Travis Claridge

Gray, rainy days when the fog starts to roll in by halftime. . . . That feels like football weather to Travis Claridge. Two hours south of Seattle, Claridge's Fort Vancouver High team used to play a lot of games at a place called Kiggins Bowl, where the field always seemed to end up a mud puddle before the game was over. USC Coach John Robinson is talking about practicing with wet footballs this week in case the weather turns bad for Saturday's game against seventh-ranked Washington in Seattle.

Travis Claridge: An article in Saturday's Section A on former USC football player Travis Claridge erred in identifying Claridge's hometown. It is Vancouver, Wash., not Fort Vancouver, Wash. The name of the high school Claridge attended is Fort Vancouver High School.

The low sunlight angling onto Howard Jones Field mimics in intensity the concentration of USC's football players as they hustle through late-afternoon practice. Signal calls, hand-clapping and the bellowing of coaches reverberate against the high walls of nearby Lyon Recreation Center. The scene would be intimately familiar to Travis Claridge, who once added his voice and muscle to the tableau. Claridge played four seasons for the Trojans, from 1996 through 1999.

The low sunlight angling onto Howard Jones Field mimics in intensity the concentration of USC's football players as they hustle through late-afternoon practice. Signal calls, hand-clapping and the bellowing of coaches reverberate against the high walls of nearby Lyon Recreation Center. The scene would be intimately familiar to Travis Claridge, who once added his voice and muscle to the tableau. Claridge played four seasons for the Trojans, from 1996 through 1999.

Travis Claridge: An article in Saturday's Section A on former USC football player Travis Claridge erred in identifying Claridge's hometown. It is Vancouver, Wash., not Fort Vancouver, Wash. The name of the high school Claridge attended is Fort Vancouver High School.

Barring injury between now and Sunday, when USC opens against Penn State, Travis Claridge will become the first freshman offensive lineman to start an opener for the Trojans since 1979. Claridge, 6 feet 6 and 290 pounds, beat out sophomore David Pratchard at right guard. The last true freshman offensive lineman to start an opener was Brad Budde. Claridge, 18, is from Vancouver, Wash. * Junior wide receiver Larry Parker, slowed for two weeks by a hamstring pull, won't play against Penn State.

USC, which has had a relatively injury-free training camp, looked as if it might have had its first major injury Monday morning when prized freshman offensive tackle Travis Claridge had to be helped off the field because of an ankle injury. The 6-foot-6, 290-pound Claridge was taken off on a golf cart and sent for X-rays. Result: A minor sprain. Tailback Delon Washington, recovering from a pulled hamstring, participated in both practices Monday.

The honors keep piling up for USC linebacker Chris Claiborne, who was named the Pacific 10 defensive player of the year Monday and has been chosen the national defensive player of the year by the Football News. Claiborne, a junior, also is a finalist for the Butkus Award, and would become the first USC player to be recognized as the nation's best college linebacker if he wins the award Dec. 11 in Orlando.

Is Travis Claridge too good to be true? Has there ever been an 18-year-old offensive lineman this good? What's he going to be like in 1999, when he's a senior? USC's coaching staff ponders such questions, whenever Claridge's name comes up. At a time in football when some players have more earrings than battle scars, Claridge's is the profile of the old-fashioned football player. He looks as if he has jumped off a page in Street & Smith's 1956 college football preview.

R. Jay Soward tried to avoid watching the NFL draft, tried to dodge the televised proceedings as if they were stalking defensive backs, tried to avoid getting caught in the emotional roller coaster, even if this was his future at stake. So he mingled among the 50 or so people who flooded the family home in Rialto instead of staring at the TV. Maybe it helped that he had an idea what would happen.

Travis Claridge, a former USC offensive lineman who played in the NFL and the Canadian Football League, died Tuesday near Las Vegas, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats announced. He was 27. KVBC-TV in Las Vegas reported on its website that Claridge was found unconscious at a home near Las Vegas and died at St. Rose Dominican Hospital in Henderson, Nev. No cause of death has been determined, according to the report. The Clark County coroner's office did not return phone calls Tuesday night.

R. Jay Soward tried to avoid watching the NFL draft, tried to dodge the televised proceedings as if they were stalking defensive backs, tried to avoid getting caught in the emotional roller coaster, even if this was his future at stake. So he mingled among the 50 or so people who flooded the family home in Rialto instead of staring at the TV. Maybe it helped that he had an idea what would happen.

Travis Claridge knows something about pain after his four seasons at USC. Two shoulder surgeries, one ankle surgery--and something else he never anticipated: 22 losses. But the surgeries always waited until after the season, and Claridge not only never missed a game, he has never missed a start from the day he arrived as a freshman in 1996. Saturday's game against Washington State in Claridge's home state will be No. 46 in a row. UCLA will be No. 47, and Louisiana Tech will be No. 48.

The honors keep piling up for USC linebacker Chris Claiborne, who was named the Pacific 10 defensive player of the year Monday and has been chosen the national defensive player of the year by the Football News. Claiborne, a junior, also is a finalist for the Butkus Award, and would become the first USC player to be recognized as the nation's best college linebacker if he wins the award Dec. 11 in Orlando.

Exactly where John Robinson and his assistants went wrong will be discussed well into the future, but one of the areas that critics said the coaching staff underachieved the most was with the offensive line. On Tuesday night, guard Travis Claridge, the cornerstone of USC's offensive line but who many alleged hadn't improved in his two years working with USC assistant coach Mike Barry, spoke out on behalf of the coaching staff.

Gray, rainy days when the fog starts to roll in by halftime. . . . That feels like football weather to Travis Claridge. Two hours south of Seattle, Claridge's Fort Vancouver High team used to play a lot of games at a place called Kiggins Bowl, where the field always seemed to end up a mud puddle before the game was over. USC Coach John Robinson is talking about practicing with wet footballs this week in case the weather turns bad for Saturday's game against seventh-ranked Washington in Seattle.

Is Travis Claridge too good to be true? Has there ever been an 18-year-old offensive lineman this good? What's he going to be like in 1999, when he's a senior? USC's coaching staff ponders such questions, whenever Claridge's name comes up. At a time in football when some players have more earrings than battle scars, Claridge's is the profile of the old-fashioned football player. He looks as if he has jumped off a page in Street & Smith's 1956 college football preview.