Travis Beckum
From NCAA College Football Information & Resource
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Travis Beckum (Born January 24, 1987 in Milwaukee, WI) plays tight end for the Wisconsin Badgers in the NCAA college football tournament. As a junior, Beckum broke his own school records and led the nation's tight ends in receptions (73), receiving yards (960), and touchdowns (6). Beckum also made history by becoming the first Badger tight end to gain first team All-America honors in 45 years after being selected to the prestigious and oldest All-America team in the nation, the Walter Camp First Team All-America, as voted by the 119 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision head coaches and sports information directors. The Milwaukee, Wisconsin native also made it to the Associated Press All-America Third Team.
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[edit] Personal Life
Travis is the son of Supris Beckum and Sandy Dial. He is a human development and family studies major at UW.
[edit] High School
Beckum attended Oak Creek High School where he was a four-year football letterwinner and a three-time basketball letterwinner. A SuperPrep and Parade All-American, Beckum played linebacker in high school and tallied 108 tackles, including 38 TFLs and 16 QB sacks, along with seven interceptions, eight fumble recoveries and four blocked kicks as a senior enroute to being named as 2004's unanimous state player of the year. He garnered accolades as the No.1 player in Wisconsin, the No. 6 linebacker in the country and the No. 56 player overall in the nation as rated by Rivals.com. He was also ranked among top five players in the Midwest by Prep Football Report and among top 10 players in the Midwest by SuperPrep. A two-time all-state choice and placed no.7 by Detroit Free Press in its “Best of the Midwest” list, Beckum was also chosen to play in the 2005 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.
[edit] College
Beckum was recruited by special teams coach Brian Murphy, with the help of the defensive staff.
[edit] 2005
There were speculations that Beckum would be utilized as a defensive end but ended up playing his high school position as a linebacker. He earned his first letter as a freshman but saw limited action in 10 games as a reserve on defense and on special teams, managing only a couple of tackles through the season.
[edit] 2006
Beckum made a transition to the offensive team as a tight end, and went on to turn out a breakout season as a sophomore. Earning his second letter, Beckum saw significant amount of playing time in 13 games, making his season debut in a win against Bowling Green with 3 receptions, 49 receiving yards, and a 19-yard long catch. He made his first career start the following week against Western Illinois when he lined up as a full back, managing only 2 catches for 15 yards. He caught his first touchdown pass @ Indiana but registered his first ever 100-yard receiving game against Northwestern (catching 8 passes for 107 yards) and made it a back-to-back feat after catching 5 passes for 118 yards and a then-career high 2 TD receptions against Minnesota. He received the team's co-offensive player of the week honors for his efforts against the Wildcats and received the John Mackey Tight End of the Week award from the Nassau County Sports Commission for his efforts against the Gophers. He bagged the same TE of the week award less than a month later after matching his career high 8 receptions for 70 yards and a TD against Iowa. He concluded the regular season with a career-high 135 receiving yards on only 5 catches in a win against Buffalo, earning for himself UW’s offensive player of the week honors. His 62-yard reception that game was also the longest play from scrimmage that season. Beckum capped the year with his second straight Capital One Bowl game appearance against Arkansas, catching 5 passes for 82 yards and a TD.
Beckum finished the year as the team's no.1 receiver with tight-end school-record numbers of 61 catches (3rd highest season total in school history) for 903 yards (5th-most in a season in school history). He also placed 4th in the league in receiving yards per game (69.5) and receptions per contest (4.69). Among his postseason awards include a spot at SI.com's and Walter Camp's second-team All-America and earned second team All-Big Ten accolades from the league media and honorable mention All-Big Ten accolades from the league coaches. He also bagged the school's Wayne Souza Coaches Appreciation Award and was named semifinalist for the John Mackey Award.
[edit] 2007
Beckum's breakout sophomore year drew huge expectations and hordes of pre-season accolades that include being named into the Preseason Maxwell Award Watch List, preseason Walter Camp Award Watch List, preseason John Mackey Award Watch List, preseason first-team All-America by Blue Ribbon College Football Yearbook, preseason first-team All-America by Lindy’s, second-team All-America by The Sporting News and Athlon Sports, and ranked as the country's top-ranked TE by Lindy's and second-ranked TE by The Sporting News.
