Travis Dorsch

Travis Dorsch

No. 10
Punter
Personal information
Date of birth: September 4, 1979 (1979-09-04)
Place of birth: San Diego, California
High School: Bozeman High School Bozeman, Montana
Height: 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	Weight: 230 lb (104 kg)
Career information
College: Purdue
NFL Draft: 2002 / Round: 4 / Pick: 109
Debuted in 2002 for the Cincinnati Bengals
Last played in 2008 for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Career history
Cincinnati Bengals (2002) Green Bay Packers (2003) Minnesota Vikings (2004)* Rhein Fire (2005–2006) Winnipeg Blue Bombers (2008) *Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
Consensus All-American (2001) First-team All-Big Ten (2001) Ray Guy Award (2001)
Stats at NFL.com
Stats at pro-football-reference.com

Travis Edward Dorsch (born September 4, 1979) is a former American college and professional football player who was placekicker and punter in the National Football League (NFL) for two seasons during the early 2000s. He played college football for Purdue University, and was recognized as an All-American. He was picked by the Cincinnati Bengals in the fourth round of the 2002 NFL Draft, and played professionally for the Bengals and Green Bay Packers of the NFL, Rhein Fire of NFL Europa, and Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League (CFL).

Early years

Dorsch was born in San Diego, California. He attended Bozeman High School in Bozeman, Montana, and was a letterman in high school football, basketball, and track and field for the Bozeman Hawks. He also played four years of American Legion baseball for the Bozeman Bucks as a starting first baseman and pitcher. He holds several state records including the longest field goal in state history (fourth-longest in the national high school annals) at 63 yards.

College career

Dorsch attended Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, where he played for both the Purdue Boilermakers football team and the Boilermakers baseball team. He became the first Big Ten Conference athlete to be named as a first-team all-conference selection as both a punter and a placekicker. While playing for the Boilermakers football team from 1998 to 2001, Dorsch set many records including career scoring (355 points), career field goals (69), and career punting average (48.4). He was named a first-team All-American placekicker and a consensus All-American punter, and won the Ray Guy Award for the nation's outstanding punter as a senior in 2001. He is the only athlete in Purdue history to have kicked a field goal and thrown a touchdown in football, and hit a home run and recorded a win as a pitcher in baseball.

Professional career

As a football player, Dorsch was drafted in the 4th round (111th overall pick) in the 2002 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals. His only NFL experience came with the Bengals in 2002. He had 5 punts, averaging just 32.4 as an injury replacement for starter Nick Harris. His net average of 1.8 yds/kick remains the lowest in NFL history (5 kick minimum). Dorsch was a member of the 2004 Green Bay Packers playoff roster and was a practice squad member with the Minnesota Vikings in 2004. He spent 2005 and 2006 competing in the now defunct NFL Europe as a punter for the Rhein Fire in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Life after football

Dorsch is currently a Ph.D. student in sport psychology at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. After retiring from football in 2006, he has focused his competitive energies on the sport of triathlon. He is one of the top ranked clydesdale triathletes in central Indiana, and recently finished Ironman Cozumel (November 29, 2009) in 10:55:24.

Dorsch has published two scholarly articles: (1) Dorsch, T.E., Smith, A.L., & McDonough, M.H. (2009) "Parents' perceptions of child-to-parent socialization in organized youth sport", and (2) Witt, J.K. & Dorsch, T.E. (2009) "Kicking to bigger uprights: Field goal kicking performance influences perceived size".

External links

• Purdue Boilermakers bio