Travis Kirschke (born September 6, 1974) 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

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

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

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

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

and was signed by the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

in 1997. Kirschke also played for 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 ...

and the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

Early life

Kirschke grew up in

Yorba Linda, California Yorba Linda is a suburban city in northeastern Orange County, California, United States, approximately southeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, and had a population of 68,336 at the 2020 United States ...

, and attended

Esperanza High School Esperanza High School (EHS) is a public high school located in Anaheim, California and is part of the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District. It is a California Distinguished School and is home to various California Interscholastic Feder ...

. He was named a California High School player of the year his Senior season and also won the

Glenn Davis Award The Glenn Davis Award was given annually from 1987 to 2017 by the ''Los Angeles Times'' to the best high school football player in the Los Angeles area. It is named after Glenn Davis, the 1946 Heisman Trophy winner who prepped at Bonita High ...

for the best high school player in the Los Angeles area.

College career

Kirschke played

for the

where he made 104 tackles and 6.5 sacks.

Professional career

Detroit Lions

Kirschke was selected by the

as an undrafted free agent in 1997. In his rookie season he played in three games making his NFL debut on August 31 against the

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 ...

. He finished the season with one tackle. In 1998, he spent the majority of the season on the injured reserve list and did not get any playing time. The following year, he played a far more active role in the Lions starting line up with seven starts and 15 appearances. He finished the campaign with 20 tackles and two sacks. In 2000, he played in 13 games recording 13 tackles and 0.5 sacks. In 2001, his fifth season with the Lions, he played in all 16 games making 20 tackles. In his final year with the Lions he made 15 appearances and 19 tackles.

San Francisco 49ers

Kirschke signed for the

before the start of the 2003 season. In his only year for the franchise he started in 15 out of 16 games and recorded 43 tackles and 1.5 sacks.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Kirschke signed with the

as an unrestricted free agent on March 11, 2004. In his first season with the team he played in all 16 games and finished the season with 12 tackles and one sack. In 2005, he was part of the Steelers team who won

Super Bowl XL Super Bowl XL was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2005 Seattle Seahawks season, Seattle Seahawks and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Pittsburgh S ...

and finished the year 13 tackles and one sack. The following year, he made eight tackles and equaled his career-high total of two sacks. In 2007, he finished the campaign with 26 tackles and two sacks. In 2008, as part of the NFL's best defense, Travis had a career-high 46 tackles and 2 sacks, 3 more tackles than he had as a starter for the 49ers.http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/stats?playerId=1325} Stats courtesy of Elias Sports Bureau

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Personal life

Kirschke is married to Amy and has one daughter, Ella, who is a member of the UCLA swim team, and two sons, Gabe and Blake. Gabe is a member of the Colorado State football team. Blake is set to attend Denver to play lacrosse. He is currently an assistant football coach at Valor Christian High School in Highlands Ranch, Colorado.

References

External links

Pittsburgh Steelers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirschke, Travis 1974 births Living people American football defensive tackles Detroit Lions players Pittsburgh Steelers players Players of American football from Anaheim, California San Francisco 49ers players Players of American football from Fullerton, California Sportspeople from Yorba Linda, California UCLA Bruins football players Esperanza High School alumni