Cecil Turner (born April 2, 1944) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who was a wide receiver for six seasons for the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

of the National Football League (NFL). He went to the Pro Bowl after the 1970 season, when he tied a record (set in 1967 by Green Bay's Travis Williams) by returning four kickoffs for touchdowns, a record that still stands.

Early life

Turner graduated from Spingarn High School in Washington D.C.

College career

Turner started his college career as a track & field standout. Competing for Pratt College, he won the 1964 NJCAA 100-yard dash title, with a time of 9.5 seconds at the meet hosted in

Big Spring, Texas Big Spring is a city in and the county seat of Howard County, Texas, United States, at the crossroads of U.S. Highway 87 and Interstate 20. With a population of 27,282 as of the 2010 census, it is the largest city between Midland to the west, A ...

. He continued to excel in track after transferring to

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (California Polytechnic State University, Cal Poly"Cal Poly" may also refer to California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt in Arcata, California or California State Polytechnic Un ...

, bettering his time to 9.3 seconds and ultimately leading the Mustangs to the 1968 NCAA College Division outdoor track and field team national title. Midway through his senior football season for Cal Poly, Turner was hailed as "the fastest college football player in the nation," as he accumulated four touchdowns through the first four games of the year, but he missed most of the rest of the fall of 1967 due to injury. Turner, whose top college football season as a junior included 16 catches for 366 yards (a 22.9-yard average) and two touchdown receptions (plus an 87-yard kickoff return for a TD) in 1966, was later elected to the Cal Poly Hall of Fame in 1989.

Professional career

Turner was selected in the fifth round of the

1968 NFL/AFL Draft The 1968 National Football League draft was part of the common draft, in the second year in which the NFL and AFL held a joint draft of college players. It took place at the Belmont Plaza Hotel in New York City on January 30–31, 1968. The Minn ...

by the

. Larry Mayer ranked Turner as the seventh-greatest return specialist in Bears history on the team's official website, noting his 32.7-yard average for the 1970 season. In 2010,

Bleacher Report Bleacher Report (often abbreviated as B/R) is a website that focuses on sport and sports culture. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, with offices in New York City and London. Bleacher Report was acquired by Turner Broadcasting System in Aug ...

selected Turner as an honorable mention in the kickoff return position to their all-time Bears team, with the spot going to Gale Sayers.

References

External links

Football Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Cecil 1944 births Living people American football return specialists American football wide receivers Cal Poly Mustangs football players Cal Poly Mustangs track and field Chicago Bears players Florida Blazers players National Conference Pro Bowl players Players of American football from Washington, D.C.