Travis Benjamin

BIOGRAPHY

Travis Jammal Benjamin was born on December 29th, 1989, in Belle Glade, Florida. He is a wide receiver for the Los Angeles Chargers in the NFL. 

He studied at the University of Miami and is a wide receiver and return specialist that has played in multiple teams throughout his NFL career such as the Cleveland Browns and the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League. In the early years, Benjamin attended  Glades Central High School where he started playing football. He played on the state championship team as a junior and was a contributing factor to their success in the following season. He finished his senior season with eight receiving touchdowns and was the 21st-ranked wide receiver by ESPN and 144th overall in the Class of 2008. 

After finishing high school, Williams committed to the University of Miami to play football for the Miami Hurricanes. As a freshman, he had 18 receptions for 293 receiving yards in 11 games while as a sophomore, he had 29 receptions for 501 yards and a touchdown in 11 games, where his best game came in the season opener against Florida State with four receptions for 128 yards and a touchdown. As a junior, he had 43 receptions for 743 yards and three touchdowns in 13 games and as a senior, he had 41 receptions for 609 yards and three touchdowns in 11 games. He one of 47 collegiate wide receivers to attend the NFL Scouting Combine. On March 8, 2012, Benjamin attended Miami's pro day and performed the short shuttle, three-cone drill, and positional drills and Benjamin was projected to be a third or fourth-round draft pick by the majority of NFL draft experts and scouts and was ranked the 27th best wide receiver prospect by NFL.com and the 64th best wide receiver prospect in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com.

Benjamin was selected in the fourth round of the 2012 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns and on May 10, 2012, he signed a four-year contract with the Browns and was named as the fourth receiver to start the regular season. He made his professional regular-season debut in the Browns season opener against the Philadephia Eagles where he made his first career reception. The following week, he earned his first career start against the Cincinnati Bengals and on September 23, 2012, Benjamin caught two passes for 44-yards and scored his first career touchdown against the Buffalo Bills and during Week 4, Benjamin had the first punt return of his career for a 40-yard gain and had two kick returns for a total of 47-yards against the Baltimore Ravens. In Week 14, he returned a punt for a 93-yard touchdown to set a franchise record for longest punt return by a rookie against the Kansas City Chiefs. He finished his rookie season with 18 receptions for 298 receiving yards and two touchdowns, while also carrying the ball six times for 66-yards.

In 2013, Benjamin was named the starting punt and kick returner to start the season. He finished the 2013 season with five receptions for 105 receiving yards and had one carry for 45-yards in eight games and three starts and finished seventh in the league in punt return average. In 2014, he was named as the third wide receiver On October 5, 2014, Benjamin made a season-high four receptions for 48-yards and caught two touchdown receptions against the Tenessee Titans, making it his first multi-touchdown game of his career. During a Week 15 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals, Benjamin had two punt returns for 24-yards and made his first career tackle on Bengal's linebacker Rey Maualuga after he intercepted a pass attempt by quarterback Johnny Manziel. He finished the 2014 season with 18 receptions for 314-yards and three touchdowns in 16 games and zero starts. In 2015, Benjamin was named the starting wide receiver to begin the season. In Week 2 against the Tenessee Titans, he caught three passes for 115 receiving yards and two touchdowns receptions and returning a punt return for a 78-yard touchdown, earning him the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week. He ended the 2015 season with career-highs of 68 receptions for 966 receiving yards and five touchdown receptions in 15 starts and 16 games.

On March 9, 2016, the San Diego Chargers signed Benjamin to a four-year contract and was named as the starting wide receiver to begin the 2016 season. He made his debut with Chargers against the Kansas City Chiefs where he caught seven passes for 32-yards and caught his first touchdown as a member of the Chargers on a 45-yard pass from Philip Rivers against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Benjamin finished the season with 47 catches for 677 receiving yards and four touchdowns in eight starts and 14 games. In the 2017 season, he was named as the third wide receiver to begin the season and he finished the 2017 season with 34 receptions for 567 receiving yards and four touchdowns. In 2018, he totaled 12 receptions for 186 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown and on April 16, 2019, Benjamin signed a one-year contract extension with the Chargers through the 2020 season.

On April 3, 2020, Benjamin signed a one-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers. On August 5, 2020, Benjamin announced he would opt out of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.