Travis Rudolph

Rudolph attended Cardinal Newman High School in West Palm Beach, Florida. As a senior, he had 63 receptions for school records 1,237 yards and 15 touchdowns. Rudolph was rated by Rivals.com as a five-star recruit and was ranked as the number one receiver in his class.[1] He committed to Florida State University to play college football.[2]

As a true freshman at Florida State in 2014, Rudolph played in 13 games with six starts and had 38 receptions for 555 yards and four touchdowns.[3][4] In his second season at Florida State, Rudolph played 13 games with 11 starts. He led the team in receptions (59), receiving yards (916), and touchdown receptions (7). In the 2015 Peach Bowl, he caught 7 receptions for 201 yards, both career-highs in catches and receiving yards. This performance also broke the record for most receiving yards by a Seminole in bowl history, breaking Javon Walker's record of 195 receiving yards set during the 2002 Gator Bowl.[5] As a junior in 2016, Rudolph played 13 games with 840 receiving yards and seven touchdowns. After the season, Rudolph decided to forgo his senior year and enter the 2017 NFL Draft.[6]

In August 2016, while visiting a middle school in Tallahassee with other FSU players, Rudolph made national headlines after he sat and ate lunch with Bo Paske, an autistic student who was eating by himself.[19]

In April 2017, days before the 2017 NFL Draft, Rudolph's father, Darryl, was shot and killed while working as a maintenance worker at a strip club in West Palm Beach, Florida. Police said Darryl Rudolph was working in a back storage room when a coworker, in an adjacent room, accidentally discharged a rifle while moving it off a shelf. The bullet traveled through the wall and struck Darryl in the neck.[20]

Rudolph is a cousin of former NFL wide receiver and return specialist Devin Hester.[21]

On April 7, 2021, Rudolph was arrested in Palm Beach County, Florida, and charged with one count of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted first-degree murder. According to investigators from the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, Rudolph allegedly opened fire on four people following a late-night dispute at his mother's home in Lake Park. It is believed that the four people came to Rudolph's mother's home to confront Rudolph about domestic violence accusations. During the physical dispute, Rudolph armed himself with an AR-15–style pistol and fired 39 rounds. One person was killed and another was wounded as a result. Rudolph was initially held in jail without bond.

Rudolph's defense team filed a motion to dismiss all charges under Florida's Stand Your Ground Law. The motion was subsequently denied by a judge in March 2022.[22]

Less than one month later, Rudolph's attorney negotiated his release from jail on $160,000 cash bond. The agreement required Rudolph to remain on house arrest.[23] His trial for murder began in late May 2023. Rudolph was represented by Heidi Perlet & Marc Shiner.[24]

During trial, Rudolph maintained that he fired the shots in self-defense. Rudolph claimed the four men, Keishaun Jones, Tyler Robinson, Chris Lowe, and Sebastian Jean-Jacques, came over to his house around midnight on April 7, 2021, to physically hurt or kill him. Text messages introduced into evidence by Rudolph's attorneys show that Rudolph's ex-girlfriend, Dominique Jones, sent text messages to her brother, Keishaun Jones, and to Tyler Robinson telling them to go "shoot up" Rudolph's home reportedly because Rudolph had been with another woman.[25]

Further, Rudolph's attorneys stated that Robinson was armed with a gun during the confrontation that he discarded in some bushes as he was fleeing the scene on foot after Rudolph started shooting.

During his testimony, Robinson admitted that he brought the gun with him but denied ever pointing it at Rudolph or displaying it during the altercation. As a result of the shooting, Jean-Jacques was killed. Robinson was also shot but survived.

In their closing arguments, state prosecutors alleged Rudolph was not justified in firing 39 rounds into an occupied vehicle as it was leaving. Further, they faulted lead defense attorney Marc Shiner's argument that Darryl Rudolph Jr. was in immediate danger and standing near Travis Rudolph when he began firing.

In the defense's closing argument, Shiner maintained Rudolph was defending himself and his brother from death or great bodily harm. Additionally, Shiner argued that two of the four people in the car were pointing guns at Rudolph, which justified him shooting his rifle. Shiner also accused the lead detective of conducting an incompetent and sloppy investigation.

Ultimately, on June 7, 2023, a jury unanimously acquitted Rudolph of all charges after deliberating for about 3 hours and 40 minutes.[26]

• Florida State Seminoles bio