Inside The Huskies

Former Husky LB Travis Feeney Resurfaces as USFL Draftee

The California native seems eager to play for the Tampa Bay Bandits.
Dan Raley|
Former Husky LB Travis Feeney Resurfaces as USFL Draftee
Former Husky LB Travis Feeney Resurfaces as USFL Draftee

Travis Feeney, a well-traveled outside linebacker since leaving the University of Washington football program, turned up on Thursday as an eight-round draft pick for the Tampa Bay Bandits of the new USFL restart.

The 6-foot-4, 240-pound Feeney, who played for the Huskies from 2011 to 2015, is just looking for steady game time again, something that has eluded him over the past six football seasons.

"Let's do it!" he tweeted after learning of his draft position.

Feeney now finds himself in Tampa Bay, a football city friendly to former Huskies, especially defensive players. The NFL's Buccaneers, of course, employ defensive tackles Vita Vea and Benning Potoa'e, plus outside linebacker Joe Tryon-Shoyinka.

The California native initially went to the Pittsburgh Steelers as a 2016 sixth-round draft pick and the 220th player chosen. He was an NFL combine sensation with a 4.5-second 40-yard dash and 40-inch vertical leap. He spent his first pro season as a practice-squad player for both the Steelers and the New Orleans Saints.

He briefly spent time with the San Diego Fleet of the AAF before that start-up football league disappeared.

Feeney next turned to the CFL, joining the Montreal Alouettes and Toronto Argonauts as a practice-team player, beginning in 2019.

When the CFL canceled its 2020 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Feeney opted out of his Toronto contract.

He turned to the Jousters of the Spring League before going back to the Argonauts.

At the UW, Feeney was a second-team All-Pac-12 player who finished his career with 248 tackles, including 15.5 sacks. 

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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