From November 2009.

Michael Turner was born in Chicago in 1982. He played college football at Northern Illinois. As a junior, he finished second in the nation with 1,915 yards, including five 200+ yd games and two 5 TD games. In 2003, he finished second in the NCAA in rushing, behind his future NFL teammate Darren Sproles. He left NIU with the school records for rushing yards (1,941), touchdowns (13) and all-purpose yards (1,038). Turner was drafted by the Chargers in the fifth round (154th overall) of the 2004 NFL Draft. In his Falcon debut, Turner broke the Atlanta Falcons single game rushing record rushing for 220 yards on 22 carries with 2 touchdowns. It was the third-highest opening day rushing total in NFL history behind O.J. Simpson’s 250 yards in 1973 and Arian Foster's 231 yards in 2010. Ad from January 2011.