A love of football drove Claridge's life
The former Fort Vancouver prep star died recently while still pursuing his dream
Monday, March 06, 2006
BRAD McCRAY
Bill Claridge was waiting to see his son. He had spent a good portion of his life waiting outside closed doors to see Travis. But he endured the crawling seconds last week with the dread of a father waiting to see his son for the last time.
"Waiting outside the door of the coroner's office was a lot like waiting outside the door of the locker room," he said Friday. "Only this time there was no coach coming out to say 'Dad, go on in.' This was one time I couldn't give Travis a Band-Aid or wrap his ankle. This was for real."
Travis Claridge, perhaps the most heralded high school football recruit to come out of the Portland area after playing at Fort Vancouver High School, died Tuesday, Feb. 28, at his home near Las Vegas. He was 27. He was found unconscious in his home and died later at St. Rose Dominican Hospital in Henderson, Nev.
A funeral is scheduled for today in Altmont, Mich., his childhood home. A memorial service in Vancouver is scheduled for April 1. The cause of death has not been determined.
"The coroner told me there was nothing there," Bill Claridge, of Vancouver, said. "She said the only thing out of the ordinary was that his heart was one and one-half times larger than normal for a person his size."
Travis Claridge graduated from Fort Vancouver in 1995 and went on to start every game at USC, a school-record 48 in a row. In 1999, he received the Morris Trophy as the top Pacific-10 Conference lineman.
Chosen with the 37th pick of the 2000 NFL draft by the Atlanta Falcons, he started 49 games over four seasons. Carolina signed the 6-foot-6, 300-pound guard as a free agent after the 2003 season, but cut him during training camp. He played last season for the Hamilton (Ontario) Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League, suffering a serious leg injury.
He had spent the last few months in rehabilitation and had just returned from a Tiger-Cats camp in Phoenix when he died.
"I spent the last few days with my son in a morgue," Bill Claridge said. "After that I spent time at his house with his things and his truck in the driveway.
"It's not supposed to be this way. God gives us our kids and I am left asking, 'Why am I here? I'm not supposed to be here. He's supposed to be here and I'm supposed to go.' "
More | Subscribe | 14-Day Archives (Free) | Long-Term Archives (Paid)
A love of football drove Claridge's life
Page 2 of 2
As an eighth-grader, Travis Claridge told classmates he wanted to be in the NFL, and the resulting guffaws had grown silent by the time he was a senior in high school. With single-minded dedication, he chased his dream. He studied hard to maintain his grades so he could go to college. He worked out even harder so he could play when he got there.
"He was one of the top 10 players in the USA," then-USC coach John Robinson said Saturday. "We were on him right away."
Born in Michigan, Claridge moved to California with his father when he was 9 and to Vancouver in 1991. Five years later, every college football program in the country seemed to want him. In the end, USC won out over Michigan because USC wrote first and called first. And Robinson, already a legend, made a personal visit.
At USC, Claridge became an immediate starter.
"He was one of the few players ever to start on the line as a freshman," Robinson said. "He was physically mature, but he was still a kid in a lot of ways. He looked like he was 22, but he was still 18. He was not that confident in himself."
Despite his size and athleticism (at 300 pounds he still could dunk a basketball), Claridge still considered himself an everyman.
"He didn't live in a big house on the hill," Bill Claridge said. "He wasn't about rings or watches. He lived just like you or me."
Travis Claridge's death came as he was trying to rebound from a series of disappointments.
When coach Dan Reeves left Atlanta in 2003, Claridge was a free agent. He signed with Carolina for the big bonus, but did not factor in to the line coach's plans. He dropped from first to third string during one practice and asked to be released. However, the timing of the transaction and Claridge's salary as a four-year veteran priced him out of the NFL.
"It was devastating to him," Bill Claridge said.
So Travis decided to try the CFL.
"It wasn't about pride or money," Bill Claridge said. "He wanted to play because that's what he loved to do."
Travis Claridge signed for $500 a week, as a practice squad player but was a starter two weeks later. He was named player of the game by Canadian network TSN in his first game against Edmonton, but in next game, he suffered a season-ending leg injury.
He worked with a personal trainer in Las Vegas to come back from the injury and reportedly was in peak condition last week at the Tiger-Cats' free agent camp in Phoenix. He underwent the routine physicals and tests before flying home Sunday, Feb. 26.
"He touched us all," Tiger-Cats coach Greg Marshall told the Hamilton Spectator. "He was that kind of kid. No attitude. He just came in here and played. In a short period of time, he became a part of what we were and who we were. It's a pretty sad day."
Along with his father and sister Reilly, also of Vancouver, Travis Claridge is survived by his mother, Denise Kopp of Altmont, Mich.; and his brother, Ryan, of Las Vegas. Ryan Claridge is a linebacker for the New England Patriots.