'outstanding' outing highlights bounce-back week for Sooners, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. A goal is to have an accompanying interactive smartphone app to assist where the history has been erased. According to Bruce Turner, if theres even a remote possibility that it belonged to Nat Turner, there are three possible spots for burial, the most logical being a small, unmarked and overgrown plot in Courtland where the bodies of executed rebels were interred in a mass grave, and where archaeologists conducting a preliminary dig discovered human remains in 2016. PUBLISHED 1:25 PM ET Oct. 15, 2021. After being released, he played the last game of the season for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and was Tampa's primary return specialist during the 1994 season. How did this mountain lion reach an uninhabited island? This injury could be one piece of evidence that helps identify the skull at the Smithsonian as Turners, said Kelley Fanto Deetz, a Black history scholar who was a consultant for The Birth of a Nation, a 2016 film about the insurrection written and directed by Norfolk native Nate Parker. They received it from Bob Franklin of Elkhart, Indiana, who says the skull was passed down in his family for three generations. A road in Southampton County earned the name Blackhead Signpost Road. While his mother was often "sick" and his stepfather, who Turner resented at the time but later grew to love, tried to quell her, young Vernon was left to provide as the caretaker for his four siblings. I always had the same goals. Even outside of track, I feel like it taught me things about myself, he said. I really cant believe Im talking to you, Hatcher told Aguirre when they spoke. Francis believes that any acknowledgment accompanying buried remains should be simple and respectful, something like Nat Turner, Leader of the Insurrection of 1831.. Which travel companies promote harmful wildlife activities? I was nowhere near the caliber of a pro football player. Get hyperlocal forecasts, radar and weather alerts. I was 160-something pounds. In fact, throughout American history, many corpses have been mutilated, especially Black ones, though not exclusively. When his flight touched down in NY, Olivieri was waiting at the airport. Hed keep the family together. No one, he said, knows exactly what happened.. Or it may just add another wrinkle. You're only 15 years old right now, but I'm almost 50. Still, the skulls potential identification comes at a time of change. Marv [Levy] let us coach ourselves on the field during practice, and thats what made that group so special. It was a book Turner felt he had to write, because he had been holding in a lot of angst and built up emotions for over 30 years. Vernon Turner tells all in his recently-published autobiography. Keep your ears open, the trumpet is his favorite! guyI'll show you.". Dear Young Vernon, Get up. "I couldn't help but cry and thank himI just love that guy, no one will ever understand what that man means to me," he added. [2] His mother died when he was a freshman in high school and his stepfather while he was in college. In 2002, a former mayorof Gary named Richard G. Hatcher held a fundraising gala for a project he hoped to usher to fruition, the National Civil Rights Hall of Fame. When Turner was 6, an Italian-American customer of his mother's asked her to marry him and she accepted. You either jump high enough or you dont. The Denver Broncos picked up the phone, and Turner was heading to Colorado to join the likes of John Elway and Shannon Sharpe. 2023 www.oklahoman.com. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. His legacy is complex diminished in death to ornaments, and lauded then and now as a freedom fighter. I had that moment. A CT. Turner's aunt was pitching in with the kids, while Olivieri was doing all he could for Vernon financially, but eventually his aunt informed him she could no longer support the family. "I was scared, upsetreflecting back it's an amazing journey and all these changes I had to make and still I made it through. [3], After graduating from high school, Turner enrolled at CarsonNewman College in Jefferson City, Tennessee, where he was recruited by head coach Ken Sparks to play running back. Amid the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, activists saw inspiration in Nat Turners Rebellion. * Vernon attended Curtis High School (1983-1986) where he all-stared in football and track. He told me he knew I was a football player, I never missed a game.". In 1991, he joined the Los Angeles Rams, playing as their primary kickoff and punt returner through the 1992 season. Recently, he turned it over to Turner's descendants, who have enlisted forensic experts for testing. 