My dad was very impactful. I just watched him work very hard at everything that he ever earned. You will never catch my dad down and out. I wanted to be like that. – Robert Turbin
SEATTLE — As the lives of loved ones in Robert Turbin's life came tumbling down, one could have forgiven even a man with the infectious smile and Popeye-like physique for faltering under the burden.
But that's not how Turbin works.
“Robert’s ability to adapt to a challenge was what probably impressed me most,” said Gary Andersen, who coached him in college. “It became very clear very early at Utah State how he carried himself on and off the field. He was a leader.”
Turbin had plenty of practice. He had a lifetime of loss before he even set foot in Logan.
Estranged from his mom, a heroin addict, Turbin, his two sisters and brother, Lonnie, were reared by his father in the California Bay area.
Both of his sisters were afflicted by debilitating diseases. Trina died of multiple sclerosis at 21, while Tiffany was born with cerebral palsy. Paralyzed from the neck down and confined to a wheelchair, Tiffany, now 35, cannot speak.
Even more heartache was in store before the Seattle Seahawks called Turbin’s name during the fourth round of the 2012 NFL Draft.
In the Seahawks' locker room just after Seattle defeated the Rams 20-6 to secure home-field advantage through the playoffs, Turbin talked about the sense of duty he felt to be an NFL player so he could take Lonnie, who was fighting drug addiction, with him — away from the negative influences that surrounded his social sphere in California.
Turbin never got the chance. Three months before the NFL Draft, Lonnie died in gang-related violence outside Oakland.
“Robert wanted to do whatever he could to get Lonnie out of here," said Wayne Stone, Turbin’s coach and mentor at Irvington High School. "It was so important for him to play for a team outside of California. He wanted to take him away from all that crap. That was his goal.”
Added Turbin: “I wanted to bring him wherever I got drafted to. And I could because I’d have the means to, but his life was cut short. I didn’t have the opportunity.”
Stone said he was devastated when he heard of Lonnie’s death. He knew Turbin would be too. It was just days later at Lonnie’s funeral, though, that Stone knew Turbin could weather the loss of his brother.
“Talking to him after the murder, he didn’t have that destroyed vision on his face but he knew he had another challenge,” Stone said.
"Obviously this is horrible — horrible," Stone added. "But what his father brought into his life is that God makes these decisions and you just have to deal with them."
“It’s all about family”
While Lonnie's life was abruptly cut short, the family presence around Turbin in the Pacific Northwest is growing. Turbin adopted his younger half-brother, Terry Jones, and enrolled him at Bellevue Community College.
“I have a younger brother," Turbin said. "We have different fathers, but he lives with me now. He’s going to college and playing basketball. He’s doing great.”
Rushing for a season-high 53 yards on 11 attempts to go along with a 13-yard catch was not the highlight of Turbin’s weekend. Nor was it helping the Seahawks secure home-field advantage through the playoffs.
“You’ll be the first to know because I haven’t told anybody. Just (recently) I adopted my nephew, Lonnie’s only son,” Turbin said. “That’s what it's all about, man. It’s all about family.”
Father Ronald is Turbin's calming presence
Turbin credits his father Ronald with providing the example and influence with how to deal with heartache and adversity. A retired truck driver, Turbin's father has been an assistant pastor in Oakland for the past 20 years at the All Nations Pentecostal Church.
“My dad was very impactful,” Turbin said. “I just watched him work very hard at everything that he ever earned. You will never catch my dad down and out. I wanted to be like that.”
Stone agrees.
“The good values that Ron taught him were church, family and respect," he said. "Ron is the kind of guy that reminds you that we’re all so blessed and to remember that life is just beautiful, no matter what.”
Faith in undertaking responsibility
Taking on the outside responsibility of adopting two family members while in the NFL is an undertaking. Turbin, though, has faith.
“It’s a lot of responsibility to take on, especially in a business like this where you don’t know if you’re staying or going all the time,” Turbin said. “But I trust God. I trust the Lord. I know he’ll guide me in the right direction so that I’m able to accomplish the things I want to accomplish and to help the people I want to help.”
