ATLANTA, Ga. -- The single-most important player to date of Mike Norvell's Florida State tenure has to be Jordan Travis.
Norvell, along with his first FSU offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham, convinced Travis upon their arrival at FSU that he shouldn't give up football or make a position change like he was highly considering. They believed he was a quarterback.
The rest, as they say, is history. Travis led Norvell to his first win as FSU head coach in his third game and thus began one of the more unlikely careers in FSU football's storied history. Travis finished his FSU career as the program leader in career touchdowns responsible for (97) and career total offense (10,554 yards). He's second in FSU football history in career passing yards (8,644) and tied for second in career passing touchdowns (65) and career wins as a starting QB (28). He ranked fourth all-time in career rushing touchdowns (31) and 17th in career rushing yards (1,910), both over twice as much as any previous QB in program history.
He also won his last 15 starts as a Seminole, playing a bigger role than anyone in FSU's turnaround from 3-6 in 2020 to 13-1 in 2023.
Unfortunately, Travis' FSU career did not come to a deserving end. In the first quarter of FSU's 58-13 win over North Alabama on Nov. 18, 2023, Travis suffered a gruesome left leg injury which ended his FSU career. Three weeks later, Travis' injury was cited by the College Football Playoff committee as a reason why the undefeated Seminoles were left out of the CFP.
Even more unfortunately, it turns out that injury will mark the end of Travis' playing career as a whole. A fifth-round pick by the New York Jets in the 2024 NFL Draft, Travis announced on social media on Wednesday that he's been advised by doctors to medically retire having never played a down in the NFL.
"On November 18th, 2023, my life and career took an unexpected turn," Travis said in a statement. "I gave everything I had to the rehab process, but despite my efforts, my leg never responded the way we hoped. After much prayer and consultation with my doctors and medical team, I have been medically advised to retire from the game I love so deeply."
Speaking publicly for the first time since Travis' announcement at the Seminole Booster tour stop Thursday night in Atlanta, Norvell addressed Travis' tragic news.
"I love Jordan. Him and I have talked throughout this process and it's been hard to watch," Norvell said. "He's poured everything that he had into it. He's had great support around him. Unfortunately, medically he's not going to be able to play this game of football. That breaks my heart just because I got to watch him really from the beginning of his collegiate career, his steps to go and become one of the best players in all of college football, one of the great Florida State Seminoles of all time."
It's unclear where Travis' career goes from here after an unexpectedly brief NFL stint due to his setbacks. But given how much he speaks publicly about his love for the game of football, it's easy to believe the sport will remain a part of his life in some facet, even if it is no longer playing the game.
There's been some yet unfounded speculation about the possibility of Travis ending up back on staff at FSU or on Dillingham's staff at Arizona State if he were to be open to exploring the coaching route. Norvell didn't make any such comment on that matter Thursday. Instead, he simply expressed extreme confidence that Travis will be successful in whatever is next on his journey.
"Jordan is going to be great. He's going to continue to make an impact. I talked to him (Wednesday) just after the announcement came out and I told him that he's got an entire family of Florida State Seminoles that are here supporting him through this," Norvell said. "He's going to continue to do rehab as he's getting through the rest of this process and then I'm looking forward to what the next step in his future, in his career is going to be. It's going to be really special."
Norvell, along with his first FSU offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham, convinced Travis upon their arrival at FSU that he shouldn't give up football or make a position change like he was highly considering. They believed he was a quarterback.
The rest, as they say, is history. Travis led Norvell to his first win as FSU head coach in his third game and thus began one of the more unlikely careers in FSU football's storied history. Travis finished his FSU career as the program leader in career touchdowns responsible for (97) and career total offense (10,554 yards). He's second in FSU football history in career passing yards (8,644) and tied for second in career passing touchdowns (65) and career wins as a starting QB (28). He ranked fourth all-time in career rushing touchdowns (31) and 17th in career rushing yards (1,910), both over twice as much as any previous QB in program history.
He also won his last 15 starts as a Seminole, playing a bigger role than anyone in FSU's turnaround from 3-6 in 2020 to 13-1 in 2023.
Unfortunately, Travis' FSU career did not come to a deserving end. In the first quarter of FSU's 58-13 win over North Alabama on Nov. 18, 2023, Travis suffered a gruesome left leg injury which ended his FSU career. Three weeks later, Travis' injury was cited by the College Football Playoff committee as a reason why the undefeated Seminoles were left out of the CFP.
Even more unfortunately, it turns out that injury will mark the end of Travis' playing career as a whole. A fifth-round pick by the New York Jets in the 2024 NFL Draft, Travis announced on social media on Wednesday that he's been advised by doctors to medically retire having never played a down in the NFL.
"On November 18th, 2023, my life and career took an unexpected turn," Travis said in a statement. "I gave everything I had to the rehab process, but despite my efforts, my leg never responded the way we hoped. After much prayer and consultation with my doctors and medical team, I have been medically advised to retire from the game I love so deeply."
Speaking publicly for the first time since Travis' announcement at the Seminole Booster tour stop Thursday night in Atlanta, Norvell addressed Travis' tragic news.
"I love Jordan. Him and I have talked throughout this process and it's been hard to watch," Norvell said. "He's poured everything that he had into it. He's had great support around him. Unfortunately, medically he's not going to be able to play this game of football. That breaks my heart just because I got to watch him really from the beginning of his collegiate career, his steps to go and become one of the best players in all of college football, one of the great Florida State Seminoles of all time."
It's unclear where Travis' career goes from here after an unexpectedly brief NFL stint due to his setbacks. But given how much he speaks publicly about his love for the game of football, it's easy to believe the sport will remain a part of his life in some facet, even if it is no longer playing the game.
There's been some yet unfounded speculation about the possibility of Travis ending up back on staff at FSU or on Dillingham's staff at Arizona State if he were to be open to exploring the coaching route. Norvell didn't make any such comment on that matter Thursday. Instead, he simply expressed extreme confidence that Travis will be successful in whatever is next on his journey.
"Jordan is going to be great. He's going to continue to make an impact. I talked to him (Wednesday) just after the announcement came out and I told him that he's got an entire family of Florida State Seminoles that are here supporting him through this," Norvell said. "He's going to continue to do rehab as he's getting through the rest of this process and then I'm looking forward to what the next step in his future, in his career is going to be. It's going to be really special."
