Paul Payne

Special to the Advertiser

“Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth. I might have been given a bad break, but I've got an awful lot to live for.” – Lou Gehrig on July 4, 1939

BIRMINGHAM — Who would have imagined that a speech captured on grainy black-and-white video over seven decades ago would echo still today, its message no longer in crackling audio but rather resonating clearly above the din of despair.

When New York Yankee legend Lou Gehrig delivered his epic farewell address at Yankee Stadium, he uttered the immortal words that defined his fight against an unknown foe. Diagnosed with a heartless disease that would later bear his very name – amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS – Gehrig proclaimed to fans at Yankee Stadium his heartfelt sentiments though the illness would claim his life less than two years later.

Roll forward to another athlete, a local kid from Prattville who, through grit and determination, maximized his skills to parlay them into stardom at Alabama and an eight-year NFL career with the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles. But six years ago, at the age of 41, he’s given the numbing news that he has become the latest member of the tragic fraternity of ALS.

Lou Gehrig's Disease isn’t interested in fairness. It steals from its victims in a painstakingly slow fashion, stealthily robbing from them one motor skill at a time until their body finally has no choice but to succumb.

But ALS has never met an opponent like Kevin Turner. It may be vandalizing his body, but it will never touch his soul. Because like the namesake of his crippling disease, Turner considers himself to be fortunate indeed.

He finds comfort from his parents, Raymond and Myra, who have selflessly traded their retirement dreams in exchange for swallowing daily the torment of seeing their only child incapacitated as they tend to his needs.

It comes from his two sons, Nolan and Cole, and his precious daughter, Natalie, savoring their presence while helplessly facing the uncertainty of how much of their future he will experience.

It comes from his wife, Allison, a stabilizing anchor who first entered life as a care giver but became his wife last spring, filling a void left by his divorce in 2009 of having a partner to share his struggles.

It comes from his faith that has given him a sense of purpose in finishing this life strong in anticipation of the life to come where he will be freed from the ravages of ALS.

Close friendship personified

And recently, it came from an old friend, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, who himself understands a thing or two about hardship. Swinney is someone equally anchored in his faith who can appreciate the role of the underdog, someone with whom Turner shared a dream of playing for the Crimson Tide.

He even credits Kevin for enabling him to survive his early years on Alabama’s scout team.

“Dabo tells the story of how he got to know Kevin well when they were practicing and a big ’ol linebacker was about to jump on Dabo,” Raymond Turner said. “Somebody came out of the blue and cleaned him out, and it was Kevin. He said: ‘Son you better pick on somebody your own size if you’re gonna do that.’ Dabo always credits Kevin with saving his life.”

They reconnected again in 2001, working side-by-side in a Birmingham real estate office after Turner’s playing days were over and during Swinney’s two-year sabbatical from coaching. When Swinney was elevated to Clemson’s interim head coach in the middle of the 2008 season, he called on Turner to help the Tigers prepare for their bowl game as an “emergency grad assistant” – filling a gap for his friend left by departed coaches who fled elsewhere before Swinney had the “interim” label removed.

They will now share something far more precious than their memories. Instead, Turner is entrusting his very legacy to a man who quite possibly will stand in the gap of his absence if ALS has its way.

Turner’s son changes direction

Nolan Turner is a 6-foot-2, 188-pound senior safety from Vestavia Hills High School with a genetic passion for football and a fearless desire for contact. His father was his first coach when Nolan was seven, several years before the cumulative effects of concussive trauma would manifest itself in his dad’s life.

Kevin’s diagnosis with ALS created a quandary as a parent. He had experienced the exhilaration and rewards that football brought to his life, but now the years of pounding to his body was demanding repayment.

He struggled with the decision of shielding his sons from football, robbing them of the very thing that had given him so much joy and significance, in return for protecting them from the horrible fate he was facing.

Either choice left him as a target for critics and skeptics. On one hand he might be viewed as an irresponsible if he allowed Nolan to play. Conversely, how could he deny his son the joy and life lessons he himself gained from football out of fear, especially with all of the recent advances in safety?

The decision was made to hold Nolan out of football, hoping that other passions would surface as the family gathered more information on advances in protection from head injury.

But, like his father, no surrogate could be found to replace the rush that football offered.

“I love football as much as anybody, but after seeing what Kevin has gone through I was wanting Nolan to take up golf,” Raymond said. “But after explaining how tough it was, telling him about the sacrifices it would involve, Kevin let Nolan make the decision whether or not he wanted to continue playing. I think it helped that there’s so much more medical awareness today and precautions taken that we didn’t have when Kevin played.”

