William Travis McGriff (born June 24, 1976) is an American former college and professional football player who was a wide receiver in two different professional football leagues. McGriff played college football for the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

, where he was a member of a national championship team. Thereafter, he played professionally for the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL), and the

Orlando Predators The Orlando Predators were a professional arena football team based in Orlando, Florida and member of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team was most recently owned by Orlando Predators LLC, a company owned by David A. Siegel, and played its ...

and

Nashville Kats The Nashville Kats were an Arena Football League team, located in Nashville, Tennessee. They were last coached by Pat Sperduto, who coached the team's original incarnation to two ArenaBowl appearances prior to the original franchise's move to A ...

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

Early life and family

McGriff was born in Gainesville, Florida in 1976.Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players
Travis McGriff
Retrieved May 7, 2011. He attended P.K. Yonge High School in Gainesville,databaseFootball.com, Players
Travis McGriff
. Retrieved May 7, 2011. where he was a standout high school football player for the P.K. Yonge Blue Wave. McGriff was born into a family of prominent University of Florida alumni.Jack Hairston, ''Tales from the Gator Swamp'', Sports Publishing, LLC, Champaign, Illinois, pp. 71–75 (2002). His father,

Lee McGriff Lee Colson McGriff (born October 3, 1953) is an American former college and professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for a single season in 1976. McGriff played college football for the Florida ...

, was a walk-on for the

Florida Gators football The Florida Gators football program represents the University of Florida (UF) in American college football. Florida competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division o ...

team who became a first-team All-

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

(SEC) wide receiver, and later, an assistant coach for the Gators. His grandfather, Jack McGriff, was a member of the

Florida Gators track and field The Florida Gators track and field program represents the University of Florida in the sport of track and field. The program includes separate men's and women's teams, both of which compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic As ...

team, and became the principal of the university's laboratory school, P. K. Yonge Developmental Research School. His father's cousin,

Perry McGriff Perry Colson McGriff, Jr. (June 29, 1937 – February 2, 2017) was an American politician, retired insurance agent, and former All-American college football and baseball player. McGriff was a member of the Florida House of Representatives, Ma ...

, was a split end for the Gators in 1958 and 1959, and later became a state representative. Perry's son, Mark McGriff, was a tight end for the Gators from 1984 to 1988.

College career

McGriff accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the

in Gainesville, where he was a wide receiver for coach Steve Spurrier's

team from

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

.
2011 Florida Gators Football Media Guide
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 89, 97, 101, 150, 183 (2011). Retrieved August 30, 2011. He was a letterman on the Gators' SEC championship teams in 1995 and 1996. He was also a member of the Gators' first national championship team in 1996, which defeated the Florida State Seminoles 52–20 in the Sugar Bowl to win the

Bowl Alliance The Bowl Alliance was an agreement among college football bowl games (specifically the Sugar, Orange, and Fiesta Bowls) for the purpose of trying to match the top two teams in a national championship game and to provide quality bowl game match ...

national championship. McGriff had seventy receptions as a senior in 1998, including thirteen catches in a 222-yard performance versus the

South Carolina Gamecocks The South Carolina Gamecocks represent the University of South Carolina in the NCAA Division I. The University of South Carolina uses "Gamecocks" as its official nickname and mascot. While the men's teams were traditionally known as the Fighti ...

. He finished his final college season with ten touchdowns and an SEC single-season record of 1,357 yards receiving, and was a first-team All-SEC selection and a third-team All-American. McGriff graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in exercise and sport sciences in 2004.

Professional career

McGriff was chosen in the third round (ninety-third pick overall) of the 1999 NFL Draft by the

, and played for the Broncos for three seasons from to .National Football League, Historical Players
Travis McGriff
Retrieved May 7, 2011. After three years with the Broncos, he was released in October 2001. He also had a short stint with the Atlanta Falcons. He also played in the

, including three seasons with the

from 2003 to 2005, where he won AFL Rookie of the Year honors in 2003, Predators' McGriff Wins Award
" ''Orlando Sentinel'' (May 29, 2003). Retrieved May 7, 2011. and part of one season for the

in 2005. He compiled 158 receptions for 2,290 yards and forty-five touchdowns in Arena Football League play.

References

Bibliography

* Carlson, Norm, ''University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators'', Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (2007). . * Golenbock, Peter, ''Go Gators! An Oral History of Florida's Pursuit of Gridiron Glory'', Legends Publishing, LLC, St. Petersburg, Florida (2002). . * Hairston, Jack, ''Tales from the Gator Swamp: A Collection of the Greatest Gator Stories Ever Told'', Sports Publishing, LLC, Champaign, Illinois (2002). . * McCarthy, Kevin M.,
Fightin' Gators: A History of University of Florida Football
', Arcadia Publishing, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (2000). . * Nash, Noel, ed., ''The Gainesville Sun Presents The Greatest Moments in Florida Gators Football'', Sports Publishing, Inc., Champaign, Illinois (1998). . {{DEFAULTSORT:McGriff, Travis 1976 births Living people American football wide receivers Denver Broncos players Florida Gators football players Nashville Kats players Orlando Predators players Players of American football from Gainesville, Florida

Early life and family

College career

Professional career

See also

References

Bibliography