As a junior, Beckum was relied on the offensive team all the more after injuries to Badger receivers and running back P.J. Hill in the late stages of the season. During the year, he posted new career highs in catches (11) and receiving yards (160) in a loss to Illinois. He also caught atleast 3 passes in 12 regular season games, had 4 100-yard receiving games, and scored a touchdown on six of the 12 games. By the end of the season, Beckum was included to the Walter Camp First Team All-America to become the first UW tight end since the legendary Pat Richter received the same honors in 1962.
[edit] 2008
During the offseason, Beckum was featured on the cover of Athlon Sports' regional magazine. The magazine also named him as a preseason first team All-American and All-Big Ten. He also received All-American and All-Big Ten citations from Phil Steele, was named as the Wisconsin athlete of the year, and was listed on the John Mackey Award and the Walter Camp Player of the Year Watch Lists.
Beckum was limited early in fall camp because of tightness in his right hamstring. He joined his teammates prematurely and aggravated the injury during a seven-on-seven passing drill. The injury forced him to miss the first two games of the season against Akron and Marshall. He returned at Fresno State and contributed four catches for 51 yards in the 13-10 victory. He aggravated the injury after a bye week and although he missed some practice time, he was able to return in time for the Michigan game. He sat out the first three quarters against the Wolverines before entering the game and catching two passes for 17 yards. He was lined up improperly on a critical two-point conversion in the final minute, a mistake which wiped out a successful conversion and contributed to the two-point loss. He continued to play for the Badgers, tallying a season high 6 catches for 60 yards in the loss to OSU, had five catches for a season best 79 yards in the 7-48 setback to Penn State, and had four receptions for 41 yards in the 22-point blow-out loss at Iowa. In what turned out to be the last game of his career, Beckum caught 2 passes for 16 yards and got injured in the third quarter when teammate John Clay rolled on his leg. He underwent surgery the night of the injury and was ruled out for the rest of the season. He will be expected to run again by January, which will give him a chance to participate in NFL tryouts.
Beckum ends his final year at Wisconsin as the team's second-leading receiver with 23 catches for 264 yards. He has career numbers of 159 receptions for 2,149 yards and 11 touchdowns, ranking third in UW history in both receptions and receiving yards behind Lee Evans and Brandon Williams.
[edit] Highlights
| Travis Beckum caught 6 passes for 106 yards and a TD to help UW defeat Michigan, 37-21. |
[edit] Career Stats
| Receiving | Rushing | |||||||||
| Year | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Att | Yds | Avg. | Lng | TD |
| 2006 | 61 | 903 | 14.8 | 62 | 5 | 4 | 19 | 4.8 | 8 | 0 |
| 2007 | 75 | 982 | 13.1 | 46 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 1.5 | 13 | 0 |
| 2008 | 23 | 264 | 11.5 | 42 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
[edit] Achievements
[edit] 2008
- Athlon Sports Preseason First Team All-America
- Athlon Sports Preseason First Team All-Big Ten
- Blue Ribbon College Football Yearbook Preseason All-Big Ten
- CFN Preseason First Team All-American
- CFN Preseason First Team All-Big Ten
- CFN's No.1 Tight End in the Preseason
- CFN's No.6 Preseason Player in the Big Ten
- John Mackey Award Watch List
- Phil Steele Midseason Third Team All-Big Ten
- Phil Steele Preseason First Team All-Big Ten
- Phil Steele Preseason Second Team All-America
- Walter Camp Player of the Year watch list
- Wisconsin Athlete of the Year
[edit] 2007
- All-Big Ten First Team Offense (Coaches & Media)
- The Associated Press All-American third team
- Walter Camp All-American team
- Rivals.com All-America First Team Offense
- CFN All-American First Team Offense
- Collegefootballnews.com All-Big Ten Team
- No.10 in CFN's Top 30 Big Ten players regardless of position
- Preseason All-Big Ten Offense
- No.9 in CFN's Preseason Top 30 Big Ten players regardless of position
[edit] 2006
- John Mackey Award Semifinalist
- 2nd-team All-American (Walter Camp and SI.com)
- 2nd-team All-Big Ten (Media)
- Honorable mention All-Big Ten (Coaches)
- UW’s Wayne Souza Coaches Appreciation Award
- 2-time John Mackey Tight End of the Week (Nassau County Sports Commission)
[edit] References
- Travis Beckum headlines Wisconsin’s 2005 recruiting class
- Travis Beckum Wisconsin Profile
- Travis Beckum Stats @ ESPN
- Travis Beckum Wikipedia
