Jim Turner, who fulfilled Joe Namath’s prophecy that the New York Jets would win Tremendous Bowl III in 1969 by kicking three discipline targets and an additional level, making him the sport’s main scorer, died on Saturday at his dwelling in Arvada, Colo., a suburb of Denver. He was 82.
The Jets and the Denver Broncos, the 2 groups Turner performed for, introduced his demise.
Turner performed skilled soccer for 16 years, with the Jets from 1964 to 1970 and the Broncos from 1971 to 1979. Within the 1968-69 season, he kicked 34 discipline targets and scored 145 factors, setting information that stood till 1983, when the New York Giants kicker Ali Haji-Sheikh broke the primary and the Washington Redskins kicker Mark Moseley broke the second.
His success was enabled partly by his endurance: He didn’t miss any of the 228 regular-season video games and eight playoff video games of his profession.
Probably the most memorable sport of Turner’s profession was the Jets’s face-off in opposition to the Baltimore Colts on the afternoon of Jan. 12, 1969.
The Colts belonged to the older and higher established Nationwide Soccer League, whereas the Jets have been a part of its upstart competitor, the American Soccer League. The Tremendous Bowl, held for the primary time in 1967, then pitted one of the best group from every league in opposition to the opposite.
The Colts, led by quarterback Johnny Unitas and coach Don Shula, had overwhelmed the powerhouse Inexperienced Bay Packers, winners of the earlier two Tremendous Bowls, to qualify for the 1969 championship.
Whereas Unitas and Shula epitomized the stoic masculinity that many followers related to soccer, Namath, the Jets’ quarterback, nicknamed Broadway Joe, was a determine of loudmouth swagger, and none of his public feedback had ever appeared much less creditable than his assure that the Jets would develop into the primary A.F.L. group to win the Tremendous Bowl by beating the Colts.
Namath performed nicely — finishing 17 of 28 passes for 206 yards, incomes him the Most Precious Participant Award — however it was Turner, a decidedly Off Off Broadway determine, who was the decisive participant. He offered the Jets with their margin of victory and alone scored extra factors than the Colts did.
Turner made his largest influence within the third quarter. The Jets, successful 7-0, managed the ball for all however three minutes. Turner kicked two discipline targets of about 30 yards every, making the rating 13-0.
Within the fourth quarter, the Colts’ protection halted the Jets across the 2-yard line. On the time, the aim posts have been on the aim line, as a substitute of in the back of the tip zone, making the kick a 9-yard chip shot.
“It’s one of many hardest kicks I ever tried,” Turner advised The Herald Journal Information of Utah in 2013.
He made it, setting a file (tied in 1971 by Mike Clark of the Dallas Cowboys) for the shortest discipline aim in Tremendous Bowl historical past.
He missed two different discipline targets throughout the sport, however it didn’t matter. The Colts, hampered by an harm to Unitas and a stout Jets protection, scored solely as soon as, on a 1-yard rush by working again Jerry Hill.
Namath’s prediction got here true, and the Jets received, 16-7.
James Bayard Turner was born on March 28, 1941, in Crockett, a small city outdoors San Francisco. His mother and father have been Bethel and Bayard Turner. He performed soccer at Utah State, and started his profession with the Jets in 1964.
That very same yr, he met Mary Kay Roettger at a swimming pool in Crockett. He proposed to her 10 days later, simply earlier than the Jets held coaching camp. They married in 1965.
She survives him, together with their daughters, Lisa, Chris and Alison; his brothers, Paul, Eddie and Jack; his sister, Pat; and eight grandchildren.
Turner was traded to the Broncos in 1971 amid a contract dispute with the Jets. He wound up settling within the Denver space and in later years hosted a sports activities radio speak present there.
His most outstanding look within the nationwide media got here in 1969, when he made the duvet of Sports activities Illustrated as a consultant of the brand new affect of devoted place-kickers in soccer. He gave credit score to the general technique of his group, and significantly to Namath, for the outstanding position he performed on the Jets.
“Lots of people criticize us for going after the sphere aim once we lavatory down contained in the 35,” he mentioned. “However we will afford to try this as a result of we now have the posh of an excellent protection. Joe is aware of it’ll flip the ball again to him fairly fast and provides us one other shot for the seven. After all, that makes me look lots higher, getting all these makes an attempt.”
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