Jordan Travis’ late season injury was one of the most heartbreaking of the 2023 college football season, and it likely changed the trajectory of the College Football Playoff.
There was a better story told on Saturday.
Travis, whose broken leg late in Florida State’s season might have cost the Seminoles a spot in the CFP they felt they deserved, was selected in the fifth round of the NFL Draft by the New York Jets.
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Travis, who was last season’s ACC Player of the Year, enters a pretty good situation with the Jets, who are still looking for a quarterback beyond however long Aaron Rodgers plays.
Jordan Travis has a bad injury
Travis and Florida State were having an excellent season when he suffered a gruesome lower leg injury while being tackled on a run against North Alabama.
Florida State was undefeated at the time, and won their final two games without Travis although the offense struggled in the ACC championship game. Despite an undefeated record FSU was left out of the College Football Playoff, and Travis being out for the rest of the season probably played a role in that. Florida State lost its bowl game to Georgia 63-3.
When Florida State was left out, it sparked a debate across the sports world.
“Devastated. heartbroken,” Travis wrote on his X formerly Twitter account, via the Tallahassee Democrat. “In so much disbelief rn, I wish my leg broke earlier in the season so y’all could see this team is much more than the quarterback.”
But the injury didn’t eliminate how good Travis was last season, and the Jets saw that.
Jets take a shot on Travis
The Jets had some hope that Zach Wilson could take a step back behind Rodgers, resurrect his career and eventually take over the quarterback job when Rodgers is done. That didn’t happen and the Jets traded Wilson to the Denver Broncos.
The 171st overall pick was a worthwhile investment for the Jets into Travis, who had 2,756 yards, 20 touchdowns and two interceptions last season. And now Travis gets to learn from Rodgers, who will turn 41 years old during this upcoming season. Rodgers will face retirement questions every offseason from here until he decides to hang it up.
It’s not a bad spot for Travis to start his NFL career. After what happened last season, he’s an easy story to root for.
Source Agencies
