Eric Scott Turner (born February 26, 1972) is an American businessman, motivational speaker, politician, and former professional football player, who previously served as the executive director of the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

Opportunity and Revitalization Council. Turner formerly served as a Texas

state representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

for the 33rd District, which includes part of Collin County and all of Rockwall County. Before entering politics, Turner was an

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 ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

who played in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) for nine seasons.

Education and football career

Turner played football at Pearce High School in

Richardson, Texas Richardson is a city in Dallas and Collin counties in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States census, the city had a total population of 119,469. Richardson is an inner suburb of the city of Dallas. It is home to the University of ...

. He then attended the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

, where he played as their starting cornerback and graduated from with a degree in speech communications. He declared for the NFL Draft in 1995 and was selected by the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

in the seventh round. Between 1995 and 2004, Turner played for the Redskins,

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

and

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 ...

. He would be the last Charger to wear #21 before Hall of Famer

LaDainian Tomlinson LaDainian Tarshane Tomlinson (born June 23, 1979) is a former American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. After a successful college career with the TCU Horned Frogs, the San Diego Chargers se ...

Political career

During NFL off-seasons, Turner worked as an intern for Congressman Duncan Hunter. After retiring from football, he accepted a full-time job in the congressman's office. In 2006, he ran for the vacated seat of

California's 50th congressional district California's 50th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California, and encompasses the central and northeastern parts of San Diego County and a small part of Riverside County. Darrell Issa is currently the U.S ...

in the 2006 special election to replace

Duke Cunningham Randall Harold "Duke" Cunningham (born December 8, 1941) is a former American politician, decorated Vietnam War veteran, fighter ace, and ex-felon. Cunningham served as a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's ...

. In the blanket primary election held April 11, 2006, Turner finished eighth out of 17 candidates. After the loss, Turner moved back to

Frisco, Texas Frisco is a city in Collin and Denton counties in the U.S. state of Texas. It is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex and about from both Dallas Love Field and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. Its population was 200,509 at the 2 ...

, where he continued his motivational speaking. In April 2007, he took a job a
Systemware
a content management software company, where he is currently director of business development. He also launched
custom men's suit clothing line
In 2012, Turner announced his candidacy for the newly created 33rd District of the Texas House of Representatives. Turner defeated Jim Pruitt in the Republican primary and defeated

Libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

candidate Michael Carrasco in the November 6 general election. He was sworn in on January 8, 2013. In 2013, he was named by

GOPAC GOPAC is a Republican (GOP) state and local political training organization. Although often thought of as a PAC, or Political Action Committee, it is actually a 527 organization. History GOPAC was founded by Delaware Governor Pierre S. du Po ...

to their list of Emerging Leaders in the Republican party. The White House Opportunity Zones Conference (46716434265)

Turner challenged

Joe Straus Joseph Richard Straus III (born September 1, 1959) is an American politician who served as the Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives from 2009 to 2019. A Republican, he represented District 121, which comprises northeastern Bexar County, ...

for role of

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

of the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abou ...

in January 2015, the first recorded Speaker vote since 1976. Though backed by the

Tea Party Caucus The Tea Party Caucus (TPC) was a congressional caucus of conservative members of the Republican Party in the United States House of Representatives. The Caucus was founded in July 2010 by Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann in coordination ...

, Turner lost to Straus by 127 votes to 19. Turner declined to run for re-election to the

Texas Legislature The Texas Legislature is the state legislature of the US state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a powerful ...

. In 2019, President

Trump Trump most commonly refers to: * Donald Trump (born 1946), 45th president of the United States (2017–2021) * Trump (card games), any playing card given an ad-hoc high rank Trump may also refer to: Businesses and organizations * Donald J. T ...

appointed Turner as the director of the

Opportunity and Revitalization Council, created by Executive Order 13853.

Post-political career

At the December 27, 2020 church service for

Prestonwood Baptist Church Prestonwood Baptist Church is a Baptist multi-site megachurch, based in Plano, Texas. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. It is one of the largest churches in America, with a membership of over 45,000 and a weekly attendance ...

(where Turner and his family are members), it was announced that Turner will be joining the pastoral staff upon the transition from the Trump to the Biden Administration.

References

External links

2006 campaign websiteHouse profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Scott 1972 births 21st-century American politicians African-American state legislators in Texas American athlete-politicians American football cornerbacks American male sprinters Denver Broncos players Illinois Fighting Illini football players Living people Republican Party members of the Texas House of Representatives People from Richardson, Texas Players of American football from Texas San Diego Chargers players Sportspeople from the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex Trump administration personnel Washington Redskins players