# Max Tuerk

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{{Short description|American football player (1994–2020)}}
{{Use American English|date=June 2020}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name         = Max Tuerk
| image        = Max Tuerk (6637382333) (cropped).jpg
| image_size   = 
| alt          = 
| caption      = Tuerk in 2012
| current_team = 
| number       = 62, 79
| position     = [Center](/source/Center_(gridiron_football))
| birth_date   = {{birth date|1994|1|27|mf=y}}
| birth_place  = [Trabuco Canyon, California](/source/Trabuco_Canyon%2C_California), U.S.
| death_date   = {{death date and age|2020|6|20|1994|1|27|mf=y}}
| death_place  = [Cleveland National Forest](/source/Cleveland_National_Forest), [California](/source/California), U.S.
| height_ft    = 6
| height_in    = 5
| weight_lbs   = 285
| high_school  = [Santa Margarita Catholic](/source/Santa_Margarita_Catholic_High_School)<br />{{nowrap|([Rancho Santa Margarita, California](/source/Rancho_Santa_Margarita%2C_California))}}
| college      = [USC](/source/USC_Trojans_football) (2012–2015)
| draftyear    = 2016
| draftround   = 3
| draftpick    = 66
| pastteams    =
* [San Diego](/source/San_Diego_Chargers) / [Los Angeles Chargers](/source/Los_Angeles_Chargers) ({{NFL Year|2016}}–{{NFL Year|2017}})
* [Arizona Cardinals](/source/Arizona_Cardinals) ({{NFL Year|2017}})
| status       = 
| highlights   =
* [Freshman All-American](/source/Freshman_All-American) (2012)
* First-team [All-Pac-12](/source/List_of_All-Pac-12_Conference_football_teams) ([2014](/source/2014_All-Pac-12_Conference_football_team))
| statlabel1   = Games played
| statvalue1   = 1
| statlabel2   = Games started
| statvalue2   = 
| pfr          = TuerMa00 
}}

'''Max Tuerk''' (January 27, 1994 – June 20, 2020) was an American professional [football](/source/American_football) player who was a [center](/source/Center_(gridiron_football)) in the [National Football League](/source/National_Football_League) (NFL). He played [college football](/source/college_football) for the [USC Trojans](/source/USC_Trojans_football). He was a first-team all-[Pac-12 Conference](/source/Pac-12_Conference) selection in 2014. Tuerk was selected in the third round of the [2016 NFL draft](/source/2016_NFL_draft) by the [San Diego Chargers](/source/San_Diego_Chargers).<ref>{{Cite web |title=2016 NFL Draft Listing |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/2016/draft.htm |access-date=2023-05-17 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref> He spent his rookie year with the Chargers and split time in his second and final NFL season with the Chargers and the [Arizona Cardinals](/source/Arizona_Cardinals).

==Early life==
A native of [Trabuco Canyon, California](/source/Trabuco_Canyon%2C_California), Max Tuerk was the eldest of Greg and Valerie Tuerk's four children. His father played tight end for [Brown University](/source/Brown_Bears_football) in the early 1980s.

Max Tuerk attended [Santa Margarita Catholic High School](/source/Santa_Margarita_Catholic_High_School), where he was a two-way lineman. His team won the CIF Pac-5 title (i.e., the Southern California championship) and CIF Division I state title in 2011. (Division I was the second-highest of five divisions at the time.) He also participated in [track & field](/source/track_%26_field). Regarded as a four-star recruit by [Rivals.com](/source/Rivals.com), Tuerk was listed as the No. 7 [offensive tackle](/source/offensive_tackle) prospect in his class.

