Multiple sources say his head was separated from the rest of his body, which was skinned. In many ways, Turner's life story is one of redemption. That stuff makes him scratch his head. [5] During the championship game in December 1988, the running back helped to lead CarsonNewman to a 5617 victory over Adams State University of Colorado while rushing for 189 yards and three touchdowns. He made a rare trip to Staten Island last summer, visiting his own exhibit at the Staten Island Sports Hall of Fame. Hurricanes are so massive and can grab the attention of a nation as they make landfall. A dropped touchdown and fumbled punt return doomed VT's chances, and he was subsequently informed of his release on the final day of cuts. Vernon Turner was a topic of conversation when he was gone last year, but if all goes as planned, he'll again be creating a buzz for what he does when he jumps. It tells the extraordinary saga of the officers and crew of the Wager, a . Even though hes not back on the trajectory he had as a freshman, Turner still has lofty goals. But Blakey cautions that scientific analysis should not stand alone. His siblings whom he remains close to all these years later, though the youngest passed away in 2015 at the age of 38 were 16, 12, 11 and 8 at the time of his fathers death. Marv [Levy] let us coach ourselves on the field during practice, and thats what made that group so special. 2023 www.oklahoman.com. Get the best experience and stay connected to your community with our Spectrum News app. His skull and brain were then sent away for study. * He received a full athletic scholarship to Carson-Newman College from 1986-1989 where I was named . Walter "Sweetness" Payton was his idol, and the future Hall of Fame running back for the Chicago Bears later corresponded with the Carson-Newman running back with detailed workout recommendations. He wasnt invited to any senior bowls. A different skull, also reputed to be Nat Turners, was displayed and labeled as such at the College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio, from about 1866 until sometime in the 20th century, surviving a catastrophic fire in 1901. Recently, he turned it over to Turner's descendants, who have enlisted forensic experts for testing. 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. 2.4K views, 55 likes, 13 loves, 66 comments, 1 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Meteorologist Vernon Turner: Let's talk about the whole snake video while I have lunch and you enjoy breakfast. Social vs. medical egg freezing: Whats the difference? e. On May 16, 1918, a plantation owner was murdered, prompting a manhunt which resulted in a series of lynchings in May 1918 in southern Georgia, United States. 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. I like a tall man! His flesh was made into grease, according to The Southampton Insurrection, by William Drewry, a Southampton native who interviewed more than 80 white and Black residents for that 1900 volume. He ordered the bar raised to 2.32 meters; 7-7. "I didn't think much of myself," admitted Turner. My mom died when I was a sophomore in high school. You're only 15 years old right now, but I'm almost 50. I need you to listen to me and if there is anyone in this world you should listen to, it's me. Even outside of track, I feel like it taught me things about myself, he said. There are probably tens of thousands of remains of African descended people in museums or sitting on shelves, and thats an incredible injustice, said Deetz, the historian. He shaved his 40-yard dash time from 4.54 to 4.37 -- and NFL teams took notice. [8] The New York native finished his collegiate career ranked second in school history with 569 rushing attempts, and fourth with 2,851 rushing yards and 28 rushing touchdowns.[5]. Singing in his youth in church choirs and informally for tips . I became obsessed, forgot about boxing, all I cared about was footballand that's how my career started. But there were a few players on his teamwho were getting workouts from scouts. Some of the book's fascinating details are well known to those of us who followed Turner's athletic pursuits. 0:04. But this last season (2021) at the Olympic Trials, those sit on my head. 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. Turner had to dig deep and jump higher than he had gone in four years. As high jumpers, we go through slumps, Langford said. I dont know what it is, Turner said. Then all of a sudden, Turner remembered, he had all the money.. After one season with Buffalo, Turner joined the Los Angeles Rams for two years, before moving on to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for two more years and rounding out his career with a final stint in Detroit. My entire life has been one big arcade game, Turner laughs. More than most, because if youre just a hair off, it doesnt line up.. During the process, Turner was writing letters to Walter Payton, who responded with some of his own workout regimens. But Turner still got to experience the game from the sidelines. "I owe him, he gave me everything he had," Turner says Olivieri told his wife. 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. How a zoo break-in changed the life of an owl called Flaco, Naked mole rats are fertile until they die, study finds. I always had the same goals. The local militia quelled the uprising within 48 hours, but Turner managed to elude his pursuers. But then a few weeks before the fall semester started, Turner sprained his left ankle playing pick-up basketball. I had two options: leave school and take care of them, or stay and theyd have to go into foster care. The skull has been in the museums custody for more than 4 years. Whatever happened to that kid from Oklahoma? Turner hadnt been working much with trainers or coaches as he tried to figure out where to transfer, and it left him in lots of pain when he tried to jump. Many in the family would like to see the skull buried in Southampton. PUBLISHED 1:25 PM ET Oct. 15, 2021. 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. [3] In November 2011, Curtis High School inducted him into its Hall of Fame. Aguirre and Wood, the guests of honor at the ceremony, shed tears of joy when they were handed what they believe are their ancestors remains. "At that age I didn't want to hear that," he added. However, if you listen closely, you just might find him with one of the many instruments he knows how to play. 