Travis Etienne Jr.

Early life

Etienne was raised in Jennings, Louisiana, and is of Louisiana Creole ancestry. His father works for a well service company in the oil industry, while his mother, Donnetta, is a nurse.

Etienne attended Jennings High School in Jennings, Louisiana. As a senior, he rushed for 2,459 yards with 39 touchdowns. For his career, he had 8,864 total yards with 115 total touchdowns. He was rated as a four-star recruit and the 15th highest-rated running back recruit in the country by the 247Sports.com Composite, which aggregates the ratings of the major recruiting services. Etienne committed to Clemson University to play college football on January 21, 2017.

2017 season

As a freshman at Clemson in 2017, he was part of a backfield that contained Tavien Feaster, Adam Choice, C. J. Fuller, and dual-threat quarterback Kelly Bryant. He led the team in rushing with 766 yards on 107 carries with 13 touchdowns.

2018 season

As a sophomore in 2018, he was a key member of a Clemson team that won the national championship. Etienne rushed for 1,659 yards on the year and had an FBS-leading 24 rushing touchdowns. He had an additional two receiving touchdowns, bringing his total touchdowns from scrimmage to 26, which also led FBS. He had eight games going over 100 rushing yards After winning the 2018 ACC Championship Game against Pitt, Etienne was named the MVP of the game. Etienne was named ACC Player of the Year and ACC Offensive Player of the Year following the regular season. He was named a first-team All-American by Sporting News and ESPN, and was a consensus second-team All-American.

2019 season

Etienne started his junior year at Clemson with a career-high 205 yards and three touchdowns in the first game of the season. He bested this in a November 2 game against Wofford, when he ran for 212 yards and two touchdowns on just 9 attempts (23.6 yards per attempt). He became the first Clemson running back to have three career 200-yard games. At the conclusion of the regular season, Etienne was named ACC Player of the Year, ACC Offensive Player of the Year, and first-team All-ACC; all for the second consecutive year. He is the first Clemson player to win consecutive ACC Player of the Year awards since Steve Fuller in 1977–78. Etienne ended his junior season with 1,614 rushing yards and an ACC-leading 19 rushing touchdowns. His 7.8 yards-per-carry were second most in FBS. In the Fiesta Bowl, he caught the game winning touchdown with 1:49 left in the game, running it in from 34 yards. Following the season, he was named a consensus second-team All-American.

Despite projections that Etienne would enter the 2020 NFL draft, he announced on January 17, 2020, that he would return to Clemson for his senior year.

2020 season

On October 31, 2020, in a 34–28 win over Boston College, Etienne finished with two touchdowns and a career-high 264 all-purpose yards. With the performance, he scored a touchdown in 42 games, breaking Donnel Pumphrey's record for most in FBS history. He finished his career with touchdowns scored in 46 games. With his 4,952 career rushing yards Etienne also broke the ACC career rushing record previously held by Ted Brown. He also set ACC career records for rushing touchdowns (70), total touchdowns (78), and total points scored (468). He scored at least one touchdown in 46 of 55 career games, setting the FBS and NCAA records. He was named as a Consensus All-American.

Personal life

Through the 2025 season, Etienne's surname was believed to be pronounced (ee-tee-EN). Upon signing with the Saints and returning to his home state of Louisiana, he informed the media during his introductory press conference that it is actually pronounced (AY-chan).

Travis has a younger brother Trevor who was drafted by the Carolina Panthers with the 114th pick in the 2025 NFL draft.