FORT WORTH, Texas — When TCU dismissed KaVontae Turpin from its football program in 2018 the prevailing thought was his football career was over.
Then-coach Gary Patterson kicked Turpin off the team after the returner was accused of assaulting a girlfriend.
It’s 2022, Turpin is 25, and he’s still playing football.
On Thursday, Turpin was named the MVP of the USFL.
It’s still a long shot, but his performance may lead to the chance he covets, which is a look by an NFL team.
Turpin’s New Jersey Generals finished 9-1, and he led the league in receiving yards and yards after catch. He also had 44 receptions and four touchdowns.
He led the USFL in punt return average and was the one who player who scored a touchdown on a kick return.
The success of the Miami Dolphins’ Tyreek Hill, who is not exactly tall and is no stranger to off the field issues from his collegiate days, could convince an NFL team to give Turpin a tryout.
After Turpin pleaded guilty in the spring of 2019 to assaulting his girlfriend, he was banned from participating in TCU’s Pro Day. He held his own Pro Day.
It didn’t matter. The NFL wanted no part of him.
Turpin plead guilty to “assault causing bodily injury — family violence” in Tarrant County Criminal Court. His punishment was two years deferred adjudication probation and a 27-week partner abuse intervention program.
In March of 2018, he faced a domestic violence charge against the same girlfriend during a fight in New Mexico. The assault charge was dismissed and he pleaded guilty to a disorderly conduct charge.
Turpin was kicked out of school after the team learned of the charge in New Mexico, which he tried to hide from the TCU coaches and administrators.
During his four-year career at TCU he was All-Big 12 twice and one of the best returners in the history of the school.
TCU coaches and administrators liked Turpin and were sympathetic to his background.
They were aware of the hard life he came from in Monroe, La., and desperately wanted to help him avoid returning to that same setup.
There was no way they could keep him on the team.
His 5-foot-9 frame and the multiple charges of assaulting a female were more than enough for the NFL to not even look his way.
In 2021, he signed with the Fan Controlled Football League.
Then he moved on to something called The Spring League.
In the fall of 2021, he joined the Wroclaw Panthers of the European League of Football. In the last five games of the season, he had 702 all purpose yards and six touchdowns.
When the USFL formed and held open tryouts, Turpin tried.
He is the best player in the new league.
Will that be enough for the NFL to give him a look?
Turpin is generously listed at 5-foot-9, one inch shorter than Hill. Assume both men are an inch or two shorter than they are listed.
Before Hill became one of the most electric players in the NFL with the Kansas City Chiefs, he had a history of troubling off-the-field violence issues at Oklahoma State.
He played with OSU for one season but was kicked off the team in 2014 after his girlfriend, who was eight weeks pregnant with the couple’s child, alleged Hill assaulted her.
He eventually pleaded guilty and received three years probation.
He finished his college career at West Alabama, and was a fifth-round draft pick by the Chiefs in 2016.
In 2019, Hill was accused of abusing his 3-year-old son. Eventually, neither he nor his fiancee, the same woman whom he allegedly assaulted at Oklahoma State, were charged with child abuse but the district attorney said a crime had occurred.
The DA could not prove who did what to their child. Hill was not suspended by the NFL.
Since he came into the league in 2016, he has been one of the best offensive players in football. He’s a big reason why the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl in the 2019 season.
KaVantae Turpin is not as good as Tyreek Hill; Turpin never had Hill’s Olympic-caliber speed.
Turpin is a good player. Good enough to at least make an NFL roster, and help the right NFL team for a couple of seasons.
After all of these years, he may finally get that call.
