Clay Travis

Clay Travis
Born Richard Clay Travis
(1979-04-06) April 6, 1979
Nashville, Tennessee
Nationality United States American
Education George Washington University
Vanderbilt University Law School
Occupation Sports journalist
Writer
Radio talk show co-host
Years active 2005–present
Spouse(s) Lara Travis (2004–present)
Website http://www.outkickthecoverage.com/

Richard Clay Travis (born April 6, 1979) is an American sports journalist, writer and television analyst for Fox Sports. He works as an analyst on Fox Sports 1's college pre-game show, as well as their weekly SEC football show.

Career

Travis originally worked as a lawyer in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Tennessee.[1] He attracted media attention in late 2004 with his personal blog written while he was living in the U.S. Virgin Islands. A Tennessee Titans fan, Travis was unable to get NFL Sunday Ticket, the satellite TV package to watch NFL games in the islands, and went on a "pudding strike," eating only pudding every day for 50 days, with the goal of forcing DirectTV to carry the package in the Virgin Islands.[2] The effort failed, but he blogged about the experience and received media attention.[3][4]

Travis began writing online for CBS Sports in September 2005, which for the first year was not paid.[5] In 2006, Travis finally gave up his law practice for good.[6] Later while writing for CBS, Travis began working on a book "Dixieland Delight," where he visited all 12 stadiums in college football's Southeastern Conference.[7] After leaving CBS, Travis became a writer and editor at Deadspin, and then a national columnist at FanHouse.[5]

Outkick the Coverage

After FanHouse was merged into Sporting News in 2011, Travis founded Outkickthecoverage.com.[5] The website later became one of the most visited college football sites on the web.[6] While there, he continued developing his reputation for occasionally "contrarian" opinions.[8]

In 2008, Travis worked out at D1 Sports Training with NFL prospects preparing for the NFL Draft. He later wrote a ten-part serial about the experience which he entitled Rough Draft.[9]

In 2010, Nashville Scene named Travis "Best Sports Radio Host We Love To Hate" in the publication's "Best of Nashville" issue. He later became a co-host of a sports radio talk show "3HL" on Nashville's 104.5 The Zone with Brent Dougherty and Blaine Bishop.[10] He also hosted a national sports radio show on NBC Sports.[5]

Fox Sports

In 2014, he resigned from his role on "3HL"[10] and was hired by Fox Sports for its weekly college football Saturday pre-game show.[6]

In 2015, he signed a deal with Fox Sports to license his entire sports media brand under Fox Sports, including his website Outkick the Coverage, which was folded into Fox Sports's website.[11] He also started a national weekly television show and restarted his "3HL" weekly radio talk show.[12]

Travis was called out by DeMarcus Cousins for an erroneous prediction he had made five years earlier that Cousins would be arrested.[13][14] In response, Travis offered to donate to a charity of Cousin's choosing.[13][14]

Personal

Travis was born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee. He graduated from George Washington University in 2001, majoring in history, as well as working as a student basketball manager. He then attended Vanderbilt University Law School where he graduated in 2004. He married Lara, a former Tennessee Titans cheerleader. They have three sons together.[4]

Books authored

References

  1. ↑ "Clay Travis goes from couch crasher to sports media celeb". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2015-10-15.
  2. ↑ "Give Him Tv Football Or Give Him Pudding!". tribunedigital-orlandosentinel. Retrieved 2015-10-15.
  3. ↑ http://www.ptonline.net/princetonopinion/x1538951684/From-pudding-strikes-to-radio-writers-touch-their-audiences/
  4. 1 2 http://www.tennessean.com/story/life/2014/07/02/clay-travis-pudding-protest/12036543/
  5. 1 2 3 4 "FOX Sports 1 Takes On ESPN With Unique Talent That Includes Clay Travis". Forbes. Retrieved 2015-10-15.
  6. 1 2 3 "Sports Media Personality Clay Travis Creates Multi-Million Dollar Brand". Forbes. Retrieved 2015-10-15.
  7. ↑ "Clay Travis goes from couch crasher to sports media celeb". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2015-10-15.
  8. ↑ "Clay Travis re-signs with Fox Sports to expand his "sports media brand"". Awful Announcing. Retrieved 2015-10-15.
  9. ↑ http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/04/14/rough-draft-breaking-6-0-in-the-40
  10. 1 2 http://www.foxsports.com/college-football/outkick-the-coverage/story/signing-off-3hl-thursday-and-radio-for-now-082614
  11. ↑ "Clay Travis finds new home with Fox Sports megadeal". The Tennessean. Retrieved 2015-10-15.
  12. ↑ "Clay Travis to launch national college football TV show". The Tennessean. Retrieved 2015-10-15.
  13. 1 2 "DeMarcus Cousins trolls writer who said he would be arrested". SI.com. Retrieved 2015-10-15.
  14. 1 2 "NBA player destroys writer who 5 years ago said there was a 100% chance he would be arrested within 5 years". Business Insider. Retrieved 2015-10-15.

External links

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