Former Florida State Seminoles football star Jordan Travis announced his NFL retirement on Wednesday, citing his leg injury as why he was calling it a career at the age of 24, a little over a year after being drafted by the Jets.
“On November 18, 2023, my life took an unexpected turn. I gave everything I had to the rehab process but despite all my efforts, my leg never responded the way we hoped. After much prayer and consultation with the doctors, medical experts and my agent, I've been medically advised to retire from the game I love so deeply,” Travis said.
As On3’s Alex Byington relayed, Travis’s ascension to the starting signal-caller job in Mike Norvell’s offense in Tallahassee was “transformative.”
“After beginning his college career at Louisville, Travis transferred to FSU ahead of the 2019 season and waited his turn before becoming the ‘Noles’ starting QB in 2022. Once in that role, Travis established himself as a transformative quarterback in Tallahassee, finishing his illustrious FSU career ranking second in wins by a starting quarterback (28) and also breaking former Heisman Tophy winner Chris Weinke‘s career school record for total touchdowns (97) and total offense (10,554),” Byington wrote.
Travis will go down as one of the greatest what-ifs in football history.
For Noles Nation, was the price of his injury a trip to the 2023 College Football Playoff? Regardless of whether or not that can be pinpointed as the definitive reason, that’s the narrative.
For New York and the NFL, there was never a chance to see if what Travis accomplished with FSU was sustainable.
Regardless of where the story went, Travis’s will always include leading Florida State to greatness before suffering a career-ending injury during a meaningless buy game against North Alabama before the program was involved in the CFP’s biggest all-time snub in its final four-team bracket.