Barbara Lee yells to her son even though she knows he can’t hear.
“It’s coming to you, Travis!”
She’s always been like this, she tells you. One of those moms — always loud and always proud.
She has driven four hours up I-35 for this game — to scream from her spot in the bleachers in Edmond, Okla.
Sure, her son can’t hear her right now. Doesn’t matter.
It’s her job to tell him what’s coming anyway.
Travis isn’t supposed to hear her, but still, somehow, it seems like he does.
Central Oklahoma quarterback Ryan O’Hara underthrows a ball to the end zone. Travis turns just in time, wrapping his hands around it before nearly falling to the field turf below him.
After regaining his balance, he takes off down the sideline.
And Barbara starts to scream again. This time, she’s not talking to Travis.
She’s talking to the ones who are chasing him.
“Ya’ll are not going to catch him!” she shouts. “So stop running!”
They can’t hear her either, but Barbara is right again.
It’s the one fact that she — and Travis’ friends — have come to expect.
Once Travis Lee gets going, he’s a difficult man to catch.
VVV
Travis Lee says his dream was always to be a performer. For awhile, that had nothing to do with a football field.
Starting at age 16, Travis joined a few friends to start a new underground group that produced rap music in his hometown of Greenville, Texas.
The group became “The Greenville Mike Wreckers.” And Travis began seeing immediate success.
His group sold 8,000 copies of the independent record label it produced and even opened for well-known rapper Scarface at a concert. Travis himself won a mixtape award and had a song up for “Best Single” and “Best Chorus” in Deep South Magazine.
“I had always dreamed of being a rapper — being one of those high-paid performers,” Travis said. “But, in reality, it’s not that easy.”
As high school graduation approached, the Homecoming King began to turn his intentions elsewhere. His mother urged him to go to college. He was receiving looks as a two-sport athlete. His friends — who were not planning on college — urged him to pursue his music career with the group.
In the end, Travis was faced with a decision.
He ended up choosing the best option for himself.
“I didn’t want to be what I call ‘regular,’” Travis aid. “I’m not saying my friends are regular, I’m just saying I have bigger dreams for myself.
“Being realistic, it’s not that easy to be a successful rapper. It’s really not that easy.”
VVV
Travis Lee was all set to go to Texas Tech.
He had talked to coaches, and they had offered him scholarship money. The plan was to play wide receiver or cornerback or both, then also perhaps participate for the school’s track team.
The only thing keeping him from the school was his ACT scores.
It wasn’t that his scores weren’t high enough — it was that he waited awhile to take the test.
When he finally received his scores back — he had easily qualified — Texas Tech coaches informed him they had already given his scholarship money to someone else.
“It was a shock, really,” Lee said. “More of a panic like, ‘What am I going to do now?’”
Lee had ignored many other offers after being set on going to Tech. He briefly thought about going to the Navy.
Emporia State track and field coach Dave Harris was the first one to call him after his plans became uncertain, offering a track scholarship.
His mother told him to take it. Travis finally did — at a university 460 miles away from Greenville.
It ended up being tough for both mother and son.
“The empty nest syndrome, you ever heard of that? I had it bad,” Barbara Lee said. “My boys are six years apart, so I did it with the first one and I didn’t think I was going to be like that with Travis, but I was.
“I was just as bad with him.”
VVV
It was awhile before Travis was able to try football once again.
His hope all along was to be able to try to walk on at ESU.
It didn’t happen his freshman year, as Harris didn’t let him try out. His sophomore year he red-shirted for football, then last year he went out as a third-year freshman.
It turned out he didn’t get the opportunity he was hoping for. The Hornets were deep at cornerback, and Travis said the coaching staff didn’t give him much of a look.
It all changed in the offseason with the hiring of coach Garin Higgins.
The new football coach promised to come in and offer everyone a clean slate.
It was just what Travis needed, as Higgins immediately saw potential from the strong and fast athlete.
“A guy like that — I think you’d be able to find a place for that kid to play,” Higgins said. “We were excited about him when we first got here, just seeing him walk through the hallway.”
Things still didn’t start so smoothly for Travis last spring.
Though he had success in track — scoring points in the MIAA Indoor Meet and running a 10.97 in the 100-meter dash during the outdoor season — the sport put him behind for football.
He had to miss all but one football Spring practice because of his responsibilities to the track team.
And, in that one practice, he hurt his shoulder, raising question marks on the coaching staff about his durability.
The coaches still promised him they wouldn’t hold his track participation against him when practices started in the fall.
Travis ended up making them glad they didn’t give up on him.
“How he’s developed,” ESU cornerbacks coach Jordan Malone said, “has been amazing.”
The 5-10 social science major has learned both the techniques and schemes in a short period of time.
Though he was slotted with the second team for most of camp, he worked his way up to the starting lineup for the first game against Western State (Colo.).
“It took me awhile to prove myself,” he said, “but I did.”
VVV
Travis Lee doesn’t know how to describe it. But there was something about that third-and-5 play in the second quarter of last week’s game.
Somehow, he knew he had to be ready.
“I had a small feeling,” Lee said, “the ball was coming.”
The rest was history. Lee intercepted the pass, returning it 100 yards for a touchdown for the longest interception return in ESU history.
It’s almost like he heard his mom all along.
“The best thing about it — my mom and brother came to the game, so they got to see me break the record,” Lee said. “It was amazing. That was the best play so far of my college career.”
It brought other responses from the coaches. Malone went crazy in the coaches booth. Higgins, meanwhile, thanked his good fortune.
“They threw it to the wrong guy,” Higgins said. “I always say that, too. They could throw it to anybody else and they might have caught them.
“But don’t throw it to Travis Lee, because you’re not catching him.”
Barbara knows. So do Travis’ friends.
Once Travis Lee gets going, he truly is a difficult man to catch.
It’s hard to slow down someone chasing his dreams.
For more info on Saturday's game against Southwest Baptist <A Href=http://www.emporiagazette.com/news/2007/sep/14/hornets_defensive_line_proving_be_strength/>Click Here</A>