Travis Dorsch


Travis Edward Dorsch is a former American college and professional football player turned academic who was placekicker and punter in the National Football League for two seasons during the early 2000s. He played college football for Purdue University, and was recognized as a consensus All-American. The Cincinnati Bengals picked him in the fourth round of the 2002 NFL Draft, and he played professionally for the Bengals and Green Bay Packers of the NFL, and the Rhein Fire of NFL Europa.

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 at 63 yards.

College career

While attending Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, Dorsch played for both the Purdue Boilermakers football team and the Boilermakers baseball team. While playing for the Boilermakers football team from 1998 to 2001, Dorsch set many records including career scoring, career field goals, and career punting average. 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. He was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American punter, having received first-team honors from the American Football Coaches Association, Associated Press, Walter Camp Foundation and CNNSI. He also and won the Ray Guy Award for the nation's outstanding punter, and received first-team All-American honors as a placekicker from Football News and The Sporting News. 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 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 yards per kick remains the lowest in NFL history. 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 NFL Europe as a punter for the Rhein Fire in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Life after football

Dorsch is currently an assistant professor at Utah State University in Logan, Utah. He pursued graduate studies at Purdue and completed his doctorate in Sports and Exercise Psychology in 2013. 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 the United States, and has finished six Ironman triathlons.
Dorsch has published two scholarly articles: Dorsch, T.E., Smith, A.L., & McDonough, M.H. "Parents' perceptions of child-to-parent socialization in organized youth sport", and Witt, J.K. & Dorsch, T.E. "Kicking to bigger uprights: Field goal kicking performance influences perceived size".