==College career==
In his [true freshman](/source/true_freshman) year at USC, Tuerk emerged as the starting left offensive tackle for USC's final five regular season games of 2012 after serving as a backup earlier in the season. When he got his first start at [Arizona](/source/2012_Arizona_Wildcats_football_team), he became the first-ever USC true freshman to start at left tackle (and the first to start at tackle since [Winston Justice](/source/Winston_Justice) in the last 12 games of [2002](/source/2002_USC_Trojans_football_team)).<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Lev |first1=Jacob |last2=Silverman |first2=Hollie |date=June 22, 2020 |title=A former USC offensive lineman died at age 26 while hiking with family |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/22/us/usc-lineman-dead-spt-trnd/index.html |access-date=2020-06-23 |website=CNN.com}}</ref> Tuerk was named Freshman All-American by ''[College Football News](/source/College_Football_News)''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cfn.scout.com/2/1248052.html|title=2012 CFN All-Freshman Team|last=Cirminiello|first=Richard|date=December 10, 2012|website=Scout.com|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121213011658/http://cfn.scout.com/2/1248052.html|archivedate=December 13, 2012|url-status=dead|accessdate=December 13, 2012}}</ref>  He played in every game his first 3 seasons and was named to many all-star teams. Tuerk played all three [interior lineman](/source/interior_offensive_line) positions, but he was primarily a [center](/source/Center_(gridiron_football)). He was a team captain both his junior and senior years. Tuerk was considered one of the top centers in college football at the beginning of his senior year, but his season was cut short after five games when he tore an [anterior cruciate ligament](/source/anterior_cruciate_ligament).

==Professional career==
===San Diego / Los Angeles Chargers===
Tuerk was unable to participate in the post-season [draft combine](/source/NFL_Scouting_Combine)s because of his knee injury, except he was able to do the [bench press](/source/bench_press) test.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nflcombineresults.com/playerpage.php?i=22182|title = Max Tuerk &#124; Combine Results &#124; C - Southern California}}</ref> He was drafted by the [San Diego Chargers](/source/San_Diego_Chargers) in the third round, 66th overall, in the [2016 NFL draft](/source/2016_NFL_draft).<ref>{{cite web|title=Chargers Select USC Center Max Tuerk|url=https://www.chargers.com/news/chargers-select-usc-center-max-tuerk-130841|author=Henne, Ricky|website=Chargers.com|date=April 29, 2016|accessdate=May 29, 2017}}</ref>

Tuerk made the Chargers' roster in 2016 but was inactive for all 16 regular-season games, although he did play during the pre-season. Tuerk was suspended for the first four games of the 2017 season after violating the NFL policy on performance-enhancing substances.<ref>{{cite web|title=Max Tuerk Suspended First Four Games of 2017 Season|url=https://www.chargers.com/news/max-tuerk-suspended-first-four-games-of-2017-season-152136|website=Chargers.com|date=August 22, 2017}}</ref> After being reinstated from suspension on October 3, 2017, he was released by the Chargers.<ref>{{cite web|title=Chargers Waive Max Tuerk|url=https://www.chargers.com/news/chargers-waive-max-tuerk-155421|author=Henne, Ricky|website=Chargers.com|date=October 3, 2017}}</ref> He was re-signed to the Chargers [practice squad](/source/practice_squad) on October 26, 2017.<ref>{{cite web|title=Chargers Sign WR Geremy Davis|url=https://www.chargers.com/news/chargers-sign-wr-geremy-davis-157306|author=Henne, Ricky|website=Chargers.com|date=October 26, 2017}}</ref>

===Arizona Cardinals===
On November 6, 2017, Tuerk was signed by the [Arizona Cardinals](/source/Arizona_Cardinals) off the Chargers' practice squad.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cardinals put center on IR, sign Max Tuerk from Chargers practice squad|url=http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2017/11/06/cardinals-put-center-on-ir-sign-max-tuerk-from-chargers-practice-squad/|author=Gantt, Darin|website=ProFootballTalk.NBCSports.com|date=November 6, 2017}}</ref>  On December 24, 2017, Tuerk made his only appearance in a regular-season NFL game on one play in Week 16,<ref name=espn>{{cite news|title=Former USC, Chargers center Max Tuerk dies at 26|date=June 21, 2020|website=ESPN.com|url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/29344813/former-usc-chargers-center-max-tuerk-dies-26|accessdate=June 22, 2020}}</ref> as the Cardinals beat the [New York Giants](/source/New_York_Giants), 23–0.

