Travis Claridge

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Travis Claridge
Date of birth	March 23, 1978
Place of birth	Detroit, Michigan
Date of death	February 28, 2006
Position(s)	Offensive Guard
College	Southern California
NFL Draft	2000 / Round 2 / Pick 37
Statistics	CBS.com DatabaseFootball
Team(s)
2000-2003	Atlanta Falcons

Travis Claridge (March 23, 1978 – February 28, 2006) was an American football offensive lineman in the National Football League. Born in Detroit, Michigan, he played for the Atlanta Falcons between 2000 and 2003 and for the Carolina Panthers in 2004.

Contents 1 Early life 2 College career 3 Professional career 4 Death 5 References

[edit] Early life

Travis Claridge grew up in Almont, Michigan. His dad coached football at Almont H.S. When he was in the 4th grade he moved with his dad to California. Then as a 7th grader Travis and his dad moved to Vancouver, Washington. Travis went to Fort Vancouver High School. In 1995 he became the number one offensive lineman in the country and the number two high school football player in the nation. He choose the Trojans of the University of Southern California over 60-plus schools.

[edit] College career

Claridge started 48 games for USC and the first to do so as a true freshman in college football and was voted the Pac-10 top offensive linesman in 1999. Started in both the Senior Bowl and East/West Shrine game.

[edit] Professional career

After being selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the second round of the 2000 draft, he started for 27 games in his first two seasons. However, a knee injury limited him to 6 games in the 2003 and the Falcons didn't extend his contract.

Although he signed with the Carolina Panthers as a free agent in 2004, he was cut during training camp. In 2005, Claridge played two games at the Right Tackle position with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Canadian Football League. He played brilliantly in his debut but was injured in his second game.

[edit] Death

After being found unconscious at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada, he was transported to Saint Rose Dominican Hospital in Henderson where he later died at age 27. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported on 10 May 2006 that the cause of death was acute pneumonia, exacerbated by respiratory depression brought on by intoxication with the painkiller oxycodone [1].

[edit] References

• Houston Chronicle, "CFL and former NFL lineman Claridge dies" published 28 February 2006, retrieved 1 March 2006
• NFL Player Profile
• USC Trojans Travis Claridge place
• KVBC Report on Cause of Death