Calvin Turner Jr. (born July 5, 1999) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

and

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

for the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Argonauts compete in the East Division (CFL), East Division of t ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Jacksonville University Jacksonville University (JU) is a private university in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. Located in the city's Arlington (Jacksonville), Arlington district, the school was founded in 1934 as a two-year college and was known as Jacksonvill ...

until the program shut down in 2019 and

University of Hawaii A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

from 2020 to 2021. Turner took snaps at

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

, and

during his college career.

Early life

Turner attended

New Hampstead High School New Hampstead High School is a public secondary school in Bloomingdale, Georgia, United States. It serves grades 9-12 for the Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools. Notable alumni * Samuel Brown, college football wide receiver for the Miami H ...

Bloomingdale, Georgia Bloomingdale is a city in Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 2,790. It is part of the Savannah, Georgia, Savannah S ...

, where he was a four-sport athlete, playing football, basketball, baseball, as well as running track. As a high school senior, he was a dual-threat quarterback who rushed for over 1,700 yards and 15 touchdowns, while also passing for 1,450 yards and 10 touchdowns en route to being named the Savannah Morning News' Most Versatile Male Athlete in 2017.

College career

Jacksonville

As a true freshman, Turner's coaches transitioned him to a defensive back and return specialist to get him playing time. Turner led the team in total pass breakups, was fifth on the team in tackles, and garnered an All-

Pioneer Football League The Pioneer Football League (PFL) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference which operates in the United States. The conference participates in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I Fo ...

honorable mention after the season. Turner transitioned back to quarterback before the 2018 season, and was named the starting quarterback. In an

option offense An option offense is an American football offensive system in which a key player (usually the quarterback) has several "options" of how each play will proceed based upon the actions of the defense. Traditionally, option-based offenses rely on Rus ...

, he set program records in single-season rushing touchdowns and was 36 yards away from breaking the single-season rushing yards record before he broke his leg in the season finale against

Dayton Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

. He was named an honorable mention to the All-Pioneer Football League at the end of the season. Turner rushed for over 1,300 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2019 while also being named to the All-Pioneer Football League First Team as an all-purpose player. When the program folded in 2019, Turner announced he would transfer to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

for his final season of eligibility.

Hawaii

As a quarterback in an

at Jacksonville, Turner transitioned into a running back at Hawaii, later seeing time at wide receiver as well as fielding kicks. In his debut with the Rainbow Warriors, Turner scored two touchdowns on eight carries for 61 yards against

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers 60 ba ...

. He also had a three-touchdown performance in a loss against

Boise State Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho, United States. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It ...

, which put him as the team leader in total touchdowns with seven. In the Rainbow Warriors' bowl game against

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

in the

New Mexico Bowl The New Mexico Bowl is an NCAA-sanctioned post-season college football bowl game that has been played annually since 2006 at University Stadium (Albuquerque), University Stadium, on the campus of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New M ...

, Turner had 252 all-purpose yards highlighted by a 75-yard touchdown reception and a New Mexico Bowl record 92-yard kickoff return in the victory. Turner was named the game's most outstanding player on offense for his efforts. Turner was named to the All-Mountain West second team at the end of the season as a wide receiver and was also named an honorable mention All-American by

Phil Steele Phil Steele (c. 1960) is an American sportswriter and analyst who focuses exclusively on college and professional football. He is considered a "highly respected prognosticator" within the sports media. His company, Phil Steele Publications, pro ...

. With the NCAA approving a waiver that allowed their 2020 class standing to be retained in 2021 in response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Turner announced he would return to Hawaii for the 2021 season rather than entering his name in the upcoming NFL draft.

Professional career

San Antonio Brahmas

On November 17, 2022, Turner was drafted by the

San Antonio Brahmas The San Antonio Brahmas are a professional American football team based in San Antonio, Texas. The Brahmas compete in the United Football League (UFL) as a member of the XFL Conference. The team is owned and operated by Dwayne Johnson's Alpha ...

of the XFL. He was activated from the team's reserve list on March 21, 2023, and placed on the list again on March 31. He re-signed with the team on December 18, 2023. He was waived on March 22, 2024. He was re-signed on April 10, 2024. He was waived on August 23, 2024.

Toronto Argonauts

On January 17, 2025, Turner signed with the

of the CFL.

References

External links

*
Toronto Argonauts profile

Hawaii profile

Jacksonville profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Calvin 1999 births Living people Players of American football from Savannah, Georgia Players of Canadian football from Georgia (U.S. state) American football quarterbacks American football defensive backs American football running backs American football wide receivers American football return specialists Canadian football wide receivers Jacksonville Dolphins football players Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football players San Antonio Brahmas players Toronto Argonauts players