Etienne was raised in Jennings, Louisiana, and is of Louisiana Creole ancestry. His father works for a well service company in the oil industry, while his mother, Donnetta is a nurse.[1]
Etienne attended Jennings High School in Jennings, Louisiana. As a senior, he rushed for 2,459 yards with 39 touchdowns.[2] For his career, he had 8,864 total yards with 115 total touchdowns.[3] He was rated as a four-star recruit and the 15th highest-rated running back recruit in the country by the 247Sports.com Composite, which aggregates the ratings of the major recruiting services.[4] Etienne committed to Clemson University to play college football on January 21, 2017.[5][6]
Travis' younger brother Trevor is a junior running back for the Georgia Bulldogs.
College career
2017 season
As a freshman at Clemson in 2017, he was part of a backfield that contained Tavien Feaster, Adam Choice, C.J. Fuller, and dual-threat quarterback Kelly Bryant.[7] He led the team in rushing with 766 yards on 107 carries with 13 touchdowns.[8][9][10]
2018 season
As a sophomore in 2018, he was a key member of a Clemson team that won the national championship. Etienne rushed for 1,659 yards on the year and had an FBS-leading 24 rushing touchdowns. He had an additional two receiving touchdowns, bringing his total touchdowns from scrimmage to 26, which also led FBS. He had eight games going over 100 rushing yards[11][12] After winning the 2018 ACC Championship Game against Pitt, Etienne was named the MVP of the game. Etienne was named ACC Player of the Year and ACC Offensive Player of the Year following the regular season.[13] He was named a first-team All-American by Sporting News and ESPN, and was a consensus second-team All-American.[14]
2019 season
Etienne started his junior year at Clemson with a career-high 205 yards and three touchdowns in the first game of the season.[15] He bested this in a November 2 game against Wofford, when he ran for 212 yards and two touchdowns on just 9 attempts (23.6 yards per attempt).[16] He became the first Clemson running back to have three career 200-yard games.[17] At the conclusion of the regular season, Etienne was named ACC Player of the Year, ACC Offensive Player of the Year, and first-team All-ACC; all for the second consecutive year. He is the first Clemson player to win consecutive ACC Player of the Year awards since Steve Fuller in 1977–78.[18] Etienne ended his junior season with 1,614 rushing yards and an ACC-leading 19 rushing touchdowns. His 7.8 yards-per-carry were second most in FBS.[19] In the Fiesta Bowl, he caught the game winning touchdown with 1:49 left in the game, running it in from 34 yards.
Despite projections that Etienne would enter the 2020 NFL draft, he announced on January 17, 2020, that he would return to Clemson for his senior year.[20]
2020 season
On October 31, 2020, in a 34–28 win over Boston College, Etienne finished with two touchdowns and a career-high 264 all-purpose yards.[21] With the performance, he scored a touchdown in 42 games, breaking Donnel Pumphrey's record for most in FBS history. He finished his career with touchdowns scored in 46 games. With his 4,952 career rushing yards Etienne also broke the ACC career rushing record previously held by Ted Brown.[22] He also set ACC career records for rushing touchdowns (70), total touchdowns (78), and total points scored (468). He scored at least one touchdown in 46 of 55 career games, setting the FBS and NCAA records.[23] He was named as a Consensus All-American.[24]
Etienne officially declared for the 2021 NFL draft in January 2021.[27] He was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars with the 25th overall selection, which they previously obtained from a trade that sent Jalen Ramsey to the Los Angeles Rams. This reunited Etienne with his college quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who was taken by the Jaguars first overall in the same draft.[28] On May 15, Jaguars coach Urban Meyer announced that Etienne would spend the Jaguars minicamp as a wide receiver, rather than a running back.[29] On July 19, 2021, Etienne signed his four-year rookie contract with the Jaguars, worth $12.9 million.[30]
During the Jaguars second preseason game against the New Orleans Saints, Etienne suffered a Lisfranc injury and was subsequently ruled out indefinitely.[31][32] It was later revealed that Etienne had suffered a significant tear in the lisfranc zone of his foot, which required surgery, and prematurely ended his 2021 season.[33] He was placed on season-ending injured reserve later in the day.[34]
2022 season
Etienne made his professional debut in the Jaguars' 2022 season opener against the Washington Commanders and had four carries for 47 rushing yards.[35]
Etienne recorded his first career touchdown in Week 7 against the New York Giants, adding 14 carries for 114 yards and 1 lost fumble in the 23–17 loss. This marked the first time in his NFL career that he recorded a touchdown and over 100 yards in an NFL game.[36] After a trade with the New York Jets involving Jaguars running back James Robinson, Etienne was named the starting running back in Jacksonville.[37][38] In the following game, he recorded 24 carries for 156 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown in the 21–17 loss to the Denver Broncos.[39] He had 28 carries for 109 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in the next game against the Las Vegas Raiders, a 27–20 victory.[40] He had two more games over the 100-yard mark on the season, in Week 15 against the Dallas Cowboys and Week 17 against the Houston Texans.[41]
Etienne finished the 2022 season with 220 carries for 1,125 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns to go along with 35 receptions for 316 receiving yards.[41] In the Wild Card Round against the Los Angeles Chargers, he had 20 carries for 109 rushing yards in the 31–30 victory.[42] On the Jaguars' final drive, Etienne had a 25-yard run on fourth down to set up the game-winning field goal attempt.[43]
2023 season
During Week 5 against the Buffalo Bills at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Etienne finished with 136 rushing yards and two touchdowns as the Jaguars won 25–20.[44] He finished the season with 1,008 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns.[45]
2024 season
On April 29, 2024, the Jaguars picked up the fifth-year option on Etienne's contract.[46]
