Former GHS Sports Star Gives Back to Area Youth

Ellsworth “Tookey” Turner remembers the days when he starred on the gridiron and hardwood at Gaithersburg High School.

The 55-year old Germantown resident made a name for himself as a standout Trojans quarterback and sharpshooter in the early 1970’s.

At Gaithersburg, he played for the Trojans’ legendary football coach John Harvill and basketball coach William Sutton. His high school teammates included 6-foot-8 Phil Livingston who went on to play football at the University of Maryland and won a Super Bowl ring with the Oakland Raiders.

As one of Robert and Aline Turner’s ten children, “Tookey” was an African-American trailblazer in Montgomery County high school athletics. He listened to advice once given to him by Harvill.

“If you stick with football,” he said Harvill told him, “you can go a long ways and he was right. I just started working on my skills”

Turner played collegiately at North Carolina A&T where he competed in both football and basketball. However, football was his meal ticket, helping him soar to new heights.

As the Aggies starting freshman quarterback, Turner passed for over 1,300 yards. During his sophomore campaign, he was named All-Mid Eastern Athletic Conference and became the first player to pass for 2,500 yards. He also earned Player of the Year honors that season.

Turner, who finished his collegiate career as a three-time all-conference player, competed in the Black College All-Star game as a senior.

During his college days, Turner played against Howard University at RFK Stadium and competed against Grambling State University and their legendary coach, Eddie Robinson. That game was played at New York City’s Shea Stadium.

After college, Turner had a brief professional stint with the American Football Association’s Carolina Storm where he set records for both passing yards and touchdowns.

In 2007, Turner was inducted into the MEAC Hall of Fame and two years later was enshrined into the North Carolina A&T Hall of Fame.

“Man, that was the greatest day of my life,” he said about being inducted into the North Carolina A&T Hall of Fame.

Turner is one of only three players to receive induction into both Halls of Fame. “I still hold records at A&T,” he noted.

Today, the living legend gives back to the community where he was born and raised by helping out the local youth.

“Those were good years growing up around here,” said Turner, who attended Darnestown Elementary School. “You got kids who don’t want to put that work in. These kids they got it made, man.”

Turner works with kids in the Gaithersburg Sports Association and has also worked out with Magruder two-sport star Garland Owens. He also speaks with youth groups in Montgomery Village.

He preaches a simple message to the area youth: “There’s only one way to make it in life – you got to work.”

Things have certainly worked out well for Turner who still makes frequent trips to North Carolina to visit his three children and attend football games at his alma mater during the season.

“I might go to two or three games a year, especially homecoming,” he said. “I know when they say “Tookey” I’m here and when they say Ellsworth I’m in North Carolina.”