Jalen Travis Credit: Iowa State Athletics

The NFL Draft for its potential prospects can be an exercise in patience as they wait and wait…and wait to finally hear their name called at some point during the annual three-day marathon.

Jalen Travis was among several Minnesotans eligible for last week’s seven-round draft:  Indianapolis selected him in the fourth round, 127th overall on the third and final day last Saturday.

“We are excited to get you. You got a real bright future,” Colts GM Chris Ballard told Travis in the phone call to the rookie after he was drafted.  

Travis is a DeLaSalle graduate where he was rated as a three-star football prospect. The 6’8”, 339-pound offensive lineman attended and played at Princeton, where he was a two-time second team All-Ivy League (2022, 2023). 

He graduated with a degree in anthropology with a focus on law and politics and a minor in African American Studies. Then he used his Covid year and transferred to Iowa State, where he started at left tackle after missing the first two games of the 2024 season with an injury, and was invited to the 2025 Senior Bowl.

The Minneapolis native comes from a sports family. Two brothers (Reid, Kentucky; Jonah, Harvard) played college basketball, and two sisters (Olivia, now a Western Illinois basketball coach, and Grace, who played volleyball at St. Mary’s) and a cousin (Ross, basketball at Penn State, then the NFL) are just ahead of the younger Jalen, who hopes to continue his athletic career in the NFL.

“January 3 was when I started my combine prep,” explained Travis on his preparation for the draft since his college season ended. He talked to the MSR last week before the draft. “Everything from interviews to long days working out, interview prep and whatnot, meeting with coaches and player personnel, and everyone else in the organization who are wanting to get a feel for you.

“All that is mentally taxing,” he pointed out.

At the NFL Combine, Travis tested out as the fourth-best at his position — a 5.14 40-yard dash time, a 35-inch vertical jump (second best), a fourth-best broad jump (9 feet, 4 inches) and 26 reps on the bench press that tied him for seventh among offensive linemen.

Jalen Travis Credit: Iowa State Athletics

But the multiple rounds of in-person interviews with team personnel that all draft prospects must go through can also be taxing.

“They approach it honestly of wanting to trip you up, asking you oddball questions,” said Travis. “What’s your favorite fruit? What animal do you resemble? White or black, cat or dog?”

He said there were other interviews with NFL coaches that weren’t as wacky: “Most of the interviews that I had [went] deeper,” continued Travis on coaches’ questions on being a good teammate. “I love to find ways to bring other guys into areas where we can celebrate together… That particular coach strived to get that out of me.”

    “I work to build my brand and my identity,” said Travis. “Physical ability only takes you so far, but it’s who you are to your teammates, who you are to your coaches, and who you are to the organization — that’s what ultimately matters.”

C.J. Hallman, Travis’ high school coach, said that it’s not surprising that his former player would impress NFL types with his character. “He was a type of kid that you want to coach,” he said of Travis. “A leader in the classroom and a leader on the field. He may be top five of the athletes I’ve coached.”

“You stand for everything we want to stand for,” said Ballard.   

“I’m ready to get to work,” Travis told him on the short phone call.

“We look forward to getting you here,” responded the coach.

Now, the next step for Travis is the OTA sessions and everything else he needs to do as he moves from college to professional.   

“I think it’s been a dream come true,” stressed Travis. “I think at every step of the way guided by my faith and putting the right people around me, starting with my family but working my tail off the last five years to have the right mentors, the right people in my life that I could look up to help guide me and make sure about important decisions.”

Charles Hallman welcomes reader comments to challman@spokesman-recorder.com.

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