Travis Claridge (March 23, 1978 – February 28, 2006) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numb ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

(NFL). He played for the Atlanta Falcons between 2000 and 2003 and for the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

in 2004.

Early life

Travis Claridge was born in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

and grew up in

Almont, Michigan Almont is a village in Almont Township, Lapeer County, Michigan. Its population was 2,846 at the 2020 census. History Almont was first settled in 1828 by James Deneen. It received a post office in 1835 named Bristol, for Oliver Bristol, the seco ...

. His dad coached football at Almont H.S. When he was in the 4th grade he moved with his dad to California. Then as a 7th grader Travis and his dad moved to

Vancouver, Washington Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, located in Clark County, Washington, Clark County. Incorporated in 1857, Vancouver has a population of 190,915 as of the 2020 Unit ...

. Travis went to Fort Vancouver High School. In 1995, he became the number one offensive lineman in the country and the number two high school football player in the nation. He chose the Trojans of the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8. ...

over 60-plus schools.

College career

Claridge started 48 games for USC and the first to do so as a true freshman in college football and was voted the

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

top offensive linesman in 1999. Started in both the

Senior Bowl The Senior Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game played annually in late January or early February in Mobile, Alabama, which showcases the best NFL Draft prospects of those players who have completed their college eligibility. ...

and

East-West Shrine Game East West (or East and West) may refer to: *East–West dichotomy, the contrast between Eastern and Western society or culture Arts and entertainment Books, journals and magazines *'' East, West'', an anthology of short stories written by Salm ...

. He won the

Morris Trophy Coaches of the Pac-12 Conference bestow the following awards at the end of each American football, football season. The conference was founded in its current form as the Athletic Association of Western Universities in 1959, but traces its roots to t ...

as the Pac-10s top lineman.

Professional career

After being selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the second round of the

2000 NFL Draft The 2000 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur U.S. college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 15– 16, 2000, at the Th ...

, he started for 62 games in his first four seasons. However, a knee injury limited him to 6 games in the 2003 and the Falcons did not extend his contract. Although he signed with the

as a free agent in 2004, he was cut during training camp. In 2005, Claridge played two games at the right tackle position with the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ...

. He played brilliantly in his debut and was voted MVP of the game. It was the first time any player in his first CFL game was voted player of the game. He was injured in his second game and did not play again.

Death

After being found unconscious at his home in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the List of United States cities by population, 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the U.S. state, state of Neva ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

, he was transported to Saint Rose Dominican Hospital in

Henderson Henderson may refer to: People *Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname *Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan Places Argentina * Henderson, Buenos Aires Australia *Henderson, Western Australia Canada * ...

where he later died at age 27. The

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the governme ...

reported on 10 May 2006 that the cause of death was acute

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

, exacerbated by

respiratory depression Hypoventilation (also known as respiratory depression) occurs when ventilation is inadequate (''hypo'' meaning "below") to perform needed respiratory gas exchange. By definition it causes an increased concentration of carbon dioxide ( hypercapn ...

brought on by

intoxication Intoxication — or poisoning, especially by an alcoholic or narcotic substance — may refer to: * Substance intoxication: ** Alcohol intoxication ** LSD intoxication ** Toxidrome ** Tobacco intoxication ** Cannabis intoxication ** Cocaine in ...

with the

painkiller An analgesic drug, also called simply an analgesic (American English), analgaesic (British English), pain reliever, or painkiller, is any member of the group of drugs used to achieve relief from pain (that is, analgesia or pain management). It i ...

oxycodone Oxycodone, sold under various brand names such as Roxicodone and OxyContin (which is the extended release form), is a strong, semi-synthetic opioid used medically for treatment of moderate to severe pain. It is highly addictive and a commonly ...

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References

External links

Just Sports Stats

* ttp://www.nfl.com/players/playerpage/187515 NFL Player Profile
USC Trojans Travis Claridge place

KVBC Report on Cause of Death
{{DEFAULTSORT:Claridge, Travis 1978 births 2006 deaths American football offensive guards American football offensive tackles Atlanta Falcons players Canadian football offensive linemen Hamilton Tiger-Cats players USC Trojans football players American players of Canadian football Players of American football from Detroit Sportspeople from Vancouver, Washington People from Almont, Michigan Sportspeople from Metro Detroit Deaths from pneumonia in Nevada Drug-related deaths in Nevada