Travis Tremaine Stephens (born June 26, 1978) is a former

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 with ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

. He played one season in 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) for the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

after being drafted by the team in the fourth round of the

2002 NFL Draft The 2002 NFL draft was the 67th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually sinc ...

with the 119th overall pick. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

, where he is the single season record holder for rushing yards (1,464 yards in 2001). He was a first-team AP All America selection.

Early years

Stephens attended Northeast High School in

Clarksville, Tennessee Clarksville is the county seat of Montgomery County, Tennessee, United States. It is the fifth-largest city in the state behind Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, and Chattanooga. The city had a population of 166,722 as of the 2020 United States ce ...

. He played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

for Northeast. He was a three-year starter at wingback and tailback on offense and linebacker and safety on defense. He rushed for a school-record 2,550 yards and 23 touchdowns in his junior season. In addition, he recorded 87 tackles and two interceptions as a free safety on defense. As a senior, he rushed for 991 yards and eight touchdowns despite having to deal with an ankle injury. Stephens committed to the

to play college football under head coach

Phillip Fulmer Phillip Edward Fulmer Sr. (born September 1, 1950) is a former American football player, coach, and athletic director at the University of Tennessee. He served as head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers football team from 1992 to 2008, compiling ...

College career

1997 season

In Stephens's freshman season with the Volunteers, he was part of a strong backfield that contained

Jamal Lewis Jamal Lewis (born August 26, 1979) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns. He played college football at Tennessee and was s ...

and

Shawn Bryson Adrian Shawn Bryson (born November 30, 1976) is a former American football running back. He played college football at the University of Tennessee. College career Bryson played at the University of Tennessee under head coach Phillip Fulmer fro ...

. On the season, he recorded nine rushes for 36 yards. In the 1998 Orange Bowl loss to

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

, Stephens did not record any statistics but did appear late in the game. Tennessee scored a touchdown late and on the two-point conversion, Stephens caught a pass from quarterback

Tee Martin Tamaurice Nigel "Tee" Martin (born July 25, 1978) is an American football coach and former quarterback who is the quarterbacks coach for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as an assistant coach at th ...

in the fourth quarter.

1998 season

In Stephens's sophomore season, he saw more work despite being in a crowded backfield with

Travis Henry Travis Deion Henry (born October 29, 1978) is a former American football running back who played seven seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Tennessee. He was drafted by the Bills in t ...

, Jamal Lewis, and Shawn Bryson. He would record 107 rushes for 477 yards and four touchdowns. In addition, he had two receptions for three yards in regular season play. Tennessee completed an undefeated 13-0 season in the 1998 season. The season culminated in the

Fiesta Bowl The Fiesta Bowl is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area. From its beginning in 1971 until 2006, the game was hosted at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has been playe ...

where the Volunteers defeated the

Florida State Seminoles The Florida State Seminoles are the athletic teams representing Florida State University located in Tallahassee, Florida. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivis ...

by a score of 23-16. In the National Championship, Stephens had 13 carries for 60 yards.

1999 season

Stephens was redshirted in the 1999 season due to continued trend of a crowded backfield. With Stephens redshirting, Jamal Lewis and Travis Henry did most of the rushing for the Volunteers in 1999.

2000 season

As a redshirt junior, Stephens entered the 2000 season with Travis Henry to form a solid combination of running backs for the 8–4 Volunteers. On the season, he had 81 carries for 359 yards and seven touchdowns in regular season play. In addition, he had six receptions for 28 yards in regular season play.

2001 season

In his redshirt senior season, Stephens was the number one running back for the 11–2 Volunteers. On the season, he had 291 rushes for a single-season school-record 1,464 yards and ten touchdowns. In addition, he had 19 receptions for 169 yards and one touchdown in regular season play. In the 2002 Florida Citrus Bowl, Stephens had 16 carries for 38 yards, one rushing touchdown, and one reception for 19 yards in the 45-17 victory over the

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except women's water polo, which competes in the NCAA inter-divisio ...

. He earned All-American honors for the 2001 season. In his collegiate career at Tennessee, Stephens had 488 rushes for 2,338 yards and 21 touchdowns in regular season play. In addition, he recorded 27 receptions for 200 yards and one touchdown in regular season play.

Statistics

Professional career

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Stephens was drafted by the

in the fourth round with the 119th overall pick in the 2002 NFL Draft. In a game against the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

on September 8, he had one reception for six yards. His one reception would be his only meaningful recorded statistic in his NFL career. He was considered part of the team when they won

Super Bowl XXXVII Super Bowl XXXVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Oakland Raiders and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers to decide the National Football League (NFL) cham ...

over the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

. Stephens was released from the Buccaneers before the 2003 season.

Houston Texans

The

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

signed Stephens to a futures contract before the 2004 season. He was eventually allocated to

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

and placed on their exempt/injured list. After this stint with the Texans, Stephens' professional career ended.

Personal life

Since his days as a football player, Stephens has continued to stay in the game. In 2017, he helped out with youth football camps in

Jackson, Tennessee Jackson is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Tennessee, United States. Located east of Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis, it is a regional center of trade for West Tennessee. Its total population was 68,205 as of the 2020 United States ...

with some other Tennessee alumni.

References

External links

Collegiate statistics at Sports-Reference.comTennessee Volunteers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephens, Travis 1978 births Living people American football running backs Houston Texans players Tennessee Volunteers football players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players People from Clarksville, Tennessee Players of American football from Tennessee