Travin Howard (born May 10, 1996) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

TCU TCU may stand for: Education * Tanzania Commission for Universities, regulatory body for Universities in Tanzania * Texas Christian University, a private university in Fort Worth, Texas ** TCU Horned Frogs, the athletic programs of the school * Tok ...

Early life

Howard was born in

Longview, Texas Longview is a city in, and county seat of, Gregg County, Texas, United States. Longview is located in East Texas, where Interstate 20 and U.S. Highway system, U.S. highways U.S. Route 80, 80 and U.S. Route 259, 259 converge just north of the Sabi ...

, where he played

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

at Longview High School. Playing

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

, he earned District Defensive MVP honors as a senior for the Lobos in 2013. He verbally committed to play at

and signed his

national letter of intent The National Letter of Intent (NLI) is a document used to indicate a student athlete's commitment to participating in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) colleges and universities in the United States. The NCAA Eligibility Center manag ...

with the Horned Frogs on February 5, 2014.

College career

At TCU, Howard played sparingly as a freshman in 2014. After the first game of his sophomore season, Howard was moved to

and led the Horned Frogs in

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position) A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent ...

the next week against Stephen F. Austin. He went on to start the next 11 games, and ended the season as the team's leading tackler. He also earned Defensive MVP honors in the Frogs' triple-overtime victory over

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

in the 2015 Alamo Bowl. As a full-time starter in his junior and senior seasons in

Fort Worth Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

, Howard again led the Horned Frogs in tackles, becoming the first player in program history to do so for three consecutive seasons. He was named first-team All-Big 12 Conference in both seasons and again earned Defensive MVP honors in his final collegiate game, a win over

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

in the 2017 Alamo Bowl.

Statistics

Professional career

Los Angeles Rams

Howard was drafted by the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

in the seventh round (231st overall) of the

2018 NFL draft The 2018 NFL draft was the 83rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2018 NFL season. The draft was held on April 26–28 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington southwest of Dallas; it was ...

. He was waived by the Rams on September 1, 2018. He re-signed to the team's

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

on October 16, 2018. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Rams on February 6, 2019. On September 5, 2020, Howard was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

. Howard was given an exclusive-rights free agent tender by the Rams on March 4, 2021, and signed it on March 26. On November 2, 2021, Howard was placed on injured reserve. He was activated on December 21. Against the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

in the

NFC Championship Game The NFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the National Football Conference (NFC) and one of the two semifinal National Football League playoffs, playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional Ame ...

, Howard made the game-sealing interception on

Jimmy Garoppolo James Richard Garoppolo (born November 2, 1991), nicknamed "Jimmy G", is an American professional football quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Eastern Illinois Panther ...

in the final two minutes in the 20–17 win, sending the Rams to

Super Bowl LVI Super Bowl LVI was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2021 NFL season, 2021 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2021 Los Angeles Rams season, Los Angeles ...

. The Rams beat the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

23–20. On June 8, 2022, Howard was waived by the Rams, but was then re-signed less than a week later He was placed on the reserve/ non-football injury list on August 30, 2022. He was designated to return from the reserve/non-football injury list on October 24, 2022. He was activated from the reserve/non-football injury list on November 5, 2022.

Buffalo Bills

On May 14, 2023, Howard signed with the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

, but was released on August 29, 2023.

Birmingham Stallions

Howard signed with the Birmingham Stallions of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

on December 2, 2023. He was released on March 10, 2024.

References

External links

TCU Horned Frogs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Travin 1996 births Living people American football linebackers American football safeties Birmingham Stallions (2022) players Buffalo Bills players Longview High School alumni Los Angeles Rams players Players of American football from Longview, Texas TCU Horned Frogs football players