Kyle Turley played for three teams over nine NFL seasons before his career was cut short in 2007 by numerous injuries and concussions. Drafted No. 7 overall by the New Orleans Saints in 1998, the two-time All-Pro offensive lineman out of San Diego State was ecstatic when the Saints won Super Bowl XLIV a mere 11 days ago.

Yet for all his years of service and dedication, Turley knows his football days will always be pigeonholed for "the helmet toss." So what better way to channel the joy, anger and heartache of his gridiron roots than to move to Nashville, Tenn., and become a country singer who is influenced by some of heavy metal's giants?

First, a recap: Late in a 2001 game at the Louisiana Superdome, Saints quarterback Aaron Brooks was having his helmet ripped off, and his neck bent backwards, by New York Jets defensive back Damien Robinson -- a player I covered for one season at the University of Iowa in 1993. Taking exception while coming to his quarterback's aid, Turley confronted Robinson, emerged from a scuffle with Robinson's helmet and flung it down the field, punctuating his actions by flipping the bird. Turley was ejected, and the ensuing penalty cost his team valuable field position in an eventual Jets victory.

Turley pulls no punches in his music, either. He calls out Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones for acquiring not-so-law-abiding players and for firing "the great Tom Landry." He uses a profanity to describe his dislike for former St. Louis Rams coach and current Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Mike Martz. And he praises former Bears and Saints coach Mike Ditka for once giving a homeless man $1,000.

And that's just in one song: "Fly 'N Helmet" is available on iTunes and scheduled to be on his upcoming debut album Anger Management, to be released through Gridiron Records.

Turley opens for Hank III & Assjack on March 14 at Scout Bar. Hank III, who used to play bass in former Pantera singer Phil Anselmo's now-defunct band Superjoint Ritual, is the son of country legend Hank Williams Jr., who performs the "Monday Night Football" theme.

I phoned Turley, 34, on Wednesday:

Q: How does a guy who's influenced by Pantera and Slayer get roped into being a country singer?
A: I grew up on a lot of old-school country, like Johnny Cash. My dad was a truck driver, so that should tell it all. Old-school country was a heavy influence. It's very similar to a lot of the music that I listen to in heavy metal. With all those bands, just add a little distortion and some double-bass riffs, and you've got Pantera and Slayer. And if you do it acoustically, you've got some great country bands. In my music, I try to run the gamut of New Orleans, if you will, and it's telling the story of my life. I get into some heavier stuff as well. I try to blend it all together.

Q: What can you tell me about Anger Management as far as release date, recording and writing process and the type of songs that are on it?
A: Potentially March 9. Hopefully we can hit that and make it happen. Distribution on a first album and stores picking it up is a whole 'nother animal. As we roll along on the tour and build a fan base, there will be more demand for it. It'll be up on iTunes and all the digital outlets toward the end of this month. It's a very personal album. Instead of writing a book, I wrote a record, and moving here to Nashville three years ago, I delved into it. I didn't want to go into coaching. I had enough of that and wanted to do something different with my life. I'd put it up against any other album out there.

Q: What was it like playing the Night of Champions benefit for the Gridiron Greats at the Super Bowl?
A: That's a great cause. It's something I've been close to, sitting on the board with the Gridiron Greats organization with Mike Ditka and Gale Sayers, guys who are trying to change the way guys are treated medically. We also played an open-air mall at South Beach. There were big, huge crowds, everybody shopping. Then the capper to top it off was a huge concert for about 1,000 screaming Saints fans, a private function that we did before the game to get everybody fired up. It was an unbelievable experience.

Q: "My Soul Bleeds Black and Gold" shows that you've remained a Saint at heart, and you have stated you wished you spent your entire career in New Orleans. Can you describe what the Super Bowl experience and victory meant for you even though you've been retired from the NFL?
A: I'm far enough removed that I was really happy and excited for that team. From coach Sean Payton, who was the quarterbacks coach at San Diego State when I was there, to Reggie Bush, who was 10 years old and lived across the street from me in an apartment complex. His dad used to come over every day and tell me his son would play in the NFL one day, and now he is, and he has a ring. Jeremy Shockey is a good friend of mine, and I know Drew Brees. The city is unlike any other and deserved a Super Bowl win more than any other. That was the intention (of the song). We started this way before the Saints had a locked-in deal for the Super Bowl.

Q: Had you remained with the Saints, that would have brought you to San Antonio during the 2005 season after Hurricane Katrina for practices and three home games. I know you missed that entire season with the Rams due to injury, but how do you think you would have adapted to that situation?
A: You gotta do what you gotta do. The show must go on. If the team had to move to San Antonio, it would've been great. We played a preseason game there I believe against the Vikings in 2002 or 2001 (Vikings beat the Saints 28-21 on Aug. 11, 2001 at the Alamodome). I'd been to San Antonio by the River Walk, and we hung out before the game. I like San Antonio. I'm a California guy, and I'd driven through there a lot. We'd always drive from New Orleans to Southern California, and we'd stop at all the southern cities of Texas. San Antonio would have been a great place to play.

