Updated at 7:32 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 12, 2024.
University of Colorado two-way standout Travis Hunter won the Heisman trophy Saturday night, cementing his status as the best collegiate football player in the nation and one of the best ever to pass through Boulder.
"I thank all the brothers, all my brothers through college, Jackson State included. That was my learning grounds. That's my proven grounds. I had to start somewhere and I started there," Hunter said during his acceptance speech. "Colorado! ... Appreciate you all man. I love you all. Thank you all for ... holding my name down, holding the Colorado name down. Sko Buffs, baby!"
Hunter is just the second CU Buff to capture the award, the most prestigious accolade in collegiate sports. Late running back Rashaan Salaam won the Heisman 30 years ago in 1994 after rushing for 2,055 yards. Hunter was joined at the New York City ceremony by 5-time Grammy winner Lil Wayne, CU star quarterback Shedeur Sanders, and CU head coach Deion Sanders — aka Coach Prime.
"Allowing a young man to be unapologetically who he is," Sanders said. "He wants to be great at everything. Great student, great offensive player, great defensive player, great young man. Loves the game, loves the practice, loves his family, loves his mother, loves his father, loves his fiancé. He wants to have a commitment to excellence in everything he does — including fishing."
The CU superstar notably plays both offense and defense — and has found success as well as hardware for both roles.
On offense, Hunter finished the regular season with 92 catches for 1,152 yards and 14 touchdowns as a receiver. On defense, he had four interceptions, broke up 11 passes and forced one fumble — a crucial play that secured an overtime win over Baylor.
Overall, Hunter pulled in those 92 receptions but allowed only 22 as a defender. He scored 14 receiving TDs and allowed just one. He was responsible for 53 first downs and gave up just six. He was targeted 119 times by star CU quarterback Shedeur Sanders, but only 39 times by opposing QBs — who would often avoid his side of the field.
Hunter's likely final game in Boulder, a 52-0 rout of Oklahoma State, was a three-touchdown, one-interception performance.
He played 688 defensive snaps and 672 more on offense — the only Power Four conference player with 30-plus snaps on both sides of the ball, according to Colorado research.
"I always told him, you are the prize. It doesn't matter where you go, you're the prize. It doesn't matter what the school is, you're the prize. You bring value. You are him," Travis's mom, Ferrante Edmonds, said. "You're gifted. So use your gifts, not just for you, but people that surround you, people that need something to see. We come from an area that is pretty rough. It was pretty rough. But that doesn't dictate that you cannot be who you are, that you cannot be the star. Look where he is now."
In a sport that has long since specialized into specific positions and roles, Hunter represents both a throwback to the days of two-way players and a modern day spectacle in the social media friendly, NIL celebrity era of the sport. He rarely leaves the field. No player in a generation has allowed spectators to witness the same athlete pull off a high IQ interception on defense and promptly pull in a highflying catch on offense moments later.
Saturday's win was less surprise and more coronation. The endless stream of highlights and excitement around a star many called the "unicorn" made Hunter an odds on favorite for the trophy.
"We are thankful that he's able to just continue to press and block out all the noise," Edmonds said. "The noise doesn't matter because you know who you are as a person. Once you find out who you are, you're going to continue to do what you do."
Hunter received 552 first-place votes and 2,231 points in a comfortable victory. Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty was the runner-up with 309 first-place votes and 2,017 points. Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel came in third and Miami quarterback Cam Ward finished fourth.
Not since Michigan's Charles Woodson or Georgia's Champ Baily in the 90s had college football seen an athlete play on both sides of the football successfully. And Hunter's numbers (including time on the field) dwarfed their efforts.
His speed and versatility remind fans most of his head coach — Sanders was a two-way star in the NFL, and a two-sport star in baseball and football. The prospect of significant playing time on both sides of the ball is what led Hunter, a Florida native who attended high school in an Atlanta suburb, to join Sanders at Jackson State. He then followed Sanders to Boulder. Hunter credited Sanders for changing his life during his acceptance speech.
“Coach Prime was the only coach who would consider allowing me to do what I’m doing,” Hunter told the Associated Press earlier this season. “He did it and knows what it takes — how much you have to be ready on both sides of the ball.”
Hunter was named the The Associated Press college football player of the year earlier this week, receiving 26 of 43 votes Thursday from a panel of AP Top 25 voters. Just like Saturday night, Boise State tailback Ashton Jeanty finished second in that race as well.
Hunter already won a second straight Paul Hornung award as the game's most versatile player, the Walter Camp (player of the year), Maxwell (most outstanding player), the Biletnikoff (best receiver) and Bednarik (top defensive player) awards.
Teammate Shedeur Sanders won the Big 12 Conference Offensive Player of the Year Award, while Hunter won the conference's Defensive Player of the Year Award. However, he wasn't a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, which goes to the nation's top defensive back. That drew the wrath of Sanders, who earned the award with Florida State in 1988 and vowed to give his trophy to Hunter.
The 20th-ranked Buffaloes received their first bowl bid in four years and will face No. 17 BYU (10-2) in the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 28.
Hunter has pledged to play, rather than skip the game to prepare for the NFL and prevent any possible injury as many top prospects do. However, the 6-foot-1, 185-pound junior from Suwanee, Georgia, plans to pass up his senior season in Boulder and declare for the NFL draft. He's expected to be a top-five pick, perhaps even the No. 1 overall selection.
The AP's Pat Graham and Mike Fitzpatrick contributed to this report.
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