Vernon Turner, who played running back for the Lions, Bills, Rams and Bucs in the 1990s, is out with an autobiography that contains some harsh words about his time in Detroit.
According to the Detroit Free Press, Turner writes in The Next Level: A Game I Had To Play that his coach in Detroit messed up his career.
“I personally think Coach Wayne Fontes had a huge hand in screwing with my career, and he really did a number on me,” Turner wrote. “He made my stay in the organization a miserable experience. . . . He never made me feel welcomed . . . he would walk by me like I was a piece of cheap-ass furniture.”
Turner also writes that he hated living in Detroit.
“I wasn’t too keen on the city of Detroit in general,” Turner wrote. “It felt kind of dreary. Hell, it seemed damn near depressing for me.”
And although Turner respected the best player on the Lions in the 1990s, Barry Sanders, he learned not to leave food around when Barry was on the premises.
“Believe it or not, Barry was a greedy little dude,” Turner writes. “I couldn’t leave food in my locker for a second without Barry eating it.”