Q: Is singing and writing lyrics about your NFL career therapeutic for you?
A: Oh yeah, that's why I titled it Anger Management. That's where the NFL sent me after the whole helmet-tossing incident. That was ridiculous. I know what I did was wrong and that I took an incident a little too far. If we would've won the game, I would've been the hero. But we lost, so I was the goat. Anger management to me is best served writing the music, to sit down with the guitar and kind of let it go. It's very liberating, as it is on my life in general. Things don't work out the way you want them to all the time. So it's very therapeutic.

Q: Do you stand by how everything went down with the helmet, or do you regret any of it today?
A: The only regret is I threw the helmet and flipped everybody off (chuckles). Well, I flipped off the Jets' bench. I thought they were a bunch of punk-asses. An extra 15-yard penalty cost us field-goal position. It was all with good intention and evolved into something more than that. There was a brawl, and I couldn't tell who was on top of me. I regret the loss of the game. At the end of the day, it's just a game and entertainment. To separate pro football from pro wrestling, it's just one and the same. I took it upon myself that it was my job, my duty to protect people. There's nothing that I would take back about my intention.

Q: To what extent do you still feel the effects of some of the injuries that led to your retirement?
A: A great deal. Unfortunately, as I've retired and the last couple years have gone by, I've had to face reality of the progression of issues dealing with concussions. It's been pretty difficult to deal with, to be honest with you. I'm on medications full-time, and if I don't take them, I have some pretty bad days. So I've got to keep taking them. I'm married with a brand new boy of 11 months.

Q: Which song of yours means the most to you and why?
A: Every one of those songs has meaning. It comes from somewhere deep. "Final Drive" I wrote about some things I've dealt with and an ex-player named Justin Strzelczyk, who played (nine) years with the Steelers and took his life (in 2004) after a high-speed chase with police. He went crazy, and it was discovered afterward that he was suffering from a brain disease that they're just learning about. Some of (the songs) are tongue-in-cheek, some are rockin', some more serious, some two-step, some sad  ballads.

Q: Do you think you'll get any type of backlash for calling out Jerry Jones when you perform "Fly 'N Helmet" here in front of a large Cowboys fan base?

A: I don't think many Cowboys fans would argue with me. Like I say, he'd rather have "crooks from video games," hiring Pacman Jones and players like that. He got lucky by having a great coach named Jimmy Johnson winning those Super Bowls. He's more concerned about publicity on wrong levels, keeping the Cowboys out there at all costs, good or bad. The Cowboys were my team growing up. Danny White and Tony Dorsett. That was the team I wanted to play for. I still have Cowboys dolls up in my room that were dear to my heart. When I was trying to get traded, I was hoping the Cowboys would pick me up. I was hoping they'd draft me and that they'd give me a shot.

Q: If you were to be in a metal band or in some sort of supergroup, who would be your hand-picked musicians?
A: (Laughs) Well, let's see now. I'd have to go with Kerry King of Slayer on guitar and Dave Lombardo on drums, that's for sure. As far as bass goes, my man Rex from Pantera, and when I'm on stage, I've gotta have a guitar in my hand, too, that's for sure. If I had to have another guitarist, I'd definitely put Dimebag Darrell in there. If not, maybe he and Kerry King can battle it out in "Celebrity Deathmatch." Slayer is the most unbelievable band ever, in any genre. In that genre, to be around 20 (plus) years, doing what they're doing and still cranking out that type of music -- they never sold out like Metallica.

Q: What's the biggest misconception people have about you?
A: I don't know, man. To hear all the misconceptions. . . I'd like to believe I'm a blue-collar guy. That's where I came from. My dad was a truck driver. I have respect for the law. I'm not afraid to speak my mind. I believe everybody's got a voice and the freedom to use it. I believe in this country, and if people have problems with the way I live my life, then they must have problems with the way they live their life. I don't pull any punches. If you're black or white, gay or straight, I don't care. It's about being a human being. I've got too many goals I want to accomplish in my life and a young son I'm trying to raise the right way. If people have a problem with that, then maybe they have too many skeletons in their closet.
 

• Who: Kyle Turley
• What: Opening for Hank III/Assjack
• When: Sunday, March 14 (Doors at 7 p.m.)
• Where: Scout Bar (19314 U.S. 281 N. and Redland)
• Tickets: $18 at frontgatetickets.com