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. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. * Vernon attended Curtis High School (1983-1986) where he all-stared in football and track. He has been credited as a progenitor of jump blues and of early rock and roll. More specific information will be announced soon. I am so blessed and grateful that I was given an opportunity to be with the Buffalo Bills. But thanks to extraordinary circumstances a family seeking truth and science that can reach beyond the grave an ongoing forensic analysis may finally provide an answer. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023). "I was scared, upsetreflecting back it's an amazing journey and all these changes I had to make and still I made it through. Hes also the unofficial keeper of the countys insurrection memorabilia and documents, such as Nat Turners original sentencing orders. Sweet tea, Southern hospitality, football, and the opportunity to deliver the latest weather headlines to his friends and family are just a few reasons why this North Carolina native loves living in the South. Yet another possible Nat Turner skull might have stayed closer to home. But Shatsky called Turner and. And one day, sitting in his dorm room with his head hung low, Turner looked up at the television. Vernon Turner tells all in his recently-published autobiography. I had to convince my aunt to move into our house while I was away at [Carson-Newman] college. It was a bad sprain as the outside of his ankle touched the ground. Though Vernon's youth playing career was taking off, he was still busy managing his brothers and sisters -- often loading them up onto the city bus so he could bring them along with him to practice. Whats wrong with Turner? Turner reportedly told Thomas Ruffin Gray in a jailhouse interview published in The Confessions of Nat Turner that when he was three or four years old, he could . Well-armed militiamen arrived and within two days crushed the revolt. Aguirre, Nat Turners fifth-great-granddaughter, said that examining history, uncomfortable as it may be, serves the common good. "I'm so blessed and grateful just to be on this Earth and be able to pay it forwardI'm not worthy of this," said Turner. But Shatsky called Turner and told him not to unpack, because he was heading to Buffalo to be on their practice squad instead. While Vernon began working for Spectrum News in 2018, his passion for weather coverage began long before that. The very next day, the Buffalo Bills came calling while Vernon was at the dinner table with his family. Ive been waiting years for this phone call.. Dealing with pain and getting back into competitive shape has been a struggle. I think it is possible, depending on the quality of the DNA sample, to get a highly likely or unlikely determination, he said. A DNA test will determine if this is actually the skull of the Virginia slave rebellion leader. We should be able to talk about the events that have been the foundation of our countrys continuing evolution, she said. The familys stewardship acknowledges and rejects the historical objectification of human remains of people of color. He received a football scholarship to Carson-Newman, which gave him a chance to get an education, but the sport was never something he saw himself doing beyond college. Vernon Turner (born January 6, 1967) [1] is a former American college and professional football player who was a running back, wide receiver and return specialist in the National Football League (NFL) and NFL Europe League (NFLE) for eight seasons during the 1990s. I was 160-something pounds. "He told me to have something to fall back on and I loved that coach," acknowledged Turner, who chose not to share the coach's name. A world contender. For years, Hatcher held on to the skull, but in 2016, long after it became clear the hall of fame wouldnt happen, he agreed, with the National Geographic Society facilitating, to hand over the skull to descendants of Nat Turner. That gave him the confidence to believe in what theyre doing right now.. In 1831, during a slave rebellion led by Nat Turner, several people were killed at the site of the Whitehead house. Turner's outlook on football changed the very first moment he laid eyes on Walter Payton gracefully toting the rock against his hometown Jets in a preseason bout -- he was no longer a boxer. So when Southern Mississippis Corvell Todd cleared 7-6 (2.29 meters) on his first attempt at the height in the NCAA Indoors last Saturday in Birmingham, Alabama, and Turner missed on his first jump at 7-6, Turner said screw it. If the tests confirm it to be his, it will be buried next to his descendants. "But that translated to me as he's telling me you don't have a chance. The Journal of Negro History article said Turners ear was kept as a curiosity somewhere in Virginia. I dont think my goals ever wandered, Turner said. The cast is almost set. "I thought I was done for." "I decided right then and there that I wanted to play professional football," recalled Turner. Vernon Turner Meteorologist at Spectrum Raleigh, North Carolina, United States 2K followers 500+ connections Join to follow Spectrum North Carolina State University Activity On this Thursday I'm. I have two brothers and two sisters, he says. A small group gathered last week in a hotel suite on the outskirts of Gary, Indiana. these days -- but once upon a time he was navigating one of the most difficult upbringings imaginable. After going unselected in the 1990 NFL Draft, Turner was signed to a free agent contract with the Denver Broncos. ", Most of all, Turner wants to represent his three children - Ashley (30), Darris (29), and Liam (5) - the "right way. NORMAN Vernon Turner has heard all the rumors that floated around about him. He heard through the grapevine VanHootgens days at OU might be limited VanHootgen eventually did step down but Turner ultimately opted to return to Norman because he wanted to work again with high jump coach Jerel Langley. The cultural and historical documentation, even if its oral, is likely to be qualitatively more reliable than genetics, he said. "Vernon Turner's Improbable Journey to the NFL" will air on Fox Sports 1 at 10:30 p.m. EST on Sept. 21. . "No one will ever understand the pain and regret I have inside due to my past things that will haunt me until the day I die. Fought off a malaise. "I found a 10-pound weight in the weight room, unlaced my shoe, and tied it around my waist under my pants on weigh-in day.". Bruce Turner, a Virginia Beach resident and a great-great-great-great-grandson of Nat Turner, is not convinced its his. What is wind chill, and how does it affect your body? Jim, you now have my life in the palm of your hands!". His mother was an African native who transmitted a passionate hatred of slavery to her son. Decades ago in Southampton, few people brought up the insurrection in racially mixed company. 