From 3 pound premature baby to the NFL, Denver Broncos safety Delarrin Turner-Yell continues overcoming adversity

A 3 pound premature baby who was given 24 hours to live is now carving out a football career among the best in the world. That sounds kind of like a far-fetched Hollywood movie, but beating the odds is just who Dellarin Turner-Yell is. 

"He weighed 3 pounds, 13 ounces when I pushed him out," his mother Denise Turner said. "That was an event. I call it the roller coaster birth."

"I was a premature baby, born at 6 months," said the Denver Broncos safety who was drafted out of Oklahoma in 2022. "Once she did have me, they came in, they told her that they were only giving me 24 hours to live. Once I did make it past 24 hours they told my mom that my motor skills would be off."

"Once I got home you could still see through my skin. I didn't have any fingernails. I didn't have any eyebrows, eyelashes, anything like that. My mom was only 4 feet tall but she told me I was so small that I could fit into the palm of both her hands."

Despite the dire circumstances of his birth, he had very few medical problems growing up. Miraculously, the only residual effect for Turner-Yell was childhood asthma.

"As he grew, he was just as normal as everybody else," said Turner. "I always was scared that he was going to be little like me. You know, that he was going to have health problems like me."

Turner-Yell, who played in 16 of the Broncos' 17 games this season, isn't the only fighter in his family. That toughness and unwavering spirit he displays on the gridiron? He got it from his mother.

Denise Turner is the definition of a warrior. In 2015 she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and lupus.

"My life changed literally in one day. I've had surgeries every year because something comes up, because of my body declining and I just push through. I have to," she said.

Turner-Yell says he is constantly amazed by his mother's toughness.

"Witnessing her make ends meet through everything we went through, I kind of looked at her like a superhero. Like nothing's ever going to happen despite what she goes through, she's always going to make it."

Turner-Yell saw his mom fight through her medical trials day in and day out, but when he was growing up he never knew about his own incredible fight. His mother waited until he was headed to college before telling him about his entrance into the world.

"I didn't believe her when she told me. I kind of felt like she was making it up just because she wanted to come up with a story because I was finally going off on my own," he said. "But once I saw the pictures it was kind of tough to stomach at first but what got me over the hump was when I knew that if God got me through that then I can make it through whatever."

Turner-Yell says he always told his mother he would make it to the pros one day.

"For me to be out here playing in the NFL despite everything that I went through in the past? I'm just grateful for it," he said. 

Turner says she always has a great time cheering on her son at his football games.

"I always get sentimental. My son made it. He's living his dream."

Turner-Yell was hurt late in the season and is now recovering from a severe knee injury. But one thing is for certain: he won't just get back up. He'll come back stronger, just like he has done his whole life.

"Sometimes I think that we go through certain things for a reason, just to make us stronger for better things. And I feel like if I didn't go through the things that I went through in the past I wouldn't be able to survive this. Because I wouldn't know how to handle adversity," he said.