FanPost

Congratulations to the Turners

On Saturday, May 15, a man originally from Chicago, Illinois, earned his degree from Purdue University.

This may seem like a rather common occurrence, but the man is an uncommon man and he was in an uncommon situation. The man's name is Keena Turner.

Keena Turner is an important name in the history of the 49ers, as I'm sure we all know. Since 1980, he has spent his entire professional career, but for a short stint with Stanford, with the 49ers in some capacity.

That he finally went back to school to earn his degree isn't the remarkable thing about this. The remarkable thing is that he was able to share the moment with his daughter Ella, who also earned her degree from Purdue on the same day.

Forty-one years after leaving Purdue, 49ers' Keena Turner graduates with his daughter (ESPN)
Keena Turner gets his degree from Purdue, more than 40 years later (NBC Sports)
The graduates: 49ers' Keena Turner, 62, earns his Purdue diploma alongside his daughter (San Francisco Chronicle)

As a resident of the deserts of Southern California, I hadn't heard about this until this morning. As a college professor that has had many athletes in his classes that have not bothered to work too hard in their studies, this fills me with joy, especially since Keena is one of my favorite players from the era.

Congratulations to Keena and Ella Turner.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Niners Nation's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Niners Nation's writers or editors.