Kyle Turley played one season for the Rams before hurting his back. Simon Bruty/SI

Silver: Do you think a lot of NFL players are using?

Turley: On every level, on every team, you're always going to have a couple of cheaters. It's like when you were in school -- a few people always cheated on the tests. But I don't think a lot of players do that stuff. For one thing, there's so much to be done now with diet and lifting and all the legal supplements you can buy at GNC. And though steroids might help you in the weight room, I really don't think it makes any difference come game day. At that point it's all about heart and desire and technique and intelligence.

Silver: I've never taken 'roids either.

(Turley looks at my physique and nods.)

Silver: I know you're not a big Gene Upshaw fan. What did you think of Bryant Gumbel's comments about Upshaw being Paul Tagliabue's dog?

Turley: Bryant Gumbel is a f------ moron. He's just trying to create controversy to raise his own profile, like he did when he made those ridiculous statements about the Winter Olympics. But it is true that tons of players have that same opinion of Upshaw. The majority of players are guys who are underpaid, who go to camp with split contracts and have to sign their lives away when they join a team and don't have any protection when it comes to severe disabilities. That's the majority -- but the union takes care of the fortunate ones.

I don't like the NFLPA because they turned their back on me when I was disabled and fighting for my benefits. But I have come to terms with the fact that it is a business. I'm learning through my years to get over things I can't change. I tried. I was in the union for three years, but then I realized it was useless. They have their agenda, the same way that teams do, and what it boils down to is that it's not about the players the way the union and the teams would have you believe. It's about the almighty dollar. The NFL is a multibillion-dollar industry, and everybody wants a piece of the pie.

Silver: Speaking of cash, what's up with your music career?

Turley: Well, I've started a record label, Gridiron Records, and I'm planning on kicking some ass. I had a lot of downtime when I was out for those two years, and I'd made a lot of friends in the music industry. I hooked up with this guy named Mikey Doling, who had founded a band called Snot out of Santa Barbara. They had played Ozzfest and were gonna be huge but the singer got in a car crash and died, and that was that.

Mikey's a killer guitarist, and he and I would see these phenomenal bands in Hollywood that were still unsigned, and that set the wheels in motion: 'Dude, we need to start a label.' So, now we have our own MySpace page [http://www.myspace.com/gridironrecords], and we're signing three kinds of bands: rock, hard rock and super-heavy. We have this band called Harebrain Scheme that sounds sort of like death metal mixed with the Beatles, 311-style reggae and Queen. Fred Durst heard them and was blown away; they're gonna be all over the radio. And we have a super-heavy band called Asesino that's like the Mexican Slayer -- all the lyrics are in Spanish, and the musicians all dress up as different characters. It's awesome.

Silver: That's the same word you used recently when we were talking about your new coach.

Turley: Herm Edwards is awesome. He played the game. He understands where we're coming from as players, and he treats us like men, which is a rarity in the NFL. Most coaches, especially coaches who come into a new place, rule with an iron fist. That s--- doesn't work, especially with a veteran team. With Herm there's no nonsense, no overworking and no underworking. It's right where it needs to be. You don't dread going to practice. You know he's gonna take care of you, and his assistants are cool, too. We don't have a------ drill-sergeant coaches.

All of that pays off later in the season. Come December, the teams that are overworked, if you're on the bubble, those guys are the ones who are gonna have the U-Haul packed up and ready to go. I know; I've been on those teams. And the guys with big egos, if they're coached by a guy they don't respect, they don't play as hard. They say, "Why should I?"

I know everybody in our locker room will go to war for Herm Edwards. If we win, it'll be great. And if we lose, there's gonna be a bitter feeling in the locker room that we didn't win for him. You just wait for a coach like this your whole career. All the older guys in the locker room, we sit around and go, "Where was this guy when we were younger? We wouldn't have all these aches. We'd be fresh." If I'd had him in St. Louis, I wouldn't be where I am right now, coming back from a two-year absence, that's for damn sure. This is probably going to be my last year, but the only way I'll come back and play next year is if my body feels good and Herm Edwards is my coach.

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