Q & A with Da Boot Sports: LIONEL TURNER

5/14/2020
By: Terrill J. Weil
Da Boot Sports!


       Lionel Turner, a linebacker from Walker,LA played at LSU from 2001 to 2004. He started at middle linebacker his junior and senior season for arguable two of the best defenses in LSU history. During those two seasons the Tigers would go 23-3 including a national championship in 2003. Turner was called the hardest-hitting linebacker in the SEC by the Sporting News in its 2003 preseason college football issue.  He would be named 2003 Honorable Mention ALL-SEC and 2004 First Team All-SEC. 


        Q - What is your Favorite TV Show?
        Lionel - Family Fued


        Q - Your Favorite Food?
        Lionel - Bolied Crawfish


        Q - Your Favorite Pro Athlete?
        Lionel - Russell Wilson


        Q - Which Sports Team is your Favorite?
        Lionel - Pittsburgh Steelers


        Q - Who is your Favorite Music Artist?
        Lionel -  I listen to a lot of Zydeco Music.  So I love Little Nate and Chris Ardoin.


        Q - What is your Favorite Movie?
        Lionel - Harlem Nights


        Q - Who is your Favorite Actor?
        Lionel - Denzel Washington


        Q - Did you grow up in Walker?
        Lionel - Yes, I was born and raised in Walker. Until I went to LSU, I had always lived in Walker.


        Q - When you were a little boy what did you want to be when you grew up?
        Lionel - Believe it or not, I wanted to be a baseball player. Baseball was actually the first sport I ever played. 


        Q - Did you play multiple sports at Walker High School?
        Lionel - Yes, I played basketball and football.  


        Q - Tell us a little about your recruiting process?
        Lionel - Pretty much all of the SEC schools were recruiting me. I actually committed to LSU when Gerry DiNardo was the coach, but when he got fired, I kind of opened things back up. Nick Saban actually spoke with me when he was the head coach at Michigan State, but I told him no because that was too far from home. But when LSU hired Coach Saban, Walker High was the second school he visited to recruit and to recruit me.


         Q - Can you tell us a little about Nick Saban?
        Lionel - We use to always say that he was like a drill sergeant. He was so hard on us, but as time would go by we would begin to realize why he was like that and it was to always to get the best out of each of us. He wouldn't stop pushing us until he had our best. 


         Q - Can you share any favorite games or memories that you have from being a LSU Tiger?
       Lionel - Got to say the best memory was the 2003 SEC Championship game and the National Championship game that season. 


         Q - What was it like winning the national championship in 2003?
        Lionel - It was an incredible feeling. Winning the SEC Championship and winning the National Championship is always your main goal at the beginning of a season and for us to reach and complete those goals was simply incredible. The last few seconds of the game felt like a life time to run down. It felt like it would never come. When it finally got to all zeros on the clock it was like a sight of relief. It was like... "Yes, We finally did it!"...  All the hard work and dedication finally payed off.


         Q -  Your final season at LSU was in 2004, can you tell us about your NFL experience?
         Lionel -  At the end of that season Coach Saban left LSU to go coach the Miami Dolphins and I actually signed a free agent contract with Miami. A couple of other former players ended up joining me down there with him.  When it was all said and done I didn't make the roster cut. I figured that I had pursued my dream of making it this far and felt like my body could only take so much. Your mind tells you one thing but your body tells you something else. I had played football since I was five-six years old and simply decided enough was enough. 


        Q - So could you tell us a little about what you're doing now?
        Lionel - I work for MMR Group. It's a big electrical and instrumentation company. We work in a lot of plants, places like that. I work at the main headquarters in Baton Rouge. I've been there since I finished my football career, so it's been like 14-15 years. 


        Q - Is there anything you want to tell the LSU fans?
        Lionel - Geaux Tigers!!!
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