Ryan Clark rushes to Travis Hunter's defense after recent 'asinine' criticism

A fact of being in the limelight is that, even when you are about the right things and you never really do anything wrong, there are going to be people who rush to criticize you, regardless of what you do. That's not anything new to Travis Hunter, but the latest criticism probably even caught him off guard.

The former Colorado Heisman Trophy winner went to church last Sunday and got baptized ahead of the Jaguars' game against the Seattle Seahawks. He wasn't caught drinking or partying at a club at 4am a few hours before a game. He went to church and got baptized.

That still elicited criticism, criticism that clearly took Hunter off guard when he was asked about it a week ago.

Everyone's favorite mouth-breathing sports talking head, Skip Bayless, had a lot to say about Hunter's head not being where it needs to be.

Plenty have come to Hunter's defense since then, with none more powerful than Ryan Clark, who posted a passionate defense of Hunter on his Instagram this weekend.

Ryan Clark calls criticism of Travis Hunter 'asinine'

Clark's words are powerful. Everyone should take note of it, too. People too often expect athletes to be robots whose entire life revolves around football and nothing else. But that's not true. At the end of the day, Travis Hunter is a human being like you. Football is his passion. Football is his job. But it's not everything for him, either. He has a family, and he has faith that clearly means a lot to him.

Clark criticized the pundit - i.e. Bayless - for his former support of Tim Tebow for doing exactly what Hunter did. Tebow received criticism for consistently professing his faith, which was also unfair. Bayless was one of Tebow's biggest supporters, but came out and criticized Hunter for doing essentially the same exact thing. It's hypocritical at best.

"What do you think we sit around and do before the game?" Clark asked. "Do you think everyone is in their room locked down, meditating, and then watching highlights of the 1985 Bears? No! People go home and see their families. People go have breakfast. People spend time with their loved ones, they see their wives, they pack their whole families sometime in the car so they can arrive at the game early and get to their seat. You live life sometimes before the game.

"He didn't go to the club and drink or go out and skip curfew. He wasn't running around with women. In the morning, which is his free time, when he is preparing to play a football game, he's giving his life to Jesus...If you are walking into a stadium to risk your life and limbs for a career and a livelihood, you need to be clothed in the blood. This is a man who hasn't done anything to be criticized as a person... And to say that someone who plays on both sides of the football, that practices on both sides of the football, isn't focused on football is an absolutely asinine statement."

Of course, Hunter did this week what he has so often done in his football career. He made folks criticizing him look completely foolish. In defeat, Hunter had his most prolific game of his NFL career so far, producing 101 receiving yards on eight receptions with his first career touchdown: