Tyrone Thurman (born December 31, 1966) is an American former 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 ...

player who was a

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 ...

in 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) and

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

(AFL). 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 ...

for the

Texas Tech Red Raiders The Texas Tech Red Raiders and Lady Raiders are the athletic teams that represent Texas Tech University, located in Lubbock, Texas, United States. The women's basketball team uses the name Lady Raiders, while the school's other women's teams us ...

, earning first-team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors as a

kick returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another positio ...

in 1988.

Career

High school

Thurman played at the

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 ...

position at Robert E. Lee High School in

Midland, Texas Midland is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Midland County with small portions extending into Martin County. The population was 132,524 as of the 2020 census. Located in the Permian Basin in West Texas, Midland is a ...

under coach

Spike Dykes William Taylor "Spike" Dykes (March 14, 1938 – April 10, 2017) was an American football coach. A high school and college football coach throughout his career, he last served as head coach at Texas Tech University from 1986 to 1999. Coaching ca ...

College

Due to his small size at 5' 4" and 126 pounds, Thurman received little interest from Division I schools before being recruited to

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public university, public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship instit ...

with the hiring of his former high school coach Spike Dykes as the

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

for the Red Raiders in 1984. Thurman would play at the

position, but earned his accolades as a

punt returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punt (gridiron football), punts and kickoff (gridiron football), kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusivel ...

. Thurman would play from 1985-1988, and earned

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

All-American 1st Team honors as a kick returner during his senior year in 1988. Thurman concluded his career holding several school records including longest punt return at 96 yards, return yards in a season (444 in 1986), returns in a career (126) and yards in a career (1,466). Several records still stand in 2013, with some having been broken by Mosi Tatupu Award winner

Wes Welker Wesley Carter Welker (born May 1, 1981) is an American professional football coach and former wide receiver who is a personnel analyst for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played in the NFL for 12 seasons, mo ...

Professional

Thurman went undrafted in 1989 before being signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

. He was cut from the roster before the 1989 season began and spent several years in both the

and the

playing for teams including the

Ottawa Rough Riders The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded on September 19, 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup cham ...

Dallas Texans (Arena) The Dallas Texans were an Arena football team based in Dallas, Texas. The Texans were founded in 1990 and were a member of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team played for four seasons, and were relatively successful, making the playoffs th ...

, Las Vegas Sting,

Connecticut Coyotes The Connecticut Coyotes were an arena football franchise based in Hartford, Connecticut. The Coyotes played in the Eastern Division of the National Conference in the Arena Football League. History On June 22, 1994, the Arena Football League a ...

and Texas Terror.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thurman, Tyrone 1966 births Living people Players of American football from Midland, Texas Texas Tech Red Raiders football players All-American college football players Dallas Cowboys players Ottawa Rough Riders players Dallas Texans (Arena) players Las Vegas Sting players Connecticut Coyotes players Texas Terror players American football wide receivers American football return specialists Players of American football from Irving, Texas Legacy High School (Midland, Texas) alumni 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen