On Friday, Colorado head coach Deion Sanders warned the NFL against drafting Travis Hunter unless a team can meet Hunter’s demands. And by proxy, Coach Prime's.
“He’s gonna (play both ways), or they shouldn’t draft him,” Sanders said. “Don’t do that. And I’m gonna make sure of that. Don’t draft him if you’re not gonna give him the opportunity to play on both sides of the ball.”
Sanders, recognizing the potential absurdity of this statement, did find some common ground with the NFL, though.
“Now, you can be creative.” Sanders added. “He don’t have to do what we did with him here and play every snap.”
Coach Prime’s case is clear: no NFL team planning to play the 2024 Heisman winner just one way should attempt to draft him. In that case, Hunter would return to Colorado for his last year of eligibility.
“It’s gonna be abundantly clear that this is what he wants,” Sanders said. “This is who he is, and it’s not gonna work unless you entertain this and give him an assurance that this is what’s gonna happen. You gotta understand: Travis Hunter has another year of eligibility. So if you start the foolishness, he can do that.”
Coming from such a legendary two-way player, one can easily understand Coach Prime’s commitment to Hunter’s continued two-way play. The flip side of this is that many NFL teams may view playing Hunter both ways as something of a flight risk, as he is certainly more likely to be injured.
Whatever the case, it’s out there now. Hunter will play both ways in the NFL. Or else hell will be raised and he may look to become a two-time Heisman winner.