Playing in the NFL, Turbin says, is as much his duty as his childhood dream.
“I want other guys who come from where I come from, no matter their situation and say, ‘Dream big because you can do it too,'” Turbin said. “It’s not impossible. A lot of people told me it was, but it’s not. It’s really not. It doesn’t matter what you’re trying to do.
“It doesn’t have to be football. It’s bigger than that. It’s not impossible to achieve the goals that you’re trying to achieve. The message I want to say is 'don’t limit yourself to settle for anything less than what you really truly desire.'”
Turning down marquee programs for Utah State
Coming out of high school, Turbin had plenty of big-name suitors with the likes of Stanford, Oregon and USC lining up for his services.
“He’s always been a star, man — he’s just a winner,” former Utah State position coach Kevin Clune said.
Turbin, though, sought out the Aggies.
“When I started, my high school in Irvington wasn’t very good at football,” Turbin said. “When I was a freshman, our class, we wanted to change that atmosphere so bad. We knew we had the guys and we were set about doing that.”
During Turbin’s junior year, Irvington played for the state championship. His senior year, the Vikings fell just short in the semifinals.
Arriving on the Utah State campus on a recruiting trip, Turbin saw a similar situation. A culture of losing permeated. The challenge of turning around the Aggies' fortun and culture, intrigued Turbin.
“Sure I could have gone to USC or been part of the high-flying offense at Oregon, but I said to myself, ‘Utah State, this can be a special place. This can be special.’
“Nobody believed that this could be special, but I do. That’s why I wanted to go to Utah State. I personally wanted to be the guy that made that place special. I never told anybody that, but that’s the truth.”
Before Turbin arrived, Utah State went 1-11. The same year Turbin made his Seahawks debut, the Aggies went 11-2.
Beastmode's uncertain Seahawk future has ramifications for Turbin
Despite playing behind running back Marshawn Lynch, Turbin has become a trusted weapon in Seattle’s offense.
On Sunday, Turbin had 53 yards on 11 carries (4.8 ypc). The Seahawks rely on Turbin to give their offense a different look in the running game and to spell Lynch’s rushing load. In the regular-season finale, Turbin also had one catch for 13 yards.
“He has the strength and capability to run power,” Stone said. “You can also put him in a wing or a slot position, as his hands are so great, too. I envision him as a Ricky Waters or Roger Craig-style of running back. He has those tools. He’s just incredible.”
Next year, Turbin enters the last year of his four-year, $2.56 million rookie contract. The Seahawks historically lock up key players one year out from free agency.
Depending on what the Seattle brass does with the productive but temperamental Lynch, doors could open for Turbin sooner rather than later.
“I don’t think for a second that Robert is happy being second string,” Clune said. “When I see Turbin get on the field in the NFL, I see a talented athlete with a chip on his shoulder who will take on any role the team asks of him and make the most of it. He wants to prove to people that he can be the man.”
Clune added: “He has not only the skills and the toughness and the juice, but he’s also got the mindset. He wants to prove that to you. He brings that every time he steps into the game. Oh, yeah, he definitely can be a star on the NFL stage.”
In the NFL, Utah State players still there for each other
Turbin isn’t the only Seahawk who lost a family member while at Utah State. Bobby Wagner’s mother, Phenia, passed away his freshman year in Logan.
“Bobby, with his mom passing, that stuff is hard to come back from,” Turbin said, pointing to his former Aggie and now Seahawk teammate. “That’s difficult, but he did come back, and I’m so proud of him.
“Why were we able to come back from this? Because we had the team. We had the guys. You don’t leave anybody by themselves, no matter what. That’s what it's all about.”
The team surrounding Turbin has a closer-knit look and feel from an ordinary professional sports team. Perhaps it's no coincidence the defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks are rolling into the postseason on a six-game winning streak.
“I just had a genuine love for the guys I play with,” Turbin said.
Added Turbin’s teammate Bruce Irvin: “It's a brotherhood around here."