ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Jim Turner, a member of the Broncos’ Ring of Fame who also kicked three field goals for the New York Jets in their momentous Super Bowl III victory, passed away Saturday from heart failure with his family by his side.
Turner was 82.
A quarterback and kicker for Utah State and coach John Ralston, Turner was a 19th-round draft pick of Washington in 1963 and was picked up the next year by the Jets and coach Weeb Ewbank. During the Jets’ championship 1968 season, Turner kicked a then-record 145 points on a record 34 field goals.
In the Jets’ huge upset of the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III, Turner scored 10 points in the Joe Namath-led 16-7 win on field goals of 32, 30 and 9 – the last of which will forever hold as the shortest field goal in Super Bowl history as the NFL moved the goal posts 10 yards to the back of the end zone in 1974.
Turner joined the Broncos prior to the 1971 season via trade for Bobby Howfield in a straight-up kicker trade. Turner was the Broncos' kicker for nine years, setting all their significant kicking and scoring records that lasted until Jason Elam broke them some 30 years later.
During the Broncos’ magical 1977 Orange Crush season, Turner came through with the signature play of a franchise-turning 30-7 win at Oakland as he caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from placeholder Norris Weese off a faked field goal.
Prior to that game, the Broncos were 2-24-2 in the previous 14 seasons against the Raiders.
At the time of his retirement, Turner was not only the Broncos’ all-time lea der in field goals (151), extra points (283) and points scored (742), he was the NFL’s all-time record holder with 304 field goals made and second only to George Blanda in scoring (1,439). Turner still ranks third statistically behind Elam and Brandon McManus on the Broncos’ all-time scoring list.
When the American Football League named its all-time first and second teams for its period from 1960-69, Turner made the second team.
Turner never missed a game in his career, finishing with an Iron Man streak of 228 consecutive games played.
He was inducted into the Broncos’ Ring of Fame in 1988. Following his 16-year career, Turner worked as a national and local broadcaster for NBC Sports, KNUS and KOA radio as he and wife Mary Kay raised their three daughters in the Denver area, where he lived until his passing.
He also served as an academic coach in the National Football Foundation’s Play It Smart program, which provided educational counseling and mentoring to football players in at-risk high schools. Jim served at Jefferson High School and Alameda High School in Denver. In 2004, Jefferson High School dedicated their football field to Jim, naming it Jim Turner field.
According to Turner's obituary posted by his family, Jim was predeceased by his parents Bethel and Bayard, and his siblings Paul, Eddie, Pat and Jack. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Mary Kay, his daughters Lisa, Chris and Alison, and grandchildren Chase, Natalia, Walker, Ryder, Tigist, Noah, Christian and Genevieve (and countless dogs, cats, birds and gerbils that he said he didn’t want but they each ended up as his favorites).
The family will be holding a private celebration of life with trips to Jim's favorite places. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Denver Broncos Alumni Charities.
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