James Bayard Turner (born March 28, 1941) is a former
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
player. A
quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
and
placekicker
Placekicker, or simply kicker (PK or K), is the player in gridiron football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals and extra points. In many cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist or punter.
Spe ...
, he played
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 ...
for
Utah State University
Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah's ...
and was signed as a
free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player 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 contract at present but who is a ...
in 1964 by the
American Football League
The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...
's
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 ...
head coach
A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...
Weeb Ewbank
Wilbur Charles "Weeb" Ewbank (May 6, 1907 – November 17, 1998) was an American professional football coach. He led the Baltimore Colts to consecutive NFL championships in 1958 and 1959 and the New York Jets to victory in Super Bowl III in Janu ...
. "Tank" kicked a then record 145 points in the
1968 regular season, with a professional football record 34
field goals
A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...
. Turner kicked for nine points in the
AFL Championship game
For its first nine seasons, 1960 through 1968, the American Football League determined its champion via a single playoff game between the winners of its two divisions (although ties in the standings in 1963 (Eastern) and 1968 (Western) necessitat ...
win over the
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...
, and ten points in the Jets's 16-7 defeat of the
Baltimore Colts in the Third
World Championship
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
of Professional Football,
Super Bowl III
Super Bowl III was an American football game played on January 12, 1969 at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. It was the third AFL–NFL Championship Game in professional American football, and the first to officially bear the trademark name "Su ...
.
The last of Turner's three field goals in
Super Bowl III
Super Bowl III was an American football game played on January 12, 1969 at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. It was the third AFL–NFL Championship Game in professional American football, and the first to officially bear the trademark name "Su ...
was for 9 yards, the shortest in Super Bowl history (which
Mike Clark of 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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...
tied in
Super Bowl VI
Super Bowl VI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Miami Dolphins to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the ...
): at that time, the goal posts were located at the front of the end zones. As the goal posts were moved to the back of the end zones in 1974, it is currently impossible to equal or beat this record: the shortest field goal distance under the current rules is 17 yards.
Following the
AFL-NFL merger, Turner also played with the
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...
for another nine seasons and kicked four points in a losing effort in
Super Bowl XII against 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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...
, connecting on a 47-yard field goal and an extra point following a 5-yard touchdown run by
Rob Lytle
Robert William Lytle (November 12, 1954 – November 20, 2010) was an American football player.
Lytle played college football at the University of Michigan from 1973 to 1976. A running back, he broke Michigan's career record with 3,317 rushing ...
. He was inducted into the
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...
Ring of Fame in 1988.
Turner finished his career with 304 of 488 (62%) field goals and 521 of 534
extra point
The conversion, try (American football, also known as a point(s) after touchdown, PAT, or (depending on the number of points) extra point/2-point conversion), or convert (Canadian football) occurs immediately after a touchdown during which the sc ...
s, giving him 1,439 total points.
At the time of his retirement, his 304 field goals made were the most in NFL history.
In the "
Heidi game
The ''Heidi'' Game or ''Heidi'' Bowl is the name given to a 1968 American Football League (AFL) game between the Oakland Raiders and the visiting New York Jets. The contest, held on November 17, 1968, was notable for its exciting finish, in ...
" of 1968, Turner was responsible for the final two plays before the
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
television network infamously cut away to a TV movie. Turner kicked a tiebreaking 26-yard field goal to put the Jets up, 32-29, with 1:05 remaining in the game. Turner then kicked off to the Raiders and
Charlie Smith returned the ball to the Oakland 22-yard line with 1:01 left. The broadcast operations center went to a 60-second
commercial break
A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...
and then began airing
the movie
"The Movie" is the 54th episode of the sitcom '' Seinfeld''. It is the 14th episode of the fourth season, and first aired on January 6, 1993 on NBC. The episode revolves entirely around the characters' struggles to go to see a movie together.
P ...
as viewers missed the final two touchdowns that led to a 43-32 Raiders comeback win.
In the early 1980s, Turner worked as a
color commentary
A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and the ...
sportscaster on NBC.
See also
*
Other American Football League players
*
References
External links
NFL.com player page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Jim
1941 births
Living people
American Football League All-Star players
American Football League All-Time Team
American football placekickers
Denver Broncos players
National Football League announcers
New York Jets players
People from Martinez, California
Utah State Aggies football players
Players of American football from California
Sportspeople from the San Francisco Bay Area
American Football League players