Deion Sanders revealed when he knew Travis Hunter was destined to become a future Heisman Trophy winner: off the bat. Coach Prime told reporters Tuesday that he saw Heisman potential after Hunter's first practice at Jackson State.
"When he went out there at receiver and did his thing, then went from receiver to defensive back and shut it down. I knew right then it was something special," Sanders said. "It's one thing to watch highlights of a young man in high school, it's another to see it in person. And when you know the game, you know athleticism, you know what I know, you come where I come from—you know when you see something that is abnormal. This kid, from day one, has been abnormal with an appetite to dominate."
Interestingly enough, Hunter's career goal directly involved Coach Prime. Hunter revealed that his goal was always to be better than Sanders, who never won the Heisman and lost to star running back Barry Sanders during a historic season rushing in 1988.
"I just want to be better than (Coach Prime). So, me getting hurt last year was a little setback for my stat sheet and how my career went last year. So, I definitely wanted to be better than him and do things that he hasn't done but do it better. So, just looking ahead and saying, 'I can do that and can go out there and dominate.' That just makes me want to do it even more when I'm healthy. So, when I was healthy this season, I did all I can show and hopefully there's more in store, which is more in store, but I'm going to keep dominating as much as I can to be better than my coach," Hunter said.
Hunter overcame the running back sensation he went up against, Ashton Jeanty, as well as two QBs (Cam Ward and Dillon Gabriel) for an award that has become an offensive award over the past two and a half decades.
That kind of talent tends to stick out. Sanders, a brilliant coach in his own right, saw that and capitalized.