Nolan couldn’t put his love for the game aside.

“He knew I loved football, so he kind of let me make my own decision,” Nolan said. “There’s so much more awareness about head injuries now so he told me to be cautious and to let my coaches know if I ever got my bell rung. His condition hasn’t changed my outlook on football. But from a life perspective, I want to make him proud because of how hard he fights and the stuff he goes through every day.”

It’s only natural that Nolan was a lifelong Crimson Tide fan with dreams of playing in Bryant-Denny Stadium just like his dad. But time spent in Clemson following his sophomore year changed the trajectory of his future.

“Kevin brought Nolan up here to my football camp that summer,” Swinney said. “Kevin couldn’t even wipe his eyes or his mouth, and we had to take a towel to help wipe him. But he was still right out there being a dad to his son, no matter what it took.”

It was also then that Nolan caught the eye of the Clemson coach.

“He saw the same athletic genes and determination in Nolan that he had seen in Kevin,” Raymond said. “So Dabo told Nolan that he was going to be watching him and that he wanted him at Clemson one day,”

Nolan was offered a preferred walk-on opportunity at Clemson his junior season, but the distance it would take him from his ailing father coupled with the expense adding to the financial strain created by providing care for Kevin had him considering other options.

Nolan had a solid senior season for the Rebels, recording 63 tackles with five interceptions, his father in attendance at every home game thanks to provisions made by Vestavia Hills officials. After receiving interest from Troy, Samford and a handful of other schools, he narrowed his choices between an offer from UAB or walking on at Alabama.

But another option emerged that neither he nor his family knew about.

Spot with Clemson opens up

Clemson recently lost three safeties to transfer and early departures for the NFL, creating a shortage of depth at that position for the Tigers. So Swinney, without sharing the player’s identity, had his coaches – many with past ties to Alabama – review some game film of a defensive back he deemed worthy of consideration.

There was a unanimous consensus after watching the highlight reel that this was someone worth pursuing, and then Swinney informed them it was Kevin’s son.

Former Alabama receiver Craig Sanderson, Kevin’s closest friend since the days they were roommates as freshmen, got a call from Swinney to bounce the idea off him.

“Dabo called me before he talked to Kevin,” Sanderson said. “He told me, ‘Listen, I think Nolan Turner can be a great player. On top of that, I need him in that safety meeting room. I need him leading those guys. Because I’ve lost some guys and I need a guy like Nolan that’ll appreciate what we’re giving him’ ”

The night before coming to Birmingham to present his offer, Swinney phoned his ailing former teammate to inform him of his plans and to gain his consent.

“He told us he wanted to come see Nolan and that he was going to offer him a full-ride scholarship,” Raymond said. “I was holding the phone for Kevin to hear. I just welled up with tears when he told us, and Kevin did too.”

Before going by Nolan’s school the next day, Swinney first paid a visit to see Kevin.

It wasn’t a particularly good time for his friend among a run of bad days while battling pneumonia. He is hooked to a ventilator and a feeding tube, and he cannot move his arms or talk. But his spirits were lifted by his visit with Swinney.

“Dabo said, ‘I know a lot of people think I’m doing it because of who he is, but the truth is Nolan has earned this on his own,” Raymond said. “After seeing him and watching him play, I want him to be a part of this team.’ ”

Swinney then swung by Vestavia Hills to deliver the news to Nolan.

“He went to school and Nolan didn’t know about the scholarship,” Raymond said. “He just thought he was going to tell him about being a preferred walk-on. Then he told Nolan ‘I’m offering you a scholarship to play football’, and he teared up. Before Dabo could finish what he was going to say, Nolan interrupted him and asked, ‘Coach, can I commit now?’ He said, ‘Yes, son, absolutely you can.’ ”

With that simple act – which Nolan finalized Wednesday afternoon during a ceremony in his high school auditorium – Kevin could find comfort knowing that regardless of his son’s football future, there will be someone to help shepherd Nolan into manhood.

“Dabo knows what we’re going through and he knows how we feel,” Raymond said. “ He had a rough upbringing and nothing was ever given to him. He’ll be a great father figure if something happens to Kevin. As he’s lying there trying to get things situated for his family, he can scratch that off the list. He knows Nolan will be taken care of and in good hands. It makes me feel better, too.”

Swinney: father figure for Nolan

Nolan believes he’s joining another part of the family.

“I wouldn’t be going to Clemson if they hadn’t offered, but when they offered it was set in stone,” Nolan said. “Coach Swinney is a really good guy, a family man who cares about the players and their future more than just football.”

