Travis Jervey

[white lightning]

I know his career is probably over but I just had to
have a post for Travis Jervey.He could have been special
if only given the right chance.They treated him like
garbage from the get go.He had as much speed and power
as any running back that I have ever seen.His only
drawback besides being screwed over was that he out ran
his blockers.He needed to slow down just a little.This
guy was so fast that he competed in the nfl's fastest
man & beat H.Walker!Here is a good pic of Jervey.

http://www.jsonline.com/packer/arc/image/travis.jpg

 

[Don Wassall]

White Lightning, I know you're an optimist, and when I look at what's happened to Mike Holmgren, maybe I'm a bit of one too. It's a crime the way Travis Jervey has beentreated by Holmgren and the NFL. If the NFL had the least interest whatsoever in having any white running backs, Travis would have been given a chance. Kordell Stewart, who was never quarterback material, was given eight years to become a quality quarterback. Travis Jervey was never given a chance to become an NFL tailback. And he came into the league with as much raw talent as any running back in the last25 or 35years, maybe since Joe Don Looney.


I look at what's happening to the pathetic loser (when it comes to personality and character) Barry Bonds and I can't help but feel karma is finally moving in our direction. Caste System fanatics like Holmgren, Haslet, Gruden, Gibbs, Mariucci, Wannstedt, and Tice have all been receiving "what goes around comes around"of late. We owe it to Travis Jervey and a whole army of other white athletes to see that the Caste System is exposed and consigned to the trashbin of history!

 

[IceSpeed]

I did some research on Jervey a while ago and found
that his only weakness was his frequency to fumble. Still, I
think he was ignored because of many stereotypes, many of them
racial. For starters, he went to the Citadel. The Citadel
is stereotyped up north as being a racist school, and a school that
believed the Confederacy won the war. These prejudices against
the Citadel made people think of racism when they saw Jervey.

Jervey played in a time where whites were being made
fun of constantly. Look at scenes in television and movies
in the early 1990's and see how many anti-white jokes are made. I
just saw a lot of them in Canadian Bacon and Married with
Children. When Jervey peaked, it was cool to make fun of
whites. There was an old article about how often Ricky Proehl was
made fun of at this time.

Another incident that probably contributed to his
career ending was him being on SC's "not top ten". He fumbled a
kickoff for Atlanta during the "Cannonization of St. Michael".
People on Sports Center just made fun of him too. One more thing,
he went to the Pro Bowl as a special teamer but he did not get any
respect from Green Bay still.

Jervey could have reduced his fumble percentage by
comprimising some of his speed and holding the ball closer to him
perhaps. He is mentioned in an old article of the Nationalist
Times(I think it predates Caste Football), and that might contain the
only positive comments on Jervey I have ever seen in a newspaper.

 

[Bart]

Travis was a special teams player who had token carries as a back. Because of injuries to other playershe was given a brief opportunity. He carried the ball for a few games, had 83 attempts and a 3.9 avg. His overall career avg. is also 3.9 with a total of 129 rushes. Dorsey Levins became the featured back but during the same year he had 115 attempts foran avg. of only3.3 and his career avg. is 4.0 almost exactly same as Jervey's.


Jervey was used for kick returns- 36 chances for a 23.5Yd. avg. which ispretty good. According to an NFL stat site he only fumbled 6 times in his career but Mike Holmgren in particular hated fumblers and they would rarely be given chances to redeem themselves.

 

[Guest]

Yeah, Holmgren threw everything into Dorsey Levens. I only remember Jervey getting serious playing time one game (Levens was injured). He made just under 100 yds and scored a touchdown. I've never seen such potential wasted.Durind that era thePackers had a bunch of white speedsters, Jervey, Beebe and Schroeder. The fastest one out of all them though, at least he looked the fastest, was Jeff Query. Damn that guy was quick. They never threw to him though. He got to return a few kickoffs, that was about it. He ended up on the Bengals then out of the league.

 

[Don Wassall]

Jeff Query, that's a real blast from the past who is now forgotten. Was just checking his stats because I remembered the one season he actually got to play a lot for the Bengals. In '93 he had 56 catches for 654 yards and 4 TDs, after being a backup for four years. Guess what? The next season he had only 5 receptions and that was the end of his career. Reminds me of Gary Wellman, another speedster, who tore it up the second half of '93 with Houston. He was their best receiver when he got to play and that was at the height of the Warren Moon era, when he threw equal amounts of passes to four black receivers. I remember marveling at how easilyWellman could get open. Next season Wellman dropped to 10 receptions (compared to 31 in less than half of '93) then was out of the NFL for good, yet another white player punished for having too much talent.


