Courtesy of SDSU Athletics

You can’t put former San Diego State football player Kyle Turley in a box. And I wouldn’t try either. The title of the ex-NFL player’s debut album is “Anger Management,” and Turley’s jaw looks like it could chew through a Toyota Camry, or a house.

But even if the “you-are-what-you-eat” rule was in effect, Turley would be much more than scrap metal or a pile of bricks. He’s a cataclysmic cocktail of things reaching far beyond his capacity for football. He’s a California surfer with a down-country soul, and when he talks he sounds like Patrick Swayze in the movie “Point Break”.

“You know there’s no way I can handle a cage, man.”

Turley is now also a musician in a genre he calls “power country.”

His new album was named after an incident that etched his place in football immortality. He was playing tackle for New Orleans when, in defense of his quarterback, he ripped off an opposing player’s helmet and chucked it 30 yards down the field before flipping off the entire Jets team.

Turley is an outlaw. A comic book-like character whose flair for honesty is as brute as his NFL playing days.

Turley certainly didn’t shy away from singing the truth as he knows it in his first album. In his song “Flying Helmets,” Turley calls former football player Robert Johnson a “pussy”, takes a jab at Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, and sings, “F*** Mike Martz, I never liked him anyway.”

Please Turley, tell us what you really think.

“It just doesn’t feel good not to tell the truth,” Turley said before rephrasing his remark in an accent smothered in southern barbecue sauce. “It just don’t feel right.”

But Turley’s album is about more than just a few bones he’s had to pick.

“It’s pretty much the story of my life. It’s my book.” Turley said. “But I didn’t want to sit down and write a book because I didn’t read “em.”

Which is surprising. After talking five minutes with this guy, it becomes clear he is actually a pretty humble, self-actualized dude with insight about an array of topics.

He’s also a poster boy for the American dream, a product of good old-fashioned hard work.

“When I was at San Diego State I didn’t drink or do drugs. I didn’t go out partying and I didn’t go on spring breaks with everyone,” Turley said. “I just stayed in the weight room and dedicated myself to my ultimate goal: getting to the NFL.”

When asked what he would sing about if he were to write a song about his experience at SDSU, Turley’s response was gnarly.

“I’d probably write a song about the days I’d go to football practice with my car waiting in the parking lot with my surfboard in it. And waiting until practice was over to go and catch that last sunset,” Turley said. “And coming back and having a killer burrito from Roberto’s.”
And the song’s title?

“”I Wish I Could Go Back,'” Turley said.

So does head football coach Brady Hoke.

Before an injury ended his professional football career, Turley was known as one of the meanest and most feared players in the league. He was the best at his position and was one of those players you hated, unless he was on your team.

Luckily for you, he was.

Damn it feels good to be an Aztec.

Kyle Turley will be playing on March 24 at the 4th and B Theater in San Diego. You can purchase his album “Anger Management” on iTunes or check out his music at www.gridironrecords.com.

8212;Matt McClanahan is a journalism senior.

8212;This article does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Daily Aztec.