jimmyram

Rams hope Turk is a booming success


It has been 13 seasons in the making, but Matt Turk finally can say he has made the Rams' roster. In 1994, the last year for the franchise in Los Angeles, Turk battled Sean Landeta for the punting job in training camp.

"Well, it wasn't much of a fight," Turk said Thursday. "We both had a great camp, but Sean Landeta was the man here."

To a large degree, the Rams have been searching for a punter since Landeta's first stint with the club from 1993 through '96. Many have come and gone in the past decade, including Landeta -- then in his early 40s -- in '03 and part of '04. Except for Rick Tuten and his 44.2-yard average in 1998, it usually hasn't been pretty.

But based on what he showed in the preseason, Turk could give the Rams their best punting since Landeta in his heyday. Early in camp, Turk, 36, was locked in a tight battle with Andy Groom, 26. But once the exhibition games started, it was no contest. Turk led the NFL in punting during exhibition play, averaging 50.6 yards on seven kicks.


"It's the best preseason I've ever had," Turk said. "But I've had terrible preseasons and then gone to the Pro Bowl a couple times, too. You have to take the good with the bad and realize the things that you have to get better at."

For Turk, the "bad" came early last September in Miami. After Turk beat out Donnie Jones for the Dolphins' punting job, a groin injury landed him on injured reserve Sept. 10. Jones was re-signed to the active roster and has held down the job since.

The Dolphins deemed Turk healthy on Oct. 12 and released him. Such moves don't happen very often once a player is placed on IR, but it happened to Turk.

"Unfortunately, they released me before I was healthy," Turk said. "Way before I was healthy. But I think that's kind of the status quo of operation for some teams. They see what they can get away with and save some money. Miami paid me for four weeks, and I couldn't even kick a ball until February, really."

Turk filed an injury grievance against the Dolphins, which he said still hasn't been settled.

Turk was still looking for work early last spring. But as fate would have it, he lived in the same Miami neighborhood as Scott Linehan. RAMS-BRONCOS

"Occasionally I would see him when I'd be coming back from working out, or going to kick footballs," Turk said. "I saw him one time when he was coming out of his house, and I said, 'Hey, I'm going to be ready to go. I'm going to have a good year this year. So if you give me a shot, I'm willing.'"

At the time, Linehan had just been named Rams head coach after spending '05 as Miami's offensive coordinator. The Rams signed Turk to a one-year deal April 4, but he still had to earn the job.

Linehan knew Turk could still kick, but ...

"We wanted to make sure he still was healthy," Linehan said. "He had a little bit of an issue with his groin, and then he ruptured a bursa sac in his knee and wasn't 100 percent (healthy) at the start of training camp. Andy came out and was kicking it pretty good, so it was a little closer at the beginning. But Matt worked through it."

Listed at 6-5, 240 pounds, Turk is one of the largest punters in NFL history. He has always had a big leg to go with that big body. Growing up in Milwaukee, Turk frequently entered the local Punt, Pass and Kick competition. He wasn't much on kicking but would absolutely plaster the football when it came to punting.

"I just always loved punting the ball," said Turk, who has never played soccer.

Since losing that punting battle with Landeta in '94, Turk has found steady employment in the league. From 1995 to '99, he punted for Washington, earning three Pro Bowl berths. He was traded to Miami in 2000, and except for the 2002 season with the New York Jets, had been with the Dolphins since.

During his last three seasons with the Redskins, every Turk punt was preceded by a long snap from his older brother, Dan.

"Being the first NFL brother-to-brother combination like that was neat," Turk said. "To be able to get snaps from him helped my game. It was fun. ... We were as close as brothers could be."

But Dan Turk died of cancer on Dec. 23, 2000, at the age of 38.

"He was my father figure growing up, because my father was out of the house and left my mom when I was like 7 or 8 years old," Turk said. "He was my best friend. He was my teammate. He was my mentor. He was all those things wrapped up in one."

The unexpected death of Turk's mother-in-law last week, which caused Turk to miss the exhibition finale against Miami, undoubtedly revived all those memories.

Turk occasionally can be seen pointing to the sky after a punt. It's part mechanical, part tribute to his brother.

"That's part of my follow-through when I really hit a good punt," Turk said. "But yeah, it kind of became a habit of mine, after everything that happened with my brother."

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