Shane Turnbull
 |
| No. 81 – Baltimore Hawks | |
|---|---|
| Position: | Wide Receiver |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | May 2, 2028 (aged 32) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Weight: | 205 lb (93 kg) |
| Username: | Symmetrik |
| Career information | |
| College: | UCLA |
| ISFL Draft: | 2053 / Round: 1 / Pick: 13 |
| DSFL Draft: | 2052 / Round: 4 / Pick: 25 |
| Career history | |
| Roster status: | Active |
Shane Turnbull (born May 2, 2029) is an American football wide receiver who is currently preparing to enter the professional ranks.He played college football for UCLA and has declared his intent to enter the professional ranks next season.
Contents
Early years
Shane Turnbull was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and from a young age was the standout star on his football teams. He demanded the attention of the opponent's best defenders, and still he dominated. Unfortunately for most ot the people around him, that talent went to Turnbull's head pretty quickly. The popular kid, the football star, led to a lot of performance and behavioural issues in high school. Turnbull got in a lot of trouble related to his grades, parties, alcohol, and drugs. Turnbull has never opened up about exactly what changed his perspective, but did mention that his college recruitment process was transformative. He didn't get very many offers from high profile schools, and the interest he was getting was low end scholarships. He blamed everyone but himself. Though the expectation is that none of the schools were willing to invest in what they saw as a flameout waiting to happen. Turnbull looked like a classic story of a kid with too much fame too young, and who dominated high school but wouldn't hold up against better competition in colege, and that would only make his problems worse. Whatever turned him around though, did something great, as Turnbull received a full-ride scholarship to UCLA by the end of his high school season. There have been rumours, but no one except Turnbull and the ones he chose to trust know what changed him.
College career
Shane Turnbull had a very solid college career. It was far from the standout performances he had been putting in through his high school days, but the key for him was living up to the standard of being a good human first, and a good football player second. Where we saw him throw tantrums and demand the ball and the attention in high school, he was entirely a team and system player in college. He fully bought into the UCLA program and put up a solid 2 years of contributions before declaring himself ready to make the move to the DSFL. While his time at UCLA was short, and the team never amounted to aything special, nor were Turnbull's stats anything spectacular, his teammates spoke extremely highly ahead of his DSFL move. Turnbull was nothing like the kid they'd heard about, he was a great teammate who was always there to push everyone to be their best, on and off the field. While most measure their success on the field, Turnbull's college success came from his off-field work as he shed his high school image.
College career statistics
| Career statistics | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | Games | Rec | Yards | TDs |
| S35 | UCLA | 12 | 58 | 894 | 6 |
| S36 | UCLA | 10 | 66 | 998 | 5 |
DSFL Career
Shane Turnbull played a couple games at the end of the S36 season to show off his skills ahead of the DSFL draft. Turnbull ended up being drafted in the 4th round at 25 overall, by the Dallas Birddogs. Turnbull started all 14 games for the Birddogs, putting up numbers that were nothing spectacular. 887 yards was nothing special, but Turnbull had made it clear from the start that his priority was in the ISFL. He didn't let that affect his work ethic, but he voluntarily took whatever roles the team felt needed, and didn't mind not being the star. He still was at practice every day and in the video room doing work, and made it clear to ISFL teams his effort wasn't lacking. That paid off with plenty of teams showing interest ahead of the draft, and ultimately went in the 1st round in the ISFL, and has earned a spot in the ISFL immediately. It was 1 quiet season for the receiver in the DSFL, but Turnbull is appreciative of the growth the Birddogs offered him.
| DSFL Career statistics | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | Games | Rec | Yards | TDs |
| 2051 (S36) | Buccaneers | 2 | 3 | 53 | 0 |
| 2052 (S37) | Birddogs | 14 | 69 | 887 | 5 |
ISFL Career
Shane Turnbull was drafted 13th overall by Baltimore, after the Hawks traded up for him. After just a single full season in the DSFL, Turnbull was called up to play in the big leagues immediately after being drafted. He had a solid debut, in week 1 putting up 77 yards on 6 catches. His first touchdown didn't come until week 5 against the Yeti, when he picked up 2. The Hawks were an absolute surprise this season as they made the playoffs despite most expecting them to be in the race for the 1st overall pick. Turnbull played a role and played it pretty well, as the team's top receiver in catches, yards, and receptions. 1 of his 6 touchdowns this season went for 88 yards, which was the 4th longest in the league this season. Despite being one of the youngest players in the league, and in a race against others with a lot more DSFL experience, Turnbull did receive a respectable 2 third place votes for offensive rookie of the year. With another offseason of experience under his belt, Turnbull looks to continue as the Hawks' #1 option.
