Travis Hunter’s journey to becoming one of college football’s most distinctive talents almost took a completely different turn. The former No. 1 recruit in the country was initially committed to Florida State, but Deion Sanders had other plans.
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When Coach Prime offered him something no other program was willing to guarantee, Hunter made the stunning decision to turn his back on the Seminoles and take the chance to play both ways. However, Hunter has now admitted that following Sanders was not always his first instinct.
“That transfer process was kind of weird,” Hunter said on the Chasing No. 1 podcast on October 28. “At the same time, I had too much respect for Coach Prime, so even going out there and exploring my options just a little bit, I felt like it was kind of disrespectful. Everyone was like, ‘Oh yeah, he’s definitely going to Colorado; he’s definitely going to Deion,’ and stuff like that. But I also did a little exploring.”
After Jackson State lost to North Carolina Central in the Celebration Bowl, Hunter entered the transfer portal in December 2022. Sanders was named the new head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes that same month. After coaching Jackson State for three seasons, he was moving to a program competing in the FBS. So it seemed clear that Hunter would follow him to Colorado. However, his admission shows that Hunter was exploring his options as well. But in the end, he followed Sanders.
Hunter was the No. 1-ranked recruit in the 2022 class and had committed to Florida State. On Signing Day in December 2021, Hunter shocked the Seminoles by flipping his commitment to Jackson State University, where Sanders was head coach. He made history by becoming the first five-star recruit to choose an HBCU or FCS program over an FBS school.
“I tried to see what was out there for me, but at the end of the day, I was just like, man, I got too much respect for him,” Hunter added on the same podcast. “He came and got me to not go to Florida State and changed my mindset and changed the picture of everything. He really changed my life, for real. When I made that news, man, my followers and everything just went up from there.”
“I didn’t care about the money, and how could they get me there? What could they do for me when I get there? I wanted to know if I could play both sides of the ball. That’s the only question I had for him. I didn’t care about the money; I wanted to know if I could play both sides.”
Well, Sanders granted him his wish, and Hunter became a two-way player. At Jackson State and later at Colorado, Hunter played both wide receiver and cornerback. At Jackson State, Hunter made 20 tackles and had two interceptions and a touchdown as a defensive player. On the other side of the ball, he recorded 18 receptions for 188 yards and four touchdowns. That was his freshman impact.
When he arrived at Colorado, he made his impact in the very first week of the 2023 season. Colorado beat TCU 45-42, and Hunter played more than 110 snaps. As a wide receiver, Hunter caught 11 passes for a total of 119 yards, and as a cornerback, he intercepted a pass in the red zone and had 3 tackles. His performances at Colorado during the 2024 season earned him the Heisman Trophy. He became the first Colorado player to win it since Rashaan Salaam in 1994.
Hunter felt that Sanders accepted him for who he was, both on and off the field. Rather than forcing him to focus on just one position, Sanders allowed him to thrive at both.
“It’s a blessing to be able to play for him,” Hunter said of Sanders to Jaguars team reporter Kainani Stevens. “It got me this far, and I was also able to win the Heisman trophy and win a lot more awards on the offensive side of the ball and the defensive side of the ball. He let me go out there and just do my thing. He let me be able to be myself, and it got me in a good place, so I was happy I made that decision to go play for him.”
Hunter entered the NFL Draft in 2025. Jacksonville wanted Hunter so badly that it traded significant draft assets to move up from the fifth pick to the second pick in the 2025 NFL Draft and drafted them as No. 2 overall.