Following graduation from Phillis Wheatley High School in Houston, Texas, Turk first enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley where he played on the football team.
[1] He then transferred to Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana where he completed his college football eligibility.
The extensive recovery period from the surgery prevented him from playing any regular season games during his rookie year (1974) with the Jets.
[5] He was on the Broncos 1977 American Football Conference Champion's roster when they played the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl XII.
Turk is infamous for dislocating his own shoulder while over exuberantly spiking the ball in jubilation after recovering a turnover during a regular season home game in Denver.