Travin Howard (born May 10, 1996) is 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 wi ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

who is a free agent. He played college football at TCU.

Early years

Howard was born in

Longview, Texas Longview is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, and county seat of Gregg County; a small part of Longview extends into the western portion of neighboring Harrison County. Longview is located in East Texas, where Interstate 20 and U.S. Highways ...

, where he became a star at

Longview High School Longview High School (colloquially known as LHS) is a public high school located in the city of Longview, Texas, in Gregg County, United States and classified as a 5A school by the UIL. It is a part of the Longview Independent School District ...

. Playing

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly dif ...

, he earned District Defensive MVP honors as a senior for the Lobos in 2013. He verbally committed to play at TCU and signed his national letter of intent with the Horned Frogs on February 5, 2014.

College career

At TCU, Howard played sparingly as a freshman in 2014. After the first game of his sophomore season, Howard was moved to

Linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

and led the Horned Frogs in tackles the next week against

Stephen F. Austin Stephen Fuller Austin (November 3, 1793 – December 27, 1836) was an American-born empresario. Known as the "Father of Texas" and the founder of Anglo Texas,Hatch (1999), p. 43. he led the second and, ultimately, the successful colonization ...

. He went on to start the next 11 games, and would end the season as the team's leading tackler. He also earned Defensive MVP honors in the Frogs' triple-overtime victory over

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

in the

2015 Alamo Bowl The 2015 Alamo Bowl was an American college football bowl game played on January 2, 2015, at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The 22nd edition of the Alamo Bowl featured the Kansas State Wildcats from the Big 12 Conference and the UCLA Bru ...

. As a full-time starter in his junior and senior seasons in Fort Worth, Howard again led the Horned Frogs in tackles - becoming the first player in program history to do so for three consecutive seasons. He was named first-team All-

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its f ...

in both seasons and again earned Defensive MVP honors in his final collegiate game, a win over Stanford in the 2017 Alamo Bowl.

College statistics

Professional career

Los Angeles Rams

Howard was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the seventh round (231st overall) of the 2018 NFL Draft. He was waived by the Rams on September 1, 2018. He was re-signed to the practice squad on October 16, 2018. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Rams on February 6, 2019. On September 5, 2020, Howard was placed on injured reserve. He was given an

exclusive-rights free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player 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 contract at present but who is ...

tender by the Rams on March 4, 2021, and signed it on March 26. On November 2, 2021, Howard was placed on injured reserve. He was activated on December 21. Against the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-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 of the league's National ...

in the NFC Championship Game, Howard made the game-sealing interception on

Jimmy Garoppolo James Richard Garoppolo (born November 2, 1991), nicknamed Jimmy G, is an American football quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Eastern Illinois, where he set the school r ...

in the final two minutes in the 20-17 win, sending the Rams to Super Bowl LVI. The Rams went to beat the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20. On June 8, 2022, Howard was waived by the Rams, but was then re-signed less than a week later He was placed on the reserve/non-football injury list on August 30, 2022. He was designated to return from the reserve/non-football injury list on October 24, 2022. He was activated from the reserve/non-football injury list on November 5, 2022.

Buffalo Bills

On May 14, 2023, Howard signed with the Buffalo Bills. He was released on August 29, 2023.

References

External links

TCU Horned Frogs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Travin 1996 births Living people American football linebackers American football safeties Buffalo Bills players Longview High School alumni Los Angeles Rams players Players of American football from Longview, Texas TCU Horned Frogs football players