Though some may deem it an act of benevolence in helping out an old friend, Sanderson knows there’s much more substance to Swinney’s offer.

“Nolan has worked so hard to become his own man and a player in his own right,” Sanderson said. “I think a lot of people look at what Dabo has done and say, ‘Well, that’s nepotism and he’s going to take care of his buddies.’ It’s more than charity. It will help Clemson too. He’s got Kevin’s kind of attitude towards contact. He will light you up, I promise.”

“It is a tremendous gift to Kevin. We talked about it the other day. It’s not about football. If something does happen to Kevin, he can go in peace knowing that Nolan has a man of honor to care for him for the next four or five years to give him a path built on principles. I’m not sure there’s anywhere else in the country where he could get that.”

The morning after accepting Swinney’s offer, Nolan was home packing to make his official visit to Clemson when he got a phone call from his high school alerting him there was another visitor there to see him.

“Dabo told Nolan that once Clemson offered, he’d hear from other schools. And he was right,” Raymond said. “Coach (Nick) Saban was at the school and Nolan went to meet with him. After they talked, Nolan told him his mind was already made up. He had given his word, and I respect that he’s a man that wants to honor his commitment.”

Nolan had already made up his mind.

“Coach Saban told me they still had a place for me to play there, not with an athletic scholarship, but maybe with some academic money,” Nolan said. “I told him I appreciated the opportunity, but my heart was set on going to Clemson.”

Kevin and Allison along with Raymond were able to accompany Nolan on his visit to Clemson. Raymond used the opportunity to dig deeply into fabric of the community, trying to peel back enough layers to reveal any reason why his grandson should reconsider his decision.

“I talked to everybody I could while we were in Clemson – cooks, bus drivers, doormen, it didn’t matter,” Raymond said. “I wanted to know the real situation there. And every one of them told me the same thing. Dabo has created a family culture there, and he won’t have it any other way. There’s nothing fake about that man, so we feel truly blessed.”

The decision doesn’t come without its challenges as it will require the Turners to revamp their wardrobe, but it’s well-worth the inconvenience.

“Being a Bama guy, I didn’t ever think I’d be wearing orange, Raymond said. “I can handle this shade of orange a little better than Auburn orange. I told Dabo I couldn’t find anything to wear over there because all I got is red, and he said he’d take care of that.”

Kevin Turner has already beat the odds

The average survival of those afflicted with Lou Gehrig disease is three years according to the ALS Association. In the same determined manner that characterized his football career, Kevin Turner has thus far pushed the limits in his personal battle against ALS.

But there are no survivors of this ailment. Apart from some last-minute cure, difficult days still lie ahead.

“I have never once heard Kevin say, ‘Why me? Why couldn’t it happen to somebody else?’ I believe the Good Lord said ‘I’m going to give it to him and his family because they’re strong enough to handle it’, so he chose us,” Raymond said. “I told him if you go first or I go, we’re all going meet at the same place someday. Don’t get me wrong – my heart breaks, but he’s not feeling sorry for himself.”

Though his body continues to betray him, Kevin has never lost the quick wit or giving heart that endeared him to so many.

“I kind of see him with the same personality now as he had before he got sick,” Nolan said. “He’s still a guy who loves to make jokes, which is pretty big considering the condition he’s in.”

Kevin has proven over his lifetime that quitting is not a part of his DNA. Though his health continues to decline, his determination will persist through The Kevin Turner Foundation that funds research in quest of a cure for ALS.

His mind remains sharp, but his body that opened holes for others to follow as a fullback refuses to cooperate. However, his influence has carved a larger swath that will long outlive him in the lives of those he has impacted.

“We had lived together for a while as freshmen and one night when we’d cut the lights off Kevin said, ‘Hey man, I love you,’ “ Sanderson said. “I’m over there thinking, ‘What’s he talking about?’ I’d just say, ‘Man, shut up. I’m going to sleep.’

“The next night, same thing: ‘Goodnight, I love you.’ I just remember laying there one night and I said ‘Man, I love you too.’ He taught me a lesson that it’s OK to tell somebody you love them and it’s a lesson I’ve tried to teach my kids. I’m not scared to tell anybody I love them anymore, and I learned that lesson from Kevin.”

With apologies to Mr. Gehrig, maybe he wasn’t the luckiest man on the face of the earth after all. It might be Kevin, who was able to place his son in someone’s capable hands and check that off his list before departing this earth. Or maybe it is the countless people who had the privilege of crossing paths with Kevin and the legacy he created in triumph and tragedy.