Former Florida State football star arrested on murder charges in Palm Beach County
Former Florida State star wide receiver Travis Rudolph — who played for the New York Giants and spent a day on the Dolphins practice squad — is in Palm Beach County jail on first degree murder charges.
The charges listed on Rudolph’s jail entry are four counts of premeditated murder, though the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office believes Rudolph shot at four people and hit two, one of whom died. Deputies arrived on the scene early Wednesday, shortly after midnight, in the 500 block of North Redwood Drive of Lake Park, PBSO said.
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers, a Canadian football who signed Rudolph before the pandemic, released him Wednesday after learning of his arrest.
Rudolph, 25, came out of West Palm Beach Cardinal Newman ranked by some analysts as the No. 1 wide receiver recruit in the nation. In three years at FSU, he accumulated 153 catches, 2,311 yards and 18 touchdowns, before leaving for the NFL Draft in 2017.
But after going undrafted, Rudolph wound up on the Giants practice squad. He got promoted from the practice squad midseason and caught eight passes for 101 yards before being cut again in the offseason. The Dolphins signed him to their practice squad the following season, but Rudolph’s NFL career ended with an injury on his first day.
Off-the-field, Rudolph became nationally famous for sitting down with Tallahassee Montford Middle School student Bo Paske, who was eating lunch alone. The child’s mother, who is on the autism spectrum, posted the photo to Facebook and it went viral.
Also, prior to the 2017 NFL Draft, Rudolph’s father died in an accidental shooting.
This story was originally published April 7, 2021 at 4:56 PM with the headline "Former Florida State football star arrested on murder charges in Palm Beach County."
