Travis Etienne Declares For the NFL Draft
The most decorated running back in ACC history has chosen to end his college career and take his talents to the NFL, as Clemson running back Travis Etienne officially declared for the NFL Draft.
In an Instagram post, he announced that he has signed with the Ballengee Group of agents.
Burst onto the scene as one of the nation’s most explosive running backs in 2017 and followed up with record-breaking 2018 and 2019 campaigns as a sophomore and junior … entered 2020 with 518 career carries for 4,038 yards (7.8 avg.) with a school- and ACC-record 56 rushing touchdowns plus 54 career receptions for 567 yards and six receiving touchdowns in 43 career games (30 starts) … enters 2020 as the Clemson and ACC career leader in rushing touchdowns (56), total touchdowns (60) and points by a non-kicker (372) and will open the 2020 season as the nation’s active leader in each category plus career rushing yards (4,038) … back-to-back ACC Player of the Year in 2018 and 2019 who became the first running back to win the award in consecutive years since Mike Voight in 1975-76 … is the only player in school history with multiple 1,500-yard rushing seasons and is one of only 16 Power Five players since 2000 to reach the 1,500-yard mark in multiple seasons, joining AJ Dillon, Ameer Abdullah, Christian McCaffrey, Dalvin Cook, Darren McFadden, Ezekiel Elliott, Jonathan Taylor, Ka’Deem Carey, Kendall Hunter, Lamar Jackson, LaMichael James, Melvin Gordon, Montee Ball, Ray Rice and Steven Jackson … set single-season school records in 2018 in rushing yards (1,658), yards per carry (8.1), rushing touchdowns (24), total touchdowns (26) and points scored (156) … enters 2020 as one of only two FBS players — and the only running back — since 2000 to average at least 7.0 yards on 100+ carries in three different seasons … became the ACC’s all-time leading rusher in 2020, surpassing a mark held by NC State’s Ted Brown since 1978 … NCAA FBS record holder for most career games scoring a touchdown, breaking the mark held by San Diego State’s Donnel Pumphrey … one of only 12 players in FBS history with 4,000 career receiving yards and 1,000 career rushing yards.
2020: Doak Walker Award finalist … Maxwell Award semifinalist … Walter Camp Player of the Year semifinalist … named as a first-team All-American as an all-purpose honoree by the Associated Press and ESPN … second-team All-America selection by The Athletic and USA Today … named first-team All-ACC as both a running back and an all-purpose selection … second-team All-ACC pick at running back and all-purpose according to the AP … rushed 17 times for 102 yards and a touchdown and caught three passes for 47 yards at Wake Forest … with his 18th career 100-yard rushing performance in that game, broke Wayne Gallman’s Clemson record for career 100-yard rushing games (17 from 2014-16) … recorded his third career 100-yard rushing game against Wake Forest to tie a school record held by Kenny Flowers (vs. Duke, 1983-85) and Wayne Gallman (vs. South Carolina, 2014-16) for career 100-yard rushing games against a single opponent … his touchdown at Wake Forest moved him past Lester Brown (1978), Terry Allen (1988-89) and James Davis (2005-06) for sole possession of the longest streak of consecutive games with a rushing touchdown in school history (10) … gained 68 yards on eight carries vs. The Citadel and also added 44 on his first career punt return … rushed 14 times for 73 yards with one rushing touchdown and also set a Clemson receiving yardage record for a running back with 114 receiving yards on five receptions with a receiving touchdown vs. Virginia, sharing team offensive player of the game honors … rushed 17 times for a season-high 149 yards with two rushing touchdowns and caught a career-high eight receptions for 73 yards vs. No. 7 Miami, earning team offensive player of the game honors … on a 72-yard touchdown run against Miami, he became only the 12th player in official FBS records to score 60 career rushing touchdowns … rushed 11 times for 44 yards with a rushing touchdown and caught two passes for 29 yards at Georgia Tech, and on his three-yard second-quarter touchdown run, he broke placekicker Chandler Catanzaro’s school record of 404 career points from 2010-13 to become the program’s all-time leading scorer … rushed 16 times for 86 yards with a career-high-tying three rushing touchdowns and also added three catches for 20 yards vs. Syracuse, entering the top 10 in FBS history in career rushing touchdowns … recorded 20 carries for 84 yards with one rushing touchdown and seven receptions for a career-high and school-running-back-record 140 yards with a receiving touchdown vs. Boston College, earning the Leather Helmet Award as the game’s MVP … broke the ACC career rushing record held by NC State’s Ted Brown (4,602 from 1975-78) on a 15-yard run to end the third quarter against Boston College … his 264 all-purpose yards in that game were a career high and tied for the 10th-most in school history … caught eight passes for 57 yards and gained 28 yards on 18 carries at No. 4 Notre Dame … rushed 11 times for 58 yards with two rushing touchdowns and caught three passes for 20 receiving yards vs. Pitt, breaking the Clemson record for receiving yards by a running back in a single season held previously by C.J. Spiller (503 in 2009) in the process … gained 66 yards on 16 carries at Virginia Tech … rushed 10 times for 124 yards with one rushing touchdown and caught three passes for 12 yards in ACC Championship Game vs. No. 2 Notre Dame, tying him with NC State’s Joe McIntosh and Boston College’s AJ Dillon (20 each) for seventh-most 100-yard rushing games in ACC history … recorded his 13th rushing touchdown of the season in that game against Notre Dame, allowing him to join Wisconsin’s Ron Dayne as the only players in FBS history to record at least 13 rushing touchdowns in four different seasons.