I remember that '98 game when Jervey started because three black tailbacksin front of him were injured. He had to carry the ball with two hands right from the handoff, because he knew that one fumble and he was done. They also never designed plays to utilize his speed; it was almost always runs right into the pile instead of end-arounds, etc. It was also clear that no one worked with him because he didn't utilize his incredible speed properly. He would take the ball and thenstart running as fastas he could instead of waiting more for holes to develop. Holmgren was basically engaged in a psy-war against him to destroy his confidence so that he would be spared the embarrassment of having a white featured back.


Still, as Freedom states,Jervey did well under tough circumstances. Black talents get literally years to develop. Look at Thomas Jones and a slew of others who go from team to teamand are always instantly entrenched as the starting tailback no matter how poorly they performed previously. Jervey had onebrief chanceand thatcame aboutonly because the running back position was decimated by injuries. Brock Forsey gained 160 total yards in a fill-in start and look what happened to him.

 

[Bart]

Hey Don, you are right about Jervey cradling the ball with both hands. He knew if he or Schroeder fumbled the media and Holmgren would crucify them.Holmgren had more patience with Ahman Green in Seattle who fumbled a lot and still does. He sent Green to the Packers who kept working with him in spite of fumbling. He was allowed to develop his skills and play and play and play even while fumbling all the time. He is now a star, gains lots of yards but still fumbles a lot. White guys rarely even geta half a***d shot before they'resent to special teams or home to drive a cab.

 

[white lightning]

Jervey was also voted by Muscle and Fitness Magazine as
the best conditioned nfl athlete 2 years in a row.I have
the issues.He could have been very special if they would
have helped him.The whole team seemed to hate him.What
the hell did he do to deserve that.I think it is like
Donwas said a while back.If you are white,you have to
know your place.Jervey had it all,speed,power and great
Hollywood Looks.This pissed alot of people off and they
made sure that he wouldn't succeed.I think it scared
too many people that he might become a star and start
getting alot of endorsements which could pave the way
for more white running backs,receivers just like him.
Look what happened to Farmer and also Staley.

 

[kevin]

where is jervey now

 

[white lightning]

The last I heard,he is out of the league now.He had
potential to lead the nfl in rushing.He spent most of
his career either playing special teams or sitting on
the bench.In his prime,he ran the 40 in a time from
4.2 - 4.3!He was a sprinter playing running back.In
fact,he reminded me a little bit of Dusty Stamer when
before he switched back to track because they would not
play him.

 

[Don Wassall]

We've talked about how Mike Holmgren treated Travis Jervey so despicably -- no patience with him, never tried to develop his running skills, etc.Contrast that to this article about how Holmgren has for years now exhibited endless patience with Seattle receiver Koren Robinson. Robinson not only has the worst hands of any receiver in the NFL, he has been suspended by the league for drug use, suspended twice by Holmgren for various infractions, regularly misses or shows up late for team meetings and practices, and generally carries on like a two-year-old. Yet he still is the team's second receiver and Holmgren continues to try and nurture him (pander to him is what it actually is). Jervey and Bill Schroeder combined didn't get one-twentieth the chances Robinson has had. And Jerheme Urban, a very talented young white WR on Seattle who should be getting a shot at starting, won't either.


[url]http://www.thenewstribune.com/sports/seahawks/story/4713453p -4352538c.html[/url]


Holmgren: Robinson got 'wake-up call'</span>


</span>


MIKE SANDO; The News Tribune
Last updated: March 23rd, 2005 08:41 AM </span>



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<DIV align=right>BRUCE KELLMAN/THE NEWS TRIBUNE Koren Robinson served a four-game suspension for substance abuse in 2004.

<DIV align=right>BRUCE KELLMAN/THE NEWS TRIBUNE Koren Robinson served a four-game suspension for substance abuse in 2004. </TD></TR></T></TABLE></TD></TR></T></TABLE>
<DIV =uinfo2 id=story>KAPALUA, Hawaii - The umbrella in Mike Holmgren's tropical punch stiffens at the mere suggestion he went easy on receiver Koren Robinson last season.


"I plead guilty to the fact that I just didn't throw him on the trash heap," the Seattle Seahawks' coach said from the NFL owners meetings.


For the first time since Robinson served a four-game NFL suspension for substance abuse, Holmgren went into detail about his controversial handling of the former first-round draft choice.