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. On his off-time, its likely that hes trying one of the areas new restaurants, attending a live show, or training on the soccer field. Now its trying to stay consistent.. When the bloodletting ended, 55 whites lay dead. "I didn't even wanna play quarterback, that's a sissy position," quipped Turner. When Vernon Turner ran 80 yards to the end zone on a punt return in 1994, he broke an infamous drought in Bucs history and also validated his own life-or-death journey to make it in the NFL Covids return this winter, which caused Turner to miss multiple stretches of practice. "Even with all the accomplishments, I didn't take compliments wellI was trained that way by Coach Olivieri," said Turner. While he was receiving some college offers to play wide receiver, Vernon was insistent on returning to running back -- where he was drastically undersized. The museum declined the donation on the grounds that it doesnt display human remains. 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. For the past decade, what's believed to be Turner's skull has been in the possession of Richard Hatcher, former mayor of Gary, Indiana. EXCLUSIVE: Undrafted punt returner Vernon Turner might have come into the NFL through modest auspices, but his inspiring life story will head to the screen backed by a high wattage group of producers. Setting everything aside, putting myself first, has helped me accomplish the things I wanted to.. [2] Growing up in difficult circumstances, he moved from the slum area in Brooklyn to the quiet neighborhood of Sunnyside on Staten Island while a young child. He knew at that point, he had to jump higher than 7-6 anyway, to win. Brutal mysteries remain unsolved., Archaeology of Virginia; The Uncovered Secrets, Pamplin City; The Ghost of a Railroad Boomtown, Abandoned Slavery Museum; The Forgotten Remains, Travel-Buffalo Springs a Historic Site in Mecklenburg County Virginia | Kathiey's World A Lifestyle Blog, Wash Woods; A Community Beholden to the Merciless Atlanic, An Idle Fleet Receding; The Ghost Fleet of the James River. "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.". Turner, a phenom when he was coming out of Yukon High School and when he jumped 7 feet, 7 inches as a Sooner freshman, had become a mystery. Then Turner won the Big 12 Indoor in late February with a leap of 7-3. "I was an "oh yeah?" A road in Southampton County earned the name Blackhead Signpost Road. "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. American JuVaughn Harrison also has cleared 7-7. He owned an office furniture installation business in North Carolina, moved into the tire manufacturing business, and currently works in the oil refining industry in Houston, Texas. Turner was sidelined. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. Some sources contradict one another. In 1993, Turner signed with the Detroit Lions, backing up return specialist Mel Gray. The Razorbacks have one of the nations best track programs, and after moving to Fayetteville in the summer of 2018, Turner felt good about his decision. A goal is to have an accompanying interactive smartphone app to assist where the history has been erased. The Denver Broncos picked up the phone, and Turner was heading to Colorado to join the likes of John Elway and Shannon Sharpe. The second option wasnt even on the table. "It was a major adjustment," said Turner. NORMAN Vernon Turner has heard all the rumors that floated around about him. All rights reserved. The 52-year-old former six-year NFL veteran is a successful father of three who resides in Houston, Tx. Comparing that to DNA of descendants should be able to provide an answer, and can typically be done within months. Wouldnt surprise me if you saw 7-10 come out of him.. Discovering whether part of him still physically exists will illuminate a formative era in American history and help an expansive family find closure in an honored memorial. Several had heard reports or read newspaper articles stating that the skull had been donated to Hatcher at a 2002 charity gala for the Civil Rights Hall of Fame, a museum project Hatcher has long championed. No one, he said, knows exactly what happened.. 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. If the tests . "I can never repay that man for what he's done for me and my familyhe's my everything," added Turner of Olivieri. Regardless of the skulls ultimate identity and resting place, many feel that the attention it is receiving signals a larger shift in perceptions about the importance of the rebellion to American identity. In Southampton, as elsewhere, Nat Turners Rebellion still sparks strong emotions. He's worked as a manager at a tire manufacturing facility and an office installation company, but is currently managing an oil refinery. Dear Young Vernon, Get up. Its about time, Turner said. They didn't know what I was going throughI saw the way they were looking at me and I didn't like how it felt, I cared. 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. When Turner reached high school, he faced more challenges. Turner reminisces about his high school teammates, including classmate James Jenkins, who went on to a 10-year NFL career himself as a tight end with the Washington Redskins. 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