Godwin Lee Turk (born October 15, 1950) is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

(1974–1975) and the Denver Broncos (1976–1978).

High school and college

Following graduation from

Phillis Wheatley High School Phillis Wheatley High School is a secondary school located at 4801 Providence Street in Houston, Texas, United States with a ZIP code of 77020. Wheatley is a part of the Houston Independent School District. Wheatley, named after Phillis Wheatley, ...

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, Turk first enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley where he played on the football team. He then transferred to

Southern University Southern University and A&M College (Southern University, Southern, SUBR or SU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It is the largest historically black college or university (HBCU) in Louisiana, a ...

in Baton Rouge, Louisiana where he completed his

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

eligibility.

Professional career

New York Jets

Turk was drafted as a linebacker by the New York Jets as the number 58 pick overall, the sixth selection in the third round, in the

1974 NFL Draft The 1974 NFL draft took place at the Americana Hotel in New York City, New York, on January 29–30, 1974. Each of the 26 NFL teams were granted 17 selections for a total of 442 picks. Many experts consider the 1974 Pittsburgh Steelers to have h ...

. He had surgery on August 14, 1974, to repair

ligament A ligament is the fibrous connective tissue that connects bones to other bones. It is also known as ''articular ligament'', ''articular larua'', ''fibrous ligament'', or ''true ligament''. Other ligaments in the body include the: * Peritoneal li ...

damage to his left shoulder suffered during the 1974 pre-season. The extensive recovery period from the surgery prevented him from playing any regular season games during his rookie year (

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

) with the Jets. Turk participated in all 14 games in the 1975 season for the Jets, recording two interceptions. He wore #56 while he was with the Jets and was listed as being 6'3" tall and weighing 230 lbs. Prior to the

1976 NFL season The 1976 NFL season was the 57th regular season of the National Football League. The league expanded to 28 teams with the addition of Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This fulfilled one of the conditions agreed to in 1966 for the 1 ...

, Turk was traded to the Denver Broncos for pick 129, 17th pick in the 5th round, of the

1977 NFL Draft The 1977 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held May 3–4, 1977, at the Roosevelt Hotel ...

. The player the Jets selected in 1977 with the 129th pick was Gary Gregory, an

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

from Baylor University.

Denver Broncos

Turk played for the Denver Broncos from 1976 through 1978. He wore # 55. He was a linebacker who participated mostly on special teams. He was on the Bronco's active roster for 42 games and he was a starter for 5 of those games. He was on the Broncos 1977

American Football Conference The American Football Conference (AFC) is one of the two conferences of the National Football League (NFL), the highest professional level of American football in the United States. The AFC and its counterpart, the National Football Conference ...

Champion's roster when they played the Dallas Cowboys in

Super Bowl XII Super Bowl XII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the ...

. Turk is infamous for dislocating his own shoulder while over exuberantly spiking the ball in jubilation after recovering a

turnover Turnover or turn over may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media *''Turn Over'', a 1988 live album by Japanese band Show-Ya * Turnover (band), an American rock band *"Turnover", a song on Fugazi's 1990 album '' Repeater'' *''Turnover'', a Japane ...

during a regular season home game in Denver.

References

External links

NFL career statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turk, Godwin 1950 births Living people American football linebackers California Golden Bears football players Denver Broncos players New York Jets players Southern Jaguars football players Players of American football from Houston