The two men had worked out a secret agreement whereby Robinson could play in the team's first-round playoff game if he agreed to seek professional help as soon as the season ended.


"And he did that," Holmgren said. "He came through the program and did a great job. He'll be in Seattle for our offseason conditioning program.


"I think he's a talented guy and a good person. He needed to get a wake-up call."


The nature of Robinson's treatment was not known and attempts to reach him were not immediately successful.


Robinson's suspension resulted from a positive test for a substance associated with the party drug ecstasy, sources have said.


Ecstasy is a synthetic, psychoactive drug chemically similar to the stimulant methamphetamine and the hallucinogen mescaline, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.


Robinson's mother, Suzette Sims Robinson, declined to discuss specifics but said her son is a new man.


"He finally just realized what he could lose and what would be missing in his life," she said in a telephone interview.


Robinson has a long and well-documented history of tardiness. The Seahawks even installed large digital clocks throughout their headquarters, but Robinson still had trouble arriving on time.


Holmgren benched him for a Nov. 21 game against Miami after Robinson violated an unspecified team rule. Robinson then served his four-game league suspension, only to miss practice one day before the team's regular-season finale against Atlanta.
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</TD></TR></T></TABLE>Holmgren benched Robinson for that game. The two met in Holmgren's office the following day. The coach was willing to make a deal.





Robinson split playing time with Jerry Rice as Seattle lost its first-round playoff game against St. Louis.


"He had come off league suspension for four games, lost a ton of money last year (in fines and lost salary)," Holmgren said. "And people said I was soft. I did everything I could within the purview of a head coach with fines and benching him.


"I don't know what else you could do other than just cutting him loose, which I wasn't going to do. I like the guy personally very much. He didn't play in eight games last year at all. It was bad.


"But he is not malicious, he is not hurtful. He cares, he wants to compete. He just had these demons."


Holmgren said he consulted with Rice about the deal to let Robinson play in the playoff game, and that Rice was supportive.


"I try to work with any player first before you have to finally cut the cord," Holmgren said. "If it served as a wake-up call, I'm glad I did it and I'd do it again."


The Seahawks have recently made it clear that players must abide by basic team rules to remain employed. Tim Ruskell, the team's new president, outlined his expectations in a letter to players.


"We must all be held accountable for our own actions, year-round," Ruskell wrote.


Robinson might be out of second chances, but his mother remains grateful for the way Holmgren has handled her son. She alluded to a conversation with the coach on draft day in 2001.


"I still go back to when he told me, 'I'm taking your son and I will look out for him,'" she said. "He's a man of his word."


Robinson caught 78 passes for 1,240 yards in his second NFL season, but the past two years have seen his receptions drop to 65 in 2003 and 31 last season. He became increasingly unhappy with his diminished role in the offense, a potential factor in his destructive behavior.


"He had become a little frustrated with the situation, I guess, and just got off track," Suzette Robinson said. "He was able to re-think some things."


She described her son's thought process as, "I can't control whether I get the ball. All I know I can do is get my focus back, go out there and be the best I can be, and show them that I need to be getting the ball, and if they don't give it to me then, hey, that's on them.


"I'll do what I'm supposed to do then maybe things will turn around from that respect."


This is a critical time for Robinson. He turned 25 on Saturday and will be eligible for free agency after the upcoming season.


"I'm glad he seems to have refocused because I was worried at one time that he may have lost it, and I think he said that he did," Robinson's mother said. "But this year he seems to be back to where his eyes are now back to the prize."


Suzette Robinson apparently isn't taking any chances. She said she'll leave her home in North Carolina to live with her son in Seattle this season, bringing along Koren's 3-year-old son, Cameron, as a reminder of what's at stake.


"That's my plan until I get on his nerves or he gets on mine," she said with a laugh, "and then we have to have a break." <!--

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[White Shogun]

Well, you know its because he must be from an underprivileged
background. He deserves as many chances as it takes, you know, because
of all he has had to overcome.

Now that tongue has been removed from cheek, do you remember the grief
that Jerry Jones and Bill Parcells received in the media because they
jettisoned that mediocre talent, Qunicy Carter, for failing his third
piss test? Of course, they couldn't say that was the official reason,
but the NFL is so entrenched with the caste system that it was even
questioned if his dismissal wasn't race related.



Seattle would have advanced in the playoffs if they'd had one or two WR
who could catch the ball once in a while, e.g. the dropped pass right
in the endzone on the last play of their playoff game. Wonder if that
has anything to do with them signing Joe Jurevicius?