The concept of a unicorn has been around since the dawn of antiquity. An image of a mythical creature with a single horn stampeding around may be one of the few things as recognizable to school children in the present day as it would be to ancient Greek merchants.
There have been classical works of art featuring the majestic beast that hang in museums all around the world and a seemingly equal number of cartoonish representations in moving pictures that have delighted the masses over the years. If there’s one common connection point in an increasingly divisive world, well, it might be a unicorn of all things.
In college football, that seems especially apt as it’s the descriptor that gets brought up most frequently when talking about the dynamic star of the Colorado Buffaloes, Travis Hunter. What else do you call a cornerback/wide receiver who plays, not just both ways in an era of specialization, but nearly every offensive and defensive snap?
Unicorn, both conceptually and factually in a world of football specialization, works pretty well.
Hunter is not an object of fantasy nor a create-a-player in the EA Sports College Football 25 video game. The junior is authentically real—and playing both of his on-field roles at an All-American level. He has all but locked up a trip to New York for the Heisman Trophy ceremony and, at this point, is considered the overwhelming favorite by sports books to flash the stiff-arm he has been doing every game this fall with hardware in hand next month.
“No one is like him,” says former NFL All-Pro receiver Chad Ochocinco, who has seen Hunter in person several times. “He’s one of one. He’s [capital] D, different.”
A player occupying multiple positions in football is not a novel concept. Red Grange was immortalized while playing for the Illinois Fighting Illini for his exploits returning kