Born Ready: A Q&A With North Chicago's Travis Turner

[player_tooltip player_id="20334" first="Travis" last="Turner"] was born to play the game of football. He comes from a family that has produced some of North Chicago’s most talented football players, the most notable of the bunch is 2X Pro Bowl running back Michael Turner. Next up in the long line of Turner football players is the hard-hitting senior linebacker who is ready to put the state on notice and is more than capable of upholding his family’s legacy. In this Q&A session, we spoke to Travis about his recruiting process, does he feel any pressure to live up to the Turner name, the goals he’s set for his senior year, and how he’s been preparing for the season during this pandemic.   This pandemic has kind of thrown off everyone’s regular schedule and training regimen, what have you been doing to make sure you’re ready when the season starts? I’ve been doing a lot of home workouts to try and maintain my strength as much as possible, along with a lot of running so I can be in shape once camp starts. And recently my teammates and I have been getting together to put in some work so we can be sharp once camp starts.   What video games have you been playing during this pandemic? I know Call of Duty Warzone is a pretty popular choice nowadays. I haven’t really played Call of Duty; I mostly play NBA 2k.   Describe [player_tooltip player_id="20334" first="Travis" last="Turner"] the football player. I just feel like anytime I’m on the field I can’t be stopped. I play the game with a lot of energy and with that dawg mentality. Like if you see me off the field, I’m quiet, I don’t really say much, but when I’m on the field, I turn into a different person. I’m versatile enough to where I truly believe I can play any position on defense, and when I’m on the field I just think my team always has a chance to win the game— I’m a gamechanger.   When did you first start playing football? When I was 5, I remember being on the bench a lot because I wasn’t really that good at first. It wasn’t until my third year playing when I started learning the game and getting better.   You come from a family whose name is synonymous with football in North Chicago. Do you feel any pressure to live up to the Turner name? No, I don’t really feel any pressure to live up to the name. But there is a lot of hype that comes with being a football player with last name Turner; I think I do a pretty good job of living up to the hype though.   Talk about what motivates and drives you to be the best player you can be. I don’t ever want to be viewed as being weak. I never want to hold my team back or be the reason we lose a game. I feel if I push myself then it’ll push my teammates to be better players, so I’m always trying to give my best effort on the field.   What was your most impressive game last season? My best game was against Antioch. I had 15 tackles, and 7 of them were for a loss. They had the best record in the conference and we actually ended up winning that game and holding them to only 9 points.   Have you set any personal and team goals for this upcoming season? As far as team goals, I want to make a deep playoff run and hopefully we can bring home that trophy in the end. For my personal goals I just want to dominate every game, help my team win, and bring in some more offers to play at the next level.   Everyone knows the offseason is when players get better, what has been the one area of your game that you have worked on, and improved the most since last season. I’ve been working on my coverage skills a lot because I know the college game is pass-heavy. I’ve also been running a lot to make sure my condition is where it needs to be for the season.   How has your recruiting experience been so far? I went to a combine in Florida, that went pretty well. I just received my first offer about two weeks ago from Roosevelt University but I haven’t been able to really go on any visits or meet with any coaches with this pandemic going on.   What position do you feel you’re best suited for at the next level? I feel I’m best suited to be a linebacker. Although I’m confident I can play either safety position at a high level, I feel linebacker is the position for me.   Where would be your dream school to play at? To be honest, I really don’t have a dream school to play for, as long as I’m playing at the next level I’ll be happy.