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Jalen Travis Credit: Iowa State Athletics<\/p>\n\t\tJalen Travis Credit: Iowa State Athletics<\/p>\n
The NFL Draft for its potential prospects can be an exercise in patience as they wait and wait\u2026and wait to finally hear their name called at some point during the annual three-day marathon.<\/p>\n
Jalen Travis was among several Minnesotans eligible for last week\u2019s seven-round draft:\u00a0 Indianapolis selected him in the fourth round, 127th overall on the third and final day last Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are excited to get you. You got a real bright future,\u201d Colts GM Chris Ballard told Travis in the phone call to the rookie after he was drafted.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Travis is a DeLaSalle graduate where he was rated as a three-star football prospect. The 6\u20198\u201d, 339-pound offensive lineman attended and played at Princeton, where he was a two-time second team All-Ivy League (2022, 2023).\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s) 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cJanuary 3 was when I started my combine prep,\u201d explained Travis on his preparation for the draft since his college season ended. He talked to the MSR last week before the draft. \u201cEverything 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll that is mentally taxing,\u201d he pointed out.<\/p>\n
At the NFL Combine, Travis tested out as the fourth-best at his position \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
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Jalen Travis Credit: Iowa State Athletics<\/p>\n
But the multiple rounds of in-person interviews with team personnel that all draft prospects must go through can also be taxing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey approach it honestly of wanting to trip you up, asking you oddball questions,\u201d said Travis. \u201cWhat\u2019s your favorite fruit? What animal do you resemble? White or black, cat or dog?\u201d<\/p>\n
He said there were other interviews with NFL coaches that weren\u2019t as wacky: \u201cMost of the interviews that I had [went] deeper,\u201d continued Travis on coaches\u2019 questions on being a good teammate. \u201cI love to find ways to bring other guys into areas where we can celebrate together\u2026 That particular coach strived to get that out of me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cI work to build my brand and my identity,\u201d said Travis. \u201cPhysical ability only takes you so far, but it\u2019s who you are to your teammates, who you are to your coaches, and who you are to the organization \u2014 that\u2019s what ultimately matters.\u201d<\/p>\n
C.J. Hallman, Travis\u2019 high school coach, said that it\u2019s not surprising that his former player would impress NFL types with his character. \u201cHe was a type of kid that you want to coach,\u201d he said of Travis. \u201cA leader in the classroom and a leader on the field. He may be top five of the athletes I\u2019ve coached.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou stand for everything we want to stand for,\u201d said Ballard.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m ready to get to work,\u201d Travis told him on the short phone call.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe look forward to getting you here,\u201d responded the coach.<\/p>\n
Now, the next step for Travis is the OTA sessions and everything else he needs to do as he moves from college to professional.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s been a dream come true,\u201d stressed Travis. \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n