Former Alabama EDGE Dallas Turner is one of the more intriguing prospects in the 2024 NFL Draft class. He’s an incredible athlete who has a chance to become a big-time player in the NFL. Turner also did something very few players did during the Nick Saban era — play a lot as a freshman.
Most mock drafts have Turner going in the top 10 of the draft, with him being the favorite to be the first defensive player drafted in two weeks. But before he became a top NFL prospect, Turner’s athletic career started in Florida with his parents.
A Look at Dallas Turner’s Parents
Turner was born to Delon and Tonya Turner on Feb. 2, 2003, in Fort Lauderdale. For them, athletics has been an important part of the family for some time, with Delon being a special athlete in his own right.
Getting To Know Turner’s Father
While Dallas is a star on the football field, Delon was a high school basketball legend at Carol City in Miami. He was fantastic and eventually went on to play college basketball at Florida A&M.
Delon Turner played at Florida A&M from 1990-1993 and put together one of the best careers in the history of the Rattlers’ program. He scored 1,795 points in his career, which is the most of any player in Florida A&M’s history. He also finished with 974 rebounds — also the most in the school’s history.
What an exciting night at the
LOTT IMPACT CEREMONYBama Family RTR 🐘🐘🐘@UnoErra pic.twitter.com/vzA3pmnNvC
— Delon Turner (@turner_delon) December 11, 2023
Delon was named to the All-MEAC team three times and was named the Conference Player of the Year in 1992. He went on to play professional basketball overseas in countries such as Russia, Argentina, and Spain, among others.
Turner opened up about the profound impact his father had on him when talking to The Athletic.
“He worked on Wall Street, was a wealth manager for other years,” Dallas said. “Seeing him and how he handled his business and the hard work he put in inspired me to get my feet wet in business when the opportunity presented itself. When (Alabama) sent me that edit, it was kind of surreal because my dad reads Forbes weekly. So seeing him read the magazine, then getting the edit, it’s like that can really happen in the future.”
Getting To Know Turner’s Mother
While there is much information on Dallas’ father, his mother, Tonya’s story has been more private. Nevertheless, one area where she has helped play a role in his development is his hunger to be great.
When talking to The Athletic for a story, Dallas said, “My mom said I have always been a hustler.”
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She gave him a $20 loan when he was in high school to get baking supplies so he could have a bake sale to buy a new gaming monitor.
“As the days went on, $100 turned into $200, then $400 then $800,” Dallas said.
Turner knew that his parents wouldn’t buy it outright, but the work ethic she instilled in him played a big role in him becoming one of the top NFL prospects in this year’s draft class.