Exclusive: LaDainian Tomlinson says Cowboys’ KaVontae Turpin has matured from TCU days

In the aftermath of KaVontae Turpin’s coming out party with two kick returns for touchdowns in the Dallas Cowboys’ 32-18 victory against the Los Angeles Chargers Saturday, coach Mike McCarthy was asked what more he needed to see from the former TCU star to make the team.

McCarthy couldn’t help but chuckle.

“I think there is a great chance he will be return kicks against Tampa Bay,” he said with a smile. The Cowboys open the season Sept. 11 against the Buccaneers at AT&T Stadium.

After a second-quarter blitz with a 98-yard kickoff return and an 86-yard punt return for touchdowns, the whole NFL had seen enough of Turpin.

In reality, his spot on the roster was secured the moment the Cowboys signed him to a three-year deal a week into training camp.

Turpin’s speed, vision and quickness can’t be taught or coached.

But there was a reason the Cowboys took their time in adding him to the roster even though he had been on their radar since the end of the USFL season in June when he was named the league’s MVP.

Was he ready for the moment? And could he handle the attention and stay out of trouble?

Those things were part of his downfall at TCU. He was kicked off the team in 2018 following a pair of domestic violence accusations that sent him into the football abyss before Saturday’s prime time re-emergence.

TCU legend and NFL Hall of Famer LaDainian Tomlinson has had a front row seat to all of it.

He remembers Turpin showing up to TCU and showing out as a true freshman just as he did against the Chargers, flashing NFL potential. But he remembers a young man who wouldn’t listen to advice and got caught up being in the wrong places and in the wrong atmosphere.

Tomlinson was at Cowboys training camp working for the NFL Network when Turpin showed up on July 28. Tomlinson said he immediately saw a different person from the one at TCU.

“I could see it in his face,” Tomlinson said. “He was so thankful. He was humble. He said I got this opportunity and I ain’t going to let nobody down.”

Turpin has played in four different fledgling football leagues since TCU.

“I think he has matured a great deal.,” Tomlinson said. “That happens when you leave school and have to grow up. For him it was finding his way as a young man after all that had happened to him.”

Tomlinson watched Turpin on the sideline during the Chargers game. It only reinforced his opinion of a different and more mature Turpin.

“I was looking at his interactions with his teammates on the sideline,” Tomlinson said. “I was watching him during the the game. That is a different young man.”

Tomlinson’s point of view matters because he spent a lot of time around Turpin when he was at TCU. His nephew Tre, a senior All-American cornerback on the current football team, remains good friends with Turpin.

He said the adjustment from Monroe, La. to Fort Worth and the TCU atmosphere was culture shock for Turpin.

”It’s was different lifestyle and culture,” Tomlinson said. “He really enjoyed his time at his TCU. It was the other things — people around him, friends and family members. That was the biggest part of him having to mature. He just didn’t grasp everything he needed to think about and start doing if he wanted an NFL career. Don’t hang out in these areas. Don’t do the things we are hearing about in the streets.”

Tomlinson is not surprised by what he saw Turpin do against the Chargers.

It is what he did at TCU the moment he stepped on campus.

“The talent is undeniable,” Tomlinson said. “He is not a big guy. But he is a quick as a mosquito. Once he is up field, it’s good bye. But it’s also his attitude. He is a small guy but his attitude as as a big man. He will try to run over as well as run by you.”

Tomlinson said he believes Turpin is a changed man. He has matured. He taken personal responsibility and ownership of his issues from the past.

And now that he has realized his NFL dream and made the Cowboys, questions still remain.

“What I want to see now is which guys on the team he gravitates to to stay focused and on straight and narrow,” Tomlinson said.