DeaMonte "Chip" Trayanum is a senior running back on the football team. He leads the MAC and is 12th in the nation with 476 rushing yards. Before transferring to Toledo last January, he played at Arizona State, Ohio State and Kentucky. He earned a bachelor's degree in education and human ecology from Ohio State and an undergraduate certificate in business from Kentucky. He is a general studies major at Toledo.
 
On what his life was like growing up
I'm originally from Akron, Ohio. I spent a lot of my time growing up on the east side of Akron. I grew up around the corner from my high school, Archbishop Hoban, not knowing that I was ever going to go to school there. It was a private Catholic high school. I ended up going there. We won three state championships. Akron means a lot to me. I know I've got the whole city behind me. My family is truly near and dear to me. They're another reason why I do what I do, why I go so hard. They give me strength every day. And ultimately, I would say number one for me is my faith. I try to remember everything I've been through to get to this moment, and then try to seize all of it.

On his mother and his family
My mom's name is Shereefa Cameron. She's my biggest supporter. She's resilient, hardworking, forgiving -- just a special person. I feel like if she wasn't my mom, I would still want to be around her just because of the type of person she is. She's the type of person I try to model myself around every day. Our family believes in showing everybody kindness because you never know what somebody is going through. My mom taught us to show respect to everybody. My family lives in Arizona now. A year after I went to school at Arizona State, they all moved out there. They like it.

On why he originally chose to attend Arizona State
Being a kid from Ohio, Ohio State was actually my first scholarship offer. And then later that same day, I believe, Notre Dame offered me as well. Growing up in a Catholic high school, I was kind of being pushed a little bit to go to Notre Dame. I had a lot of great options at a lot of great schools. But I've always been the type to blaze my own trail and not be scared to do so. I started getting recruited by Arizona State, by Coach Herm Edwards, Marvin Lewis, Kevin Mawae -- NFL legends. It was the first time I was ever west of the Mississippi. So it definitely broadened the horizon of what I thought life was like out west. I remember seeing palm trees I thought it was just straight desert. Being from Ohio, I didn't want to deal with the cold any more. So that was perfect.

On his moves to Ohio State and Kentucky, and ultimately to Toledo
I played for two years at Arizona State before I ended up transferring to Ohio State. They switched me into the defensive room, and I spent a little bit of time there. As running backs started going down to injuries, I got pulled back into the running back room. I spent that whole season in the running back room in 2023. In 2024, I transferred to Kentucky in hopes of having my breakout year, just wanting to be the featured guy in the backfield. I suffered an injury about three weeks before the first game. That sat me out until about Week 5 or Week 6. Not even a week after being fully cleared, I had to have a second surgery on my hand. So that was another three or four weeks. By that time, the season was really over. I parted ways with Kentucky, and luckily Toledo welcomed me with open arms and open doors.

On if he ever got discouraged in his college career
I definitely got discouraged. Multiple times, a little bit at every school. I would say my lowest would be last year, having to have two hand surgeries. It was just something so minute. But with me being a running back, you need your hands. So that was a low point because it was just my hand. The rest of my body felt strong like an ox. So it definitely took a lot of mental toughness. It put a lot of strain on me, but I got through it and I'm definitely glad to be in Toledo.

On why he chose Toledo
Toledo has always been all in on me. Toledo was my first true running back scholarship offer in high school during my sophomore year. A lot of my offers were for defense because I played both ways throughout high school. But Toledo was really the first school that said this offer is for you as a running back. And then every time I was in a portal, they reached out to me. Coach  VK (Vince Kehres) has close ties with my uncle. Coach Candle has always been trying his hardest to get me here. And then I came up here on a visit last December and loved it. Coach Candle, Coach VK, Coach B (strength coach Brad Bichey), we all clicked. We all had the same vision for this year. And I'm glad to see it start to come to fruition.

On what he has learned from running backs coach Nate Cole
I've learned a lot from Coach Cole. He's definitely impacted me a lot this year. I would say not only the type of coach he is, but the type of person, the type of father he is. He has given me a different insight because while he was here he played on the o-line. It definitely helps to understand what type of blocks are supposed to be where, who the double teams are assigned to and so forth. He's a great guy, leads us in our running back room every day. He makes things super clear for us, from the meeting room, to the practice field, and then ultimately to executing on game day.

On where he got his nickname
My nickname started out as Blue Chip. I got that in my second year of football, when I was eight years old. My first year of football, I was bad. I played fullback and noseguard with the Akron Titans. I vowed never to do that again. Then the next year I went crazy. So I got the nickname Blue Chip, from Coach E, my coach with the Titans. Then over time it just shortened down to Chip. As time went on for me, it came to mean the chip on my shoulder, not only in football, but in life. Just trying to prove myself. Not trying to be good, but trying to be great.

On the important role football has played in his life
Football has always been an outlet for me to be able to take on another persona, to not really worry about what's going on at home, or what's going on in school or in the community and so forth. Whenever I played football, it was just like peace, kind of like a lot of my problems just went away. It was my world, a world where I felt like I had the most control.

On what he plans to do after his playing days are over
I graduated from Ohio State in the fall of 2023, and then I left Kentucky last year with a business certificate. Honestly, I really don't have set in stone what I want to do after football. I just know I want to maximize any opportunity I get through football. Whatever happens, happens. I try not to think too much about the future. I'm just trying to make the best I can out of today.