On April 12, 2018, Tuerk was released by the Cardinals.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cardinals Release Center Max Tuerk|url=https://www.azcardinals.com/news/cardinals-release-center-max-tuerk-20536469|author=Odegard, Kyle|website=AZCardinals.com|date=April 12, 2018}}</ref>

==Death==
On June 20, 2020, Tuerk collapsed and died of an enlarged heart, an autopsy report revealed, while on a hike with his parents in the [Cleveland National Forest](/source/Cleveland_National_Forest).<ref>{{cite web|title=Former USC standout OL Max Tuerk dies at 26 while hiking with parents|url=https://sports.yahoo.com/former-usc-standout-ol-max-tuerk-dies-cardinals-chargers-211059581.html|author=Baer, Jack|website=sports.yahoo.com|date=June 21, 2020}}</ref> According to his family, Tuerk was struggling with mental illness during and after his pro football career. His mother Valerie Tuerk told the ''[Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times)'' that the family had arranged to have his brain tissue sent to [Boston University](/source/Boston_University)'s [Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy](/source/Chronic_Traumatic_Encephalopathy) (CTE) Center.  She said: "That was very important to us, because we feel that CTE probably had some impact on Max".<ref name=espn/><ref name="la-times-jun22">{{cite web| url = https://www.latimes.com/sports/usc/story/2020-06-22/usc-max-tuerk-dies-hike-parents-cte-nfl| title = Father's Day weekend hike for former USC star Max Tuerk turns tragic - Los Angeles Times| website = [Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times)| date = June 23, 2020}}</ref>

An autopsy later confirmed that Tuerk had CTE.<ref>{{cite news |title=Max Tuerk | website=Concussion Legacy Foundation |url=https://concussionfoundation.org/personal-stories/legacy-stories/max-tuerk | access-date=March 25, 2023}}</ref> He is one of at least 345 [NFL players to be diagnosed after death](/source/List_of_NFL_players_with_chronic_traumatic_encephalopathy) with this disease, which is caused by repeated hits to the head.<ref>{{cite news |title=The driving force behind Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) |website=Concussion Legacy Foundation |url=https://concussionfoundation.org/cte-resources/subconcussive-impacts |access-date=July 2, 2023 |archive-date=July 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230702123543/https://concussionfoundation.org/cte-resources/subconcussive-impacts |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Ken Belson and Benjamin Mueller |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/20/sports/football/cte-study-concussions-brain-tackle.html |title=Collective Force of Head Hits, Not Just the Number of Them, Increases Odds of C.T.E. The largest study of chronic traumatic encephalopathy to date found that the cumulative force of head hits absorbed by players in their careers is the best predictor of future brain disease. |work= [The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times) |date=June 20, 2023 |access-date=July 2, 2023 }}</ref>

A memorial service was held for Tuerk's friends and family on a beach near his home on Saturday, June 27, 2020, one week after his death.<ref>{{cite web | last=Sondheimer | first=Eric | title=Family, friends celebrate Max Tuerk's life with paddle out in Dana Point | website=Los Angeles Times | date=2020-06-27 | url=https://www.latimes.com/sports/usc/story/2020-06-27/family-friends-celebrate-max-tuerks-life-with-paddle-out | access-date=2025-07-20}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.nfl.com/combine/profiles/max-tuerk?id=2555187 NFL Combine profile]
*[https://usctrojans.com/sports/football/roster/max-tuerk/1101 USC Trojans bio]

{{San Diego Chargers 2016 draft navbox}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuerk, Max}}
Category:1994 births
Category:2020 deaths
Category:American football offensive linemen
Category:Arizona Cardinals players
Category:Los Angeles Chargers players
Category:San Diego Chargers players
Category:Players of American football from Orange County, California
Category:USC Trojans football players
Category:Deaths from cardiomyopathy
Category:Players of American football with chronic traumatic encephalopathy
Category:Santa Margarita Catholic High School alumni

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Max Tuerk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Tuerk) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Tuerk?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.