new york – Travis Hunter turned every play into prime time on both sides of the ball and ultimately took home the Heisman Trophy.
Now he has an edge over the big-name coach at the University of Colorado.
The two-way star was honored Saturday night with college football’s most prestigious award, highlighting a season of tireless performance by a dynamic player with a unique skill set.
“I never thought I’d be in this position,” Hunter said through tears, thanking everyone from his fiance to his family to his former and current coaches. “It’s crazy. Faith takes you a long way.”
While he took countless photos with the iconic statue over the past two days, Hunter made sure to keep his hands off the Heisman. He said he didn’t want to touch it unless it was his own.
When it was finally decided, he grabbed the trophy with both hands and happily shouted, “Let’s go!”
The next stop is a local spot he has booked to celebrate with his teammates.
“I don’t like staying out late, but I’m going to be out late tonight,” Hunter said with a smile.
A big-play wide receiver and lockdown cornerback, Hunter dominated both offense and defense for coach Deion Sanders and the Buffaloes, joining late running back Rashaan Salaam in 1994 as the only two-time running back in school history. He was a Heisman winner.
Hunter won easily with 552 first-place votes and 2,231 points. Boise State running back Ashton Giunty finished second with 309 first-place votes and 2,017 points, the closest margin since 2009.
Hunter earned 80.14 percent of his points, the 11th highest in Heisman Trophy history, joining Michigan cornerback Charles Woodson (1997) as the only full-time defensive players to win the award. Woodson also made some big plays at wideout, but didn’t spend as much time on offense as Hunter.
Voting for the 90th Heisman Trophy, awarded annually to the nation’s best player since 1935, placed Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel third and Miami quarterback Cam Ward fourth. . This year’s ceremony was held at Manhattan’s Jazz at Lincoln Center, with Sanders in attendance.
It was only the fifth time this century that the quarterback didn’t win. The last time a signal-caller finished in the top two was in 2015, when running backs Derrick Henry and Christian McCaffrey went 1-2 in the poll.
Hunter was named the Associated Press Player of the Year this week, among a series of other individual awards. At the University of Colorado, he was the catalyst for a remarkable turnaround from 4 wins and 8 losses in 2023, when he missed 3 and a half games due to injury, to 9 wins and 3 losses this year, his second year as coach. The No. 20 Buffaloes earned their first bowl bid in four years and will play No. 17 BYU (10-2) in the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 28.
Hunter, like many top prospects, vowed to play rather than sit out games to prevent possible injuries in preparation for the NFL Draft. The 6-foot-1, 185-pound junior from Suwanee, Ga., is set to pass his senior season in Boulder and is projected to be a top-five pick by the pros, possibly No. 1 overall. There is also.
“He wants to be great at everything,” Sanders said. “He wants to strive for excellence in everything he does, including fishing.”
Hunter, who has incredible speed and explosive playmaking, has barely been off the field this year. He was an all-down throwback to a past generation, becoming the first full-time true two-way star in decades.
Offensively, he had 92 catches for 1,152 yards and 14 touchdowns, as well as a rushing score. Defensively, he had four interceptions, 32 tackles, 11 pass breakups, and a crucial fumble to secure an overtime victory against Baylor.
He skyrocketed from being a longshot underdog in Heisman futures last summer to a strong favorite this week as the Buffaloes won the game and challenged for the Big 12 title.
All the while, it became increasingly clear that Hunter was the man to beat, striking a Heisman pose with his teammates to celebrate big plays.
“(I can definitely kick it too.) I just have to practice,” he said. “You can’t stop moving when you’re not on the field.”
Hunter has played about 700 snaps each on offense and defense, and is the only player in a Power Four conference to have played more than 30 snaps on both sides of the ball, according to Colorado State. .
That might seem like an excessively mentally and physically exhausting workload for any player these days, but it wasn’t for Hunter.
“I think we’ve laid the groundwork for more people to go both ways,” he said Friday. “It starts with your mindset. If you believe you can do it, you can do it. I’m also doing a lot of therapy. I keep up with my body. I’m healing pretty well. .”
Rated as the nation’s top recruit in the 2022 class, Hunter committed to play both offense and defense for Sanders at Jackson State University, an HBCU that plays in the lower-level FCS, and will receive a lot of observation. surprised people.
“A lot of people told me I couldn’t do it,” said Hunter, wearing white shoes and a light blue suit, his favorite color. “I always say prove them wrong and prove me right.”
One season later, Hunter followed Sanders to Colorado and was a unanimous All-American selection last year as a versatile player despite missing three games with a liver laceration caused by a late hit.
After recovering, a healthy Hunter had a strong showing in 2023 and really developed this season, catching passes from the coach’s son, Shedule Sanders, and becoming Colorado’s first Heisman Trophy finalist in 30 years. It became.
Hunter, 21, who is scheduled to get married in May, is the sixth transfer to win the award in the past eight years and the first to begin his career in the FCS.
“Look where I’m at. It worked,” Hunter said.
“I wanted to do something different,” he later added. “I feel more comfortable being different than normal.”
Deion Sanders, nicknamed Prime Time during his playing days, was a two-time All-American defensive back at Florida State University and finished eighth in Heisman voting in 1988.
By the way, Neon Dion, a phenomenal kick returner who also played in the Major Leagues, was inducted into the Hall of Fame as an NFL cornerback, but apart from a 36-catch season with the Dallas Cowboys in 1996, he rarely played offense. I just did it.
There’s no one better than Hunter. Hunter now has Heisman bragging rights forever in Coach Prime.
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