Travis Hunter’s ongoing tryst with redefining what it means to be a “football player” is facilitated courtesy of his college head coach, Deion Sanders. A more conventional coach would’ve never given the 2-way phenom the green light to play both sides. Neither would he have had this sort of platform or eminence under somebody else’s tutelage. Hunter owes Coach Prime a ton, and the reciprocal is also true. As clichéd as it sounds, this is a relationship that transcends player-coach. Even transcends a protégé-mentor dynamic. And Deion concurs.

For the No. 1 rated recruit in the country to thwart offers from blue-chip programs and go to an HBCU was unprecedented. But unprecedented is synonymous with Travois Hunter. Deion Sanders managing to lure him to an HBCU in Jackson State epitomizes the implicit trust and synergy between the pair. Hunter trusted Sanders to forge his career. After a Heisman Trophy, countless other accolades, and becoming the 2nd overall pick in the NFL draft, it’s safe to say this trust paid dividends with interest. Simultaneously, Coach Prime’s own stock and reputation in the coaching realm have increased multifold for how he developed Hunter. But this relationship isn’t merely a transactional barter either. 

Deion Sanders is as polarizing a figure as any. Some adore his outlandish eccentricity. Or his proactivity with his sons Shilo and Shedeur Sanders’ careers. Others despise it. But either camp will acknowledge that the guy loves his family. A microcosm of this love is how he has coached Shilo and Shedeur along every step of the way right until their ascension to the NFL. Making sure he’s directly involved in molding their futures. The same goes for Deion Sanders Jr. as well. Who doesn’t wear cleats on the weekend but instead shoots with a camera and has cultivated a bit of a powerhouse in Well Off Media. All this is to say when Prime refers to Travis Hunter as his “son,” it still doesn’t feel out of place or hyperbolic. Because that really is the purest way to describe this dynamic. 

Deion Sanders took to X to wish Travis Hunter a happy birthday. The Colorado alum and now Jacksonville Jaguar turns 22. Which, in itself, is alarming given how long he seems to have been around. “@TravisHunterJr  Happy Birthday Son. Love ya man. Be Greater & don’t negotiate your Peace,” wrote Sanders, alongside a graphic of Hunter grinning ear to ear with all his individual trophies in the foreground.

Interestingly, this showering of love via Deion Sanders comes hours after he’d made an eyebrow-raising admission about his biological sons. Travis Hunter cracked the club in the more proverbial sense, but that aforementioned trifecta of Shilo, Shedeur, and Deion Jr., aka Bucky Sanders, just received news of how the pecking order shakes out.

Deion Sanders outright names the “MVP” amongst his 5 kids

The dynamic shared by Deion Sanders and his sons is very light, very leveled. Prime projects to the masses as being akin to the eldest 4th brother to them, rather than an uptight father. Well, what he just floated onto the airwaves sure isn’t something an uptight dad would ever dare to admit!

“The MVP of all my kids!” wrote Deion Sanders on his IG story over the weekend. Who for? The one he named after himself. This was a caption accompanying a picture of Deion Sr. and Jr. Not only did Shilo and Shedeur Sanders catch a stray, but even his daughters Deiondra and Shelomi! At least Travis Hunter is celebrating his birthday, so there’s some runway there. But this one? Unprompted, unhinged!

Alas, Deion Sanders being eccentric and outlandish shouldn’t come as a surprise. This is somebody who’s used different superlatives for different kids at different junctures. Don’t hold him to it when he refers to a different one as his “favorite” child in the future. Which he has done in the past.