The signs surrounding Jordan Travis have been ominous for months based on the Jets being so mum when asked about his status.
Now we know why.
The former Florida State star quarterback, who was drafted by the Jets in the fifth round in 2024, on Wednesday informed the team he’s retiring.
It’s a sad ending for the 24-year-old Travis, who had such promise in college before sustaining a gruesome injury to his left leg.
He retired without playing an NFL game — preseason or regular season.
Travis’ reason for retiring was based on doctors’ advice as he’s spent some 17 months trying to rehabilitate his badly injured left ankle, which was mangled in a game against North Alabama on Nov. 18, 2023 on a play that looked like a hip-drop tackle.
The Jets took a flier on Travis with the 171st pick in the 2024 draft, in hopes he’d be able to rehab the leg and become an eventual backup or even a starter.
The 6-foot-1, 200-pound Travis, who finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting despite the injury in ’23, was a young prospect who was expected to go much higher in the draft if not for the injury.
He had completed 63.9 percent of his passes with 20 touchdowns and two interceptions while leading Florida State to an 11-0 record at the time of his injury.
But the injury changed everything.
“On November 18, 2023, my life took an unexpected turn,” Travis said in a post on his X social-media account Wednesday. “I gave everything I had to the rehab process but despite all my efforts, my leg never responded the way we hoped. After much prayer and consultation with the doctors, medical experts and my agent, I’ve been medically advised to retire from the game I love so deeply.”
Travis, who’ll be placed on the reserve/retired list, rehabbed during rookie minicamp last spring and was placed on the non-football injury list (NFI) at the start of training camp, on July 23, 2024.
He was later placed on the reserve/not-football list on Aug. 27, 2024.
Robert Saleh and Jeff Ulbrich, Saleh’s interim replacement as Jets head coach, were always cautious when asked about Travis’ progress, which felt like there were more setbacks than progress.
Earlier this offseason, new Jets general manager Darren Mougey was asked about Travis and declined to elaborate on his progress or his status.
“Jordan has informed us of his intent to retire due to the injury he sustained while at Florida State,” Mougey said Wednesday in a statement. “It is unfortunate that he was unable to get back on the field after working so hard. We support his decision and wish him only the best.”
There was some controversy surrounding Travis when his agent, Deiric Jackson, in March was critical of the Jets, telling ESPN, “His rehab with the Jets was not the best. They tried to rush him. It was too fast. There was pressure on the coaching staff, and they tried to get him going sooner than the timeline really was. That caused the setback, and we had to shut him down completely.”
Mougey and new coach Aaron Glenn, of course, were not with the team when Jackson was making these claims.
Jackson, too, never specified the nature of the setback, though at the time of the ESPN interview, he said he was “optimistic” that Travis would be ready for the 2025 season.
Then came Wednesday, when Travis, who in his 46 games at FSU threw for 8,644 yards, 65 TDs and only 19 INTs and finished his college career with 17 consecutive wins, announced he was retiring on a hand-written letter on X.
In the letter, he thanked the Jets “for believing in me and providing me with the opportunity to live out the ultimate dream.”
“It is crazy how fast life can change. This is not the ending I had ever imagined, but I do trust the Lord’s plan above all else.”
