Travis Richard Jervey (born May 5, 1972) is an American former 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 ...

player who was a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played for the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

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 ...

, and

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

. With the Packers, he won

Super Bowl XXXI Super Bowl XXXI was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Green Bay Packers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champio ...

over the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

and participated in the

1998 Pro Bowl The 1998 Pro Bowl was the NFL's all-star game for the 1997 season. The game was played on February 1, 1998, at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii. The final score was AFC 29, NFC 24. Warren Moon of the Seattle Seahawks, invited to participat ...

. 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 ...

for

The Citadel Bulldogs The Citadel Bulldogs are the athletic teams that represent The Citadel. All sports participate in the NCAA Division I except football, which competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Since 1936, varsity sports have ...

Early life

Jervey attended

Wando High School Wando High School (often shortened to "Wando") is a public high school within the Charleston County School District, located in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, United States. The school serves students living in Mount Pleasant and other suburban ...

Mount Pleasant, South Carolina Mount Pleasant is a large suburban town in Charleston County, South Carolina, United States. In the Lowcountry, it is the fourth-most populous municipality in South Carolina, and for several years was one of the state's fastest-growing areas, d ...

, and played collegiately at

The Citadel The Citadel Military College of South Carolina (simply known as The Citadel) is a public senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Established in 1842, it is the third oldest of the six senior military colleges ...

in neighboring Charleston, where he was the backup to Everette Sands for three years. Jervey also considered playing for

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

, but that program only offered him a partial scholarship. During his senior season, Jervey set a school record with a 96-yard run against VMI in the

Oyster Bowl The Oyster Bowl is a regular season college football game played annually in the Hampton Roads-area of Virginia. The game has featured match-ups between high school, NCAA Division III, and at present, NCAA Division I teams, at various points in it ...

. Jervey was later inducted into both The Citadel and South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Green Bay Packers

Jervey was a fifth round pick (170th overall) of the Packers in the

1995 NFL draft The 1995 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 22–23, 1995 at the Paramount ...

; lead scout John Dorsey suggested taking

Terrell Davis Terrell Lamar Davis (born October 28, 1972) is an American former professional football player who was a running back for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL) from 1995 to 2001. He is the Broncos all-time leading rusher and ...

with the pick but general manager

Ron Wolf Ronald Wolf (born December 30, 1938) is an American former professional football executive who was a general manager (GM) of the National Football League (NFL)'s Green Bay Packers. Wolf is widely credited with bringing success to a Packers fra ...

was worried about Davis' injury history and took Jervey instead. In the 1996 season, Jervey participated in the "NFL's Fastest Man" competition and placed fourth. After playing exclusively at running back in college, Jervey began playing on special teams with the Packers and made the

as a special teams player. In 1998, Jervey started five games in place of the injured

Dorsey Levens Herbert Dorsey Levens (born May 21, 1970) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL), primarily for the Green Bay Packers. He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighti ...

before sustaining a broken ankle. As his rookie contract was up after 1998, the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

originally offered Jervey a three-year contract but later rescinded; he re-signed on a one-year deal with the Packers.

San Francisco 49ers

In 1999, he signed a four-year free agent contract with the 49ers worth $6 million. While still recovering from a broken ankle, Jervey claimed to take testosterone shots, but the league said Jervey took steroids and suspended him for four games. In the 2000 season, Jervey returned kicks for the 49ers, but his season came to an early end after he suffered a broken collarbone against the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played ...

. After reportedly taking a pay cut prior to the 1999 season, Jervey would not negotiate a lower level of compensation for the 2000 season and was released on March 19 in what was viewed as a move to save salary cap space.

Atlanta Falcons

Jervey signed with the

on May 1, 2001. He played in every game that year, mostly on special teams. He was re-signed for the 2002 season, but a torn

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

ended his season in late October. His 2003 season with the Falcons was derailed by a neck sprain sustained late in the season.

Personal life

While playing for the Packers, Jervey lived with teammate LeShon Johnson in

Green Bay, Wisconsin Green Bay is a city in Brown County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the head of Green Bay (Lake Michigan), Green Bay (known locally as "the bay of Green Bay"), a sub-basin of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the F ...

. The two owned a pet lion named Nala after previously being dissuaded from owning a monkey. He was arrested for speeding in his Ferrari and marijuana possession in February 1998, but the marijuana charges were later dropped when it was determined that law enforcement misidentified a substance in his car. Jervey is married to a jewelry designer, and they have a son and a daughter. They live in Mt. Pleasant, SC. He is an avid surfer, and previously held land in Dominical, Puntarenas when he wintered in Costa Rica to ride waves. Jervey returned to football in a one-off coaching appearance for the American team in the 2015 Medal of Honor Bowl.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jervey, Travis 1972 births Living people Players of American football from Columbia, South Carolina American football running backs The Citadel Bulldogs football players Green Bay Packers players San Francisco 49ers players Atlanta Falcons players National Conference Pro Bowl players