Physicality of pads looms for impressive young Chiefs tight end Ross Travis

Demetrius Harris nodded and grinned. He’d just been asked about the first hit he’d even taken at the NFL level, and he knew a similar fate would soon await teammate and fellow hooper-turned-tight end Ross Travis.

That said, Harris has some simple advice for Travis ahead of the Chiefs’ third full-squad practice — which is traditionally the Chiefs’ first in pads — on Monday.

“Just expect the contact,” Harris said with a chuckle. “I mean, coming from basketball, you just really didn’t have this kind of impact on the court. So just embrace it, and don’t think about it too much. Just go out there and play. He’ll be fine.”

Travis, 23, would be wise to listen to his 24-year-old counterpart. Both are similar-sized athletes (Travis is 6-foot-7, 235 pounds, Harris 6-7, 230) who are former college basketball players. Harris played college hoops at Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Travis at Penn State.

The biggest difference, however, is that Harris has been playing football for two more years, and after some initial bumps in the road, signed a three-year, $6.3 million extension to stay with the Chiefs in January.

Harris says that in retrospect, he knew he could make it in the NFL after he took his first hit in training camp back in 2013. Harris remembers that his first hit came courtesy of star inside linebacker Derrick Johnson, who flattened him after he caught a short pass by taking his legs out.

“It was a welcome, a welcome to football,” Harris recalled. “When I first got hit, I was like, ‘Aw yeah, it’s not that bad as people would think it is on the outside.’ I got used to it.”

And Travis, who has impressed with his size, athleticism and natural ball skills during organized team activities, is confident he can do the same.

“I heard so much about that,” Travis said. “That’s all they ever talk about — ‘Can you take a hit?’

“I’m going to get up, get ready for the next play, get ready to go, pop up and it’s part of the game. It’s what I signed up for.”

After a Penn State senior year in which he averaged 5.5 points and 6.3 rebounds, Travis decided to follow his first love. He figured his knack for rebounding — he led the team in the category for three straight seasons — might translate to the gridiron, just like it did for other forwards-turned-tight ends such as Antonio Gates (who averaged 7.7 points as a senior at Kent State), Jimmy Graham (5.9 as a senior at Miami) and Julius Thomas (5.9 as a senior at Portland State in 2009-10).

And of course, who can forget former Chiefs star tight end Tony Gonzalez, who averaged 4.5 rebounds his last season at California in 1996-97? Travis has been issued Gonzalez’s number (88), which is still in circulation.

“It’s one of the reasons I thought I could switch sports — I was a big rebounder at Penn State, just going up and getting the ball, being aggressive towards the ball,” Travis said. “I think that’s what the coaches see, go up and get the ball. But a lot of the footwork stuff carried over from basketball.”

Travis went through a pro day at Penn State, and apparently fared well enough to catch the eye of the Chiefs, who signed him shortly before the regular season.

After spending most of 2015 on the practice squad, he showed plus athleticism, burst and leaping ability during the Chiefs’ 13 offseason practices in May and June. Travis has done the same during training camp, often working as the third tight end ahead of 2015 fifth-round draft pick James O’Shaughnessy — who is working his way back from a foot injury he suffered last year — and Brian Parker, a strong blocker who was claimed off waivers from the San Diego Chargers before the season opener last year.

“He picked up the offense and his retention has been phenomenal,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said of Travis. “You can do a lot of things with him. You don’t have to keep inside as a tight, tight end. You can split him out. He’s able to do that. Every rep he gets a little bit better and that’s the exciting part.”

This story was originally published July 31, 2016 at 4:03 PM with the headline "Physicality of pads looms for impressive young Chiefs tight end Ross Travis."