Travelle Wharton named No.16 on 107.5 the Game's 30 top Gamecocks
This summer, 107.5 the Game is honoring the 30th year for Gamecock football in the SEC by counting down the 30 best players during the era. Former Gamecock’s offensive tackle Travelle Wharton was next to join the list.
“I am honored to just be mentioned, so many great players that have come through our program in the last 30 years so just being mentioned and selected is really an honor,” Wharton said.
Wharton started 45 of 47 games in the four years he played as a Gamecock. Wharton was recruited by legendary college football head coach Lou Holtz. Holtz took over in 1999 and went 0-11 in his first season.
The program rebounded in Wharton’s freshman season, Holtz’s second, and went 8-4 in 2000. Additionally, the team went on to capture an Outback Bowl title over Ohio State 24-7. The team concluded the year ranked No.19 in the AP poll and No.21 in the coaches poll.
Holtz was known to have an impact on players beyond football. Wharton confirms that.
“Coach Holtz did a great job of building the culture.” Wharton said, “for us just learning the basic foundation of not just football but life.”
After the second game of that season, Wharton began a streak of what would result in 45 games without allowing a sack.
In Wharton’s sophomore year, the Gamecocks went 9-4 under Holtz. Once again the team met up with Ohio State in the Outback Bowl in Tampa. Similar to the year before, the Gamecocks beat the Buckeyes 31-28 in a nail-biter.
Following back-to-back Outback Bowl wins, the program saw a down year in 2002. The team was 5-7 and did not make bowl eligibility. The 2003 season was also not much different. In fact, the Gamecocks had the same exact record as the year before, 5-7.
Despite the record, 2003 turned out to be a big year for Wharton. He started all 12 games at left tackle and finished off the aforementioned no-sack streak. Wharton was named second-team All-SEC by the coaches as well as being voted team captain by his teammates.
Wharton led the 2003 offensive line as the only returning starter. The group allowed a total of 10 sacks as a whole on the year. He also received an invite to play in the Senior Bowl.
Wharton says his favorite moment as a player was in 2000 against Ole Miss. Walk-on quarterback Erik Kimrey came into the game to replace the injured Phil Petty, down by 6. With 4:47 left in the fourth quarter, and on 4th and 10 Kimrey steps up and delivers a perfect fade to Jermale Kelly for the touchdown. Enjoy the clip.
“The whole atmosphere of the place was shaking, the whole stadium was surreal as we were running down there celebrating with Kelly,” Wharton said.
The Carolina Panthers drafted Wharton with the 94th pick in the 3rd round of the 2004 NFL draft. He spent most of his career in Charlotte. He started the final 11 games of his rookie season at left guard. That unit allowed 33 sacks on the year, the third-lowest in Panthers history.
Wharton also started all 16 games of the 2005 season. In the first game of the 2006 season, he suffered a torn ACL and MCL that sidelined him for the rest of the year. He returned to start every game in 2007 and in 2008 he signed a 6-year extension to stay in Charlotte.
The Panthers released him in 2012 and he signed a one-year deal with the Cincinnati Bengals. In conclusion of his NFL career, Wharton signed a one-year deal with the Panthers in 2013, before retiring in 2014.
Wharton moved to coach the offensive line for the Gamecocks in 2015, then he signed with the Panthers once again in 2018. In 2020 he got a job with the Washington Commanders to coach the offensive line, where he remains today.
