What Travis Hunter is doing isn’t just rare, it’s borderline mythical. Every once in a generation, someone walks into a sport and completely wrecks the rules. What Shohei Otani is to baseball, Hunter is becoming to football, an impossible dual-threat dominating at both ends with full-throttle ferocity. That’s why the Jaguars jumped to grab him. Let’s take a moment to soak in the workload, 1,360 total snaps. And that’s not counting the ones he missed due to injury.

On defense, he played 688 snaps, which is already mind-boggling. On offense, he logged 672 snaps, including 94% of offensive plays when healthy. This isn’t just a guy showing up in a red-zone package or moonlighting as a CB. This was his full-time job for many years. It was his walk to fame as well. While most of the analysts wanted him to focus on one position only (receiver), he wants both sides.

By doing so, he will also revive the lost art of 63 years. He will become the first true Ironman, someone who played both sides of the ball, at the pro level in over six decades, since Chuck Bednarik in the 1950s. The 2 time NFL champion retired in 1962. The league has rules now, with more emphasis on specialists. Teams won’t want to risk their prized rookie playing both ways. But if the Jaguars office is bold enough, Travis Hunter could break the sport open.

His college coach, Deion Sanders, who knows a thing or two about being a two-way threat, made it clear from day one, Hunter’s not normal. Last year, the WR/CB officially brought home the Chuck Bednarik Award, given to the nation’s best defensive player, becoming the first Buff ever to do it. So, he is already teasing with swathes of talent.

While the hype around his special abilities is increasing, everyone in the Jags camp is impressed. They want him to become their centerpiece.

Jaguars HC clears demand from Travis Hunter

After weeks of whispers and sideline speculation, the rookie finally lined up on both sides of the ball within the same practice. He wore a teal jersey for offense and a white jersey for defense. It might come off as mere theatrics to many. But when your team just drafted the most electrifying two-way player in generations, you lean into the aura. And make no mistake, he isn’t going light.

He caught three passes in team drills on June 12, the last day of mandatory minicamp, most of the catch-and-run. “That’s definitely what we have to build towards for training camp, and then obviously in season, knowing that during practice, he’s going to have to do both. He wants to do it,” OC Liam Coen said post-practice.

And you can feel it. The guy wants more. But the HC also wants him to be healthy as he added, “We also have to protect him from himself at times as well, and make sure we get out of this phase healthy, but that is absolutely the plan moving forward.” According to Coen, Hunter is among the top Jaguars in terms of muscle mass added this spring. That upper-body growth matters, especially when the game depends solely on your physical power.

This isn’t just football anymore. This is folklore in the making. Because if Travis Hunter actually does this, if he becomes a legit rotational player at both WR and CB in regular-season games, he’ll send seismic waves in the league. We’re not watching a rookie season. We’re watching the rebirth of something the NFL hasn’t seen in half a century.