Jordan Travis Bio
Jordan Travis (born May 2, 2000) is an American former professional football quarterback. He played college football for the Louisville Cardinals and the Florida State Seminoles, rising from a lightly recruited high school prospect to one of the top quarterbacks in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Travis won ACC Player of the Year in 2023 before being selected by the New York Jets in the fifth round of the 2024 NFL draft. On April 30, 2025, in a handwritten note, Travis announced his retirement from football, citing a severe leg injury he suffered in November 2023 during his final season at Florida State.
Standing 6 feet 1 inch tall and listed at 200 pounds, Travis was known during his college career for his mobility, competitiveness, and leadership of an offense that returned Florida State to national relevance. His professional career was cut short before he could play a regular-season snap, but his impact on the Seminoles program and the broader college football landscape has remained widely discussed.
Early Life and Background
Jordan Travis was born on May 2, 2000, in West Palm Beach, Florida. He grew up in the Palm Beach area of South Florida, a region known for producing a steady stream of college and professional football talent. He attended Palm Beach Central High School, where he began developing as a young quarterback before deciding to transfer.
After his sophomore year, Travis transferred to The Benjamin School, a private school in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, where he completed his high school career and graduated in 2018. Coming out of high school, he was ranked as the No. 24 dual-threat quarterback in his class by 247Sports, a solid but not elite evaluation that did not project him as a top-tier national recruit. His brother, Devon Travis, played college baseball at Florida State under legendary head coach Mike Martin, giving the Travis family a connection to the Tallahassee program before Jordan ever put on a Seminoles jersey.
Path to American Football
Travis began his college career as a Louisville Cardinal, choosing the program over the Baylor Bears. He saw action in only three games during his time at Louisville, completing 4 of 14 passing attempts while adding 40 rushing yards. The limited role gave him a small glimpse of major college football but did not establish him as a long-term starter with the Cardinals.
In November 2018, Travis announced that he would be leaving Louisville, and on December 22, 2018, he revealed that he would be transferring to Florida State. He arrived in Tallahassee in 2019 under head coach Willie Taggart, but he did not take the field for the Seminoles until after Taggart was fired. That delay in playing time ultimately gave him a redshirt season and the chance to develop before becoming a central figure in the Seminoles offense.
Jordan Travis Career
Florida State Breakthrough (2019–2023)
Travis spent five seasons with the Florida State Seminoles, growing from a little-used transfer into the face of the program’s resurgence. He led the team to ten-win seasons as a redshirt junior and again as a senior, helping the Seminoles return to the top of the Atlantic Coast Conference. During his tenure as a starter, Travis became the first Florida State starting quarterback to win three games against rival Miami, a notable milestone in one of college football’s most storied rivalries.
In his senior season, Travis was named one of 20 semifinalists for the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award, recognizing him among the country’s elite passers. That year he also earned ACC Player of the Year, ACC Offensive Player of the Year, and First-team All-ACC honors, building on a Second-team All-ACC selection in 2022. Travis finished fifth in Heisman Trophy voting that season, trailing Marvin Harrison Jr., Bo Nix, Michael Penix Jr., and the eventual winner, Jayden Daniels.
On November 18, 2023, Travis suffered a serious leg injury during a game against North Alabama. As he fought for extra yards, a defender used a hip-drop tackle that awkwardly twisted his left leg, and he was carted off the field with an air cast placed on his leg. Two days later, Travis announced that the injury was season-ending and would also bring his college career to a close. Because of his absence, Florida State became the first undefeated Power Five conference champion to be left out of the College Football Playoff, a decision committee chairman Boo Corrigan attributed in part to the team being “a different team” without its starting quarterback.
New York Jets Era (2024)
Travis was selected by the New York Jets in the fifth round, 171st overall, of the 2024 NFL draft. The Jets added him as a developmental quarterback, hoping his mobility and leadership could eventually translate to the professional level. However, on August 27, 2024, the team placed him on the reserve/non-football injury list as he continued to recover from the leg injury he had sustained in college.
After spending the entire 2024 season rehabilitating the injury, Travis announced that the rehab had been unsuccessful and that he had been advised to medically retire. He officially announced his retirement from professional football on April 30, 2025, ending a brief but widely followed pro career before he ever took a regular-season snap.
Jordan Travis Family
Family Background and Racing Lineage
Jordan Travis comes from a family with ties to Florida State athletics through his brother, Devon Travis, who played college baseball for the Seminoles under longtime head coach Mike Martin. That family connection to the program helped shape Jordan’s decision to transfer to Florida State and begin his own athletic journey in Tallahassee.
2025 Outlook
Jordan Travis’s 2025 storyline is defined by closure rather than competition. On April 30, 2025, he announced his retirement from professional football, confirming that the leg injury he suffered in November 2023 had ended both his college and NFL careers. The decision brought a quiet end to a chapter that had begun with the promise of a fifth-round selection by the New York Jets.
For 2025, the former Seminoles star transitioned out of active play, stepping away from the field after a long and closely watched rehabilitation. His legacy rests on his role in leading Florida State back to conference prominence, his ACC Player of the Year award in 2023, and the unusual distinction of being a first-round-caliber college quarterback whose professional potential was cut short before it could be measured in games.