5h Rain continues to move into the area. Covids return this winter, which caused Turner to miss multiple stretches of practice. Why wetlands are so critical for life on Earth, Rest in compost? He learned to read from one of his master's sons, and he eagerly absorbed intensive religious training. By Meteorologist Vernon Turner North Carolina. He felt he was being pushed away from classes he wanted to take, and being interested in sciences, he didn't feel comfortable with that. Vernon Turner never imagined his life story would be turned into a major motion picture. Now, as for those things he learned about himself at meets this season from people whod heard rumors? But 6'6 not bad at all you kidding me! "When I made the Bills I bought a Nissan Pathfinder and I asked coach if he could hold it along with my car during offseason workoutsI saved my money to pay off the truck, got the title, and when I got back home I picked up my car and he asked if I wanted him to follow with the truck," said Turner. They were the ones who gave me a job that helped me save my family. The museum declined the donation on the grounds that it doesnt display human remains. "My self-worth was non-existent. I like a tall man! Old cells hang around as we age, doing damage to the body. The vast majority do not survive 24 hours. The uncertain identity of those remains invites reflection on the historical mistreatment of human lives and bodies. New AI may pass the famed Turing test. Turner also works as a personal trainer for aspiring young athletes and can be contacted at www.VernonTurner.com. But my goals never varied. It seems minor, but when you're launching your body over a bar that's more than a foot higher than your head, every detail is important. * He received a full athletic scholarship to Carson-Newman College from 1986-1989 where I was named . So Turner doubled down. The nine formally dressed guests joined hands while standing around a table holding only a white box. I may have been in a dark place for awhile. The exit to Arkansas. What if we could clean them out? Turner still isnt pain free but says the pain is much more manageable. Well-armed militiamen arrived and within two days crushed the revolt. During the recent filming of the National Geographic Studios documentary Rise Up: The Legacy of Nat Turner, there were frequent discussions with descendants and historians about the fate of Turners remains. "I witnessed one of the best players on the planet and I wanted to be just like him. Please enable JavaScript on your browser to best view this site. HTML tags allowed in your comment:
. That gave him a chance to focus on school, and he soon realized he didn't like the direction his academics were heading. "At that age I didn't want to hear that," he added. Other than the Rebecca Vaughn House in Courtland, the homes associated with the rebellion have been neglected, nearly all fallen into ruin. The legacy of Nat Turner has had enduring impact, not simply upon our family, but upon American history, Aguirre said. The top three jumps at the 2016 Olympic Trials were 7-6, 7-4 3/4 and 7-3. The local militia quelled the uprising within 48 hours, but Turner managed to elude his pursuers. Aguirre said thats why this skull will be accorded honor and respect, no matter the outcome. Those familiar with the intensely-driven, competitive young man understand the passion and sincerity he displayed while helping raise four younger siblings and making sure that his family's physical needs were met. His mother, Jackie, was a drug addict and prostitute who struggled to keep the family intact. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. "It was a major adjustment," said Turner. [6] He scored his first six points on an 80-yards run in the game's first play from scrimmage. Sam, his stepfather, had passed away due to health complications -- leaving four young children behind while Vernon was all the way in Tennessee. His numerous descendants have fanned out from a rural pocket of Tidewater. He ended up writing a letter to his younger self for the Players Tribune, recounting significant moments in his life that set him on a rollercoaster course to the NFL. My father typed a letter that he kept in the box with the relic just in case anything unexpected happened to our family. I dont know where theyre getting their information from, he said. Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at 405-760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com. "I felt bad, so I handed my equipment over to the coach and told him I can't play anymoreI walked away crying and he followed me and gave me a life lesson: "one thing you're never gonna do is quit.". He was released before the end of the preseason. "I was so grateful, to do it against the Bills who cut me the year beforeit was the exclamation point on an unbelievable journey.". Whats wrong with Turner? Turner had set a school record at 7 -feet, 5 inches during the outdoor season, won the Big 12 title and finished sixth at NCAAs. Turner played college football for CarsonNewman College, and then professionally for the Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Rams, Detroit Lions and Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFL. That accomplishment was significant because it enabled him to earn large weekly paychecks which he sent back to Staten Island so his four younger siblings could remain in their Sunnyside home. 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