Jun. 9—About 7:30 p.m. Tuesday night, former UND wide receiver Travis Toivonen ranked the last 24 hours as the craziest of his life.
Earlier in the day, the Seattle Seahawks announced the team signed Toivonen to the 90-man roster.
A 6-foot-4, 210-pound four-year starter for the Fighting Hawks, Toivonen was a senior in 2019 and spent 2020 playing in an upstart indoor football league.
But a Pro Day at the University of Minnesota in April was enough for the Seahawks to like Toivonen’s route running, even if it was a surprise to Toivonen who had all but written off the NFL for 2021.
The first sign of NFL life for Toivonen came last Thursday when his agent said the Seahawks wanted to fly him out for a workout.
“I was shocked because I hadn’t heard anything in so long,” Toivonen said.
The Seahawks flew Toivonen out Sunday to Seattle from Minneapolis.
From there, Toivonen went to the hotel, had a physical and went through coronavirus testing.
Toivonen was working out with three other wide receivers in Seattle, and the receivers were told they’d sign one and send the other three home.
Toivonen went through the workout and ran a 40-yard dash, which he believes was 4.69 seconds, laser-timed. After that, Toivonen spoke with Seattle head coach Pete Carroll, who indicated he was impressed with the workout.
After the initial workout, coaches took Toivonen aside and said they’d keep him and another of the four receivers over for one more day before deciding.
On Tuesday, Toivonen was called in by the Seahawks and signed.
“Five minutes later I’m at a walkthrough and 30 minutes later I’m at my first NFL practice,” Toivonen said. “Today has been crazy.
“It’s the craziest day of my life. I’m at practice with DK Metcalf and Russell Wilson … life comes at you fast.”
Toivonen said he was given an Ipad with playbook information. He’s trying to learn as quickly as possible as others have a two-week headstart on the learning process.
“Mind-blowing,” Toivonen said. “Being out there with guys you’ve watched on TV for the last 5-10 years, some of the best in the world, and now they’re my teammates. Now it’s time to get to work. These guys are so good. I’m going to have to step my game up and learn from them.”
Toivonen said his goal is to make the 53-man active roster. That was a dream that seemed far-fetched only a week ago.
“I thought the NFL was out the window for 2021,” Toivonen said. “I thought there was no chance. I was thinking about what I should be doing. I had been studying for a personal trainer certification. I was debating about whether to play in the (Fan Controlled Football League) in the fall or what to do. I wasn’t ready to be done with football, but I didn’t think there was any chance of an NFL team signing me. I hadn’t played college in two years. This is basically a dream come true.”
Toivonen ranks eighth all-time at UND with 139 career catches. He’s third in career catches in UND’s Division I era, behind only Greg Hardin and Noah Wanzek.
Toivonen racked up 1,719 receiving yards at UND, which is also third all-time in UND’s D1 era behind Wanzek and Hardin.