By Peter Day
Staff Writer
LUCERNE VALLEY — First, Karate master Ruben Gonzalez came and opened a studio. Then former mixed-martial arts champion Martial Harvey decided to make the town his home. The newest sports legend to arrive in Lucerne Valley is Toussaint Tyler, who played in the National Football League with the New Orleans Saints in the early 1980s.
Like Gonzalez and Harvey, Tyler is here to make a difference in the lives of young people. During the recent meeting of the Lucerne Valley Unified School District's governing board, Tyler presented his participation in the NFL Legends Community program. The program was designed to celebrate, educate, embrace and connect all former NFL players with each other, their former teams and the League. As a legend, Tyler will be working with local schools to help provide guidance — and possibly procure funding — for sports and education programs. Currently, he is assisting the Lucerne Valley High School football team.
Tyler, who also played in two Rose Bowls for the University of Washington, gave an emotional presentation about how sports positively impacted his life. Born in Barstow, he discovered sports at a young age.
"At 8 years old I knew I was going to play professional football."
His family moved to Oceanside when he was in middle school, but a seed was already planted and was beginning to get noticed for his speed on the field.
One of seven children, "I wanted to make my parents proud," he said.
During his time in Barstow he had a life-changing experience when, unknown to him, someone helped pay his way to a football camp in Hesperia. There, he became the MVP of the camp.
"It changed my life."
In the San Diego area, his high school team when 12-1, winning C.I.F. When he was at the University of Washington, he was named a two-time All PAC-10 player.
"Marcus Allen was first team," he said with a smile.
He then was drafted by the New Orleans Saints, a team he played with for four years. Eight years ago he was named a Husky football legend by his college.
"I'm very blessed."
After retiring from football, he spent 20 years as a juvenile detention officer in Seattle. Today, he hopes to utilize all of his life experiences to make a difference in the lives of Lucerne Valley youth.
"I'm excited to be able to use my gift that God gave me to assist kids," he said.