Member Biography

Clyde "Bulldog" Turner was Hardin-Simmons' first Hall of Famer and one of the top five centers ever to play the game of football. Whenever the selectors of all-time teams get together, Turner's name is mentioned in the company of Mel Hein, Ki Aldrich, Chuck Bednarik, and the like. Turner was a 6-2, 218-pounder with unusual speed and technique, a big and mobile lineman who led Hardin-Simmons to fantastic success in the late 1930s. During the Bulldog's three varsity seasons, his team won 23 games, lost only three and tied two. As a sophomore, Clyde aided the team in an 8-0-1 campaign, marred only by a 7-7 tie with Howard Payne College in the season opener. Hardin-Simmons was 8-2-0 in 1938; then finished 7-1-1 in 1939, when Loyola nipped his team, 6-0, and San Francisco managed a 6-point tie. Turner followed his collegiate career with success as a Chicago Bears center and linebacker 1940-1952, winning all-pro recognition. Turner was born Nov. 10,1919 in Sweetwater, Texas. He died Oct. 30, 1998, at his ranch in Gatesville Texas.