The Pittsburgh Steelers signed RB Travis Homer on Monday, bolstering depth at running back and on special teams. While he may not play much on offense, he’ll be an impactful special teams player, based on his NFL career.
Homer logged 582 special-teams snaps in three seasons with the Chicago Bears, which gives us an idea of what he’ll do in Pittsburgh. But who is he as a person? Here are five things to know about the newest Steelers running back/special teamer.
Older Brother Played Pro Football
Homer has two older brothers. One brother, Tevin, played corner at Florida Atlantic (and actually played against Travis and the Miami Hurricanes in 2016). Tevin went undrafted after college, but he signed with the Washington Commanders as an undrafted free agent. He was cut, never appearing in an NFL game. He then signed with the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Ultimately, he didn’t stick with the Blue Bombers, moving on to the Arena Football League.
There, Tevin won a title in Albany in 2019 and was named to the All-Arena team. From there, he joined a couple of other indoor football leagues before landing with the Northern Arizona Wranglers of the Indoor Football League. He won another title there.
Certified Personal Trainer
Travis Homer loves the gym. Not only does he love working out, but he also wants to help others do the same. According to Homer’s LinkedIn bio, he is a National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) Certified Personal Trainer. So, after football, he can remain in the gym and help others work out properly in a way that’s best suited to them.
Entrepreneurial Spirit
Homer found a way to turn his love of the gym and football into a business venture outside of football. He studied business management in Miami while playing college football. He didn’t lose that interest once he made it to the NFL.
Homer is the founder and CEO of Akimbo Apparel, a clothing brand focused on gym clothing and sportswear. He also combined his background as a personal trainer with his business acumen and became a franchise owner of JETSET Pilates.
Lover Of Anime
Not everything in Homer’s life revolves around athletics. If you have watched Homer highlights/celebrations, even dating back to his Miami days, you’ll notice anime references. If you click on his Twitter/X page, his header at the time of this writing involves anime. So, during his rookie minicamp with the Seattle Seahawks, a reporter asked him about his fanhood.
“Y’all gonna think I’m kidding or joking right now, but I like the physicality of anime,” Homer said. “Y’all think this kid cartoons or something. Nah. This is some real stuff going on in here.”
Even his pinned post on X is him celebrating using the iconic Dragon Ball Z attack, Kamehameha.
Kamehamehaaaaaaa!!!! pic.twitter.com/ALlXIWWFb9
— Travis Homer (@travishomer) November 19, 2017
Giving Back To His Hometown
Even as Homer’s pro football journey has taken him to Seattle and Chicago (and now Pittsburgh), he still gives back to his hometown in Florida. One way is through a football camp at his alma mater, Oxbridge Academy. He happily takes his NFL-level knowledge back home to the kids.
“You don’t get a lot of this individual work that we did today,” Homer said in an interview with WPTV in 2022. “A lot of coaches, they haven’t been to that level. Not knocking them…at our level, we learn certain things that’re gonna help you. So, I really want them just take this in and share it with other people if they can.”
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