The sophomore season for Shane Turnbull - and all of Baltimore - was certainly the epitome of the term "sophomore slump". The Hawks went from a miracle 9-7 playoff season, which nearly saw another miracle in the playoffs, to a 6-10 team who were closer to the 1st overall pick than they were to the playoffs. Turnbull was no exception to the slump, as finished with over 300 fewer yards receiving, and only 1 touchdown on the entire season. He wasn't even the team's leading receiver, as that went to running back Dante King. Despite putting in the work off the field, the 2nd season results never really came for Turnbull. He did however get to show off his returning skills, for the first time in his career. He put up 648 yards kick returning with a respectable 25.9 average. While it didn't compare with the elite in the league, Turnbull was hovering around the top 10 in both total yards and average.
Turnbull's season in Baltimore was his first with over 1000 yards receiving. After a true sophomore slump, it was a positive upswing for Turnbull in terms of on field success. Baltimore didn't have an upswing as a whole, but Turnbull can only hope they get there. Baltimore brought in high profile receiver Rocky Moreaux in the offseason, which bumped Turnbull down to second priority as a wide receiver. It didn't seem to be too much of a problem though, as Turnbull had as much opportunity as he did when he was the #1 receiver in his rookie season. Having another strong weapon made Baltimore's passing attack as a whole more potent, meaning they were comfortable using it a lot more. Turnbull was also very happy to get his first big full time receiving jobs, as he was both the primary kick and punt returner. Combined, he returned for over 1000 yards this season. A solid start point to make in both receiving and returning, for a player who's goal it is to average 1000 per season in each.
| ISFL Career statistics | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | Games | Rec | Yards | TDs |
| 2053 (S38) | Hawks | 16 | 90 | 993 | 6 |
| 2054 (S39) | Hawks | 16 | 76 | 669 | 1 |
| 2055 (S40) | Hawks | 16 | 91 | 1006 | 8 |
| 2056 (S41) | Hawks | 16 | 92 | 988 | 9 |
| 2057 (S42) | Hawks | 16 | 91 | 1133 | 12 |
| 2058 (S43) | Hawks | 16 | 81 | 1073 | 12 |
| 2059 (S44) | Hawks | 16 | 75 | 903 | 8 |
| ISFL Combined Returning Statistics | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | Games | Returns | Yards | TDs |
| 2053 (S38) | Hawks | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2054 (S39) | Hawks | 16 | 25 | 648 | 0 |
| 2055 (S40) | Hawks | 16 | 56 | 1010 | 0 |
| 2056 (S41) | Hawks | 16 | 41 | 678 | 1 |
| 2057 (S42) | Hawks | 16 | 52 | 721 | 0 |
| 2058 (S43) | Hawks | 16 | 48 | 851 | 1 |
| 2059 (S44) | Hawks | 16 | 49 | 783 | 0 |
In S44, Turnbull had one of the worst receiving seasons of his career. 75 receptions is the lowest mark of any point in his career, and 903 yards is above only the sophomore slump, when Baltimore finished 6-10, with an extremely young team. This season was the peak of a trend which saw running back Kumquat Archipelago getting more and more receptions, culminating in 99 receptions in S44. Turnbull finished behind even rookie Sam Mercury for receptions, finishing with the 4th most of the 5 players who caught passes for the Hawks this season. Turnbull did have one of his best kick returning seasons, but the volume was lower than his best seasons and so his strong average didn't result in many yards. His punt returning has continued to fluctuate, and it was a down year as he had just over 8 yards average per punt return, a far cry from the almost 13 of S43. The offseason has seen quite a few changes to the Hawks offensive roster, so we'll see if Turnbull can have a bounceback season.
Achievements and records
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