Travis Rhone excited to be playing football in Cedar Rapids again

HIAWATHA - You can see it in his eyes when he talks about football.

Travis Rhone has a passion for the game. The former Cedar Rapids Washington standout is a soft-spoken individual, but when the subject turns to football his face lights up.

Rhone, 25, will be on the field Saturday night when the Cedar Rapids Titans make their official Indoor Football League debut against the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena.

Rhone is one of two running backs on the 25-man Titan roster. He is looking forward to playing in his hometown.

“It's great being back here to play,” Rhone said before an 11 p.m. Wednesday practice at The SportsZone. “The late-night practices are kind of rough, but it is what we have to do to be good. I just deal with it.”

As is the case with all the players and coaches on the Titans' roster, Rhone has a full-time job outside of his football commitment. He works as an educational assistant at Hoover Elementary School.

After a stellar career at Washington which culminated with a trip to the 2004 state title game, Rhone played junior college football at Iowa Central before moving on to Wayne State University in Nebraska.

He was living in the Seattle area when the opportunity to play for the Titans came up.

“I was playing (for an indoor team) out in Seattle,” Rhone said. “My parents told me there was going to be a team in Cedar Rapids, so I tried out.”

Rhone attended the two-day tryout camp last month and was offered a spot on the team. He saw action in last Thursday's exhibition loss to the Omaha Beef, getting into the end zone on a short run only to have it nullified by a penalty.

Then there was the wait after the game to see if he would have a roster spot. The Titans had approximately 40 players on the roster for the exhibition and had to be down to the league minimum of 25.

“I was a little worried,” he admitted about the possibility of being cut. “I had been doing pretty good at practice so I figured I had a pretty good chance (of making the team).”

While Rhone admits it is exciting to be playing with the Titans, he says there are concessions that must be made.

“We practice 11 to 1, then I have to be right back up around 6 to get to work,” Rhone said. “I work until 3 and then I try to get a little sleep in before practice and I have to get lifting in there as well.”

So what does Rhone think Titans' fans will see Saturday night?

“They are going to see a show,” he said. “They are going to see a lot of hard hitting, hopefully a lot of touchdowns and a lot of guys having fun doing what they love to do.”