Matt Turk

Matthew Edward Turk (born June 16, 1968) is a former punter. He was originally signed by the Green Bay Packers as an undrafted free agent in 1993. He played college football at the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater. A three-time Pro Bowl selection, Turk has also been a member of the Los Angeles Rams, Washington Redskins, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, St. Louis Rams, Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans.

Early years
Turk graduated Greenfield High School in his birthplace Greenfield, Wisconsin in 1986.

Matt played college football for the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater and graduated with a degree in elementary education in 1993. With the Wisconsin–Whitewater Warhawks, Turk averaged 36.3 yards per punt. The Warhawks won three straight Wisconsin State University Conference championships from the 1990 to 1992 seasons. Turk also played the tight end position at UWW.

Professional career
Before entering the NFL, Turk also punted and played tight end for the Racine Raiders, a semi-professional football team in Racine, Wisconsin. According to their Wikipedia page, he is the only player for the Raiders to play in the NFL for more than 1 season (he played 17).

Throughout the early part of his career, Turk punted for the Miami Dolphins, the Washington Redskins, the St. Louis Rams and the New York Jets. In 2007, his career with the Houston Texans began. On March 18, 2008, the Texans re-signed Turk to a two-year, $2.35 million contract with a $500,000 signing bonus. He was re-signed to a one-year contract on March 5, 2010.

With the retirement of Jeff Feagles, Turk became the oldest active player in the league after the 2008 season. Following Brett Favre's retirement the following year, Turk became the last active player born in the 1960s. However, in week 4 of the 2010 season, the New Orleans Saints resigned 46-year-old kicker John Carney. He became the oldest player in the league until his release in October 2010, thereby returning the status of oldest active player back back to Turk.

Turk signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars on July 29, 2011. He was released on October 11 after a terrible game against the Cincinnati Bengals, where the crowd was booing him, and he did not respond gracefully. Turk didn't address the media following the game, leaving teammate Josh Scobee to justify his actions.

Following an injury to the Texans' punter, Brett Hartmann, on December 4, which ended his season, the Texans signed Turk in his place on December 6. In the offseason, Hartmann was suspended for 4 games for Ped's, but the team opted to sign Donny Jones as the interim punter rather than Turk, making him an unrestricted free agent. (Jones became the permanant punter after Hartmann failed another drug test. He became eligable to play week 11, but as of week 17, no team has signed him.)

Personal
Turk currently lives in Houston. He has a wife.

The youngest of six brothers, Matt Turk had a brother who also played in the NFL, Dan Turk, who was a center for 15 seasons; Dan died on December 24, 2000. In his last season, Dan was the long snapper for one of Matt's punts, to become the first brothers to do so.

His nephew, Ben Turk, has been the starting punter for the University of Notre Dame for the 2010, 2011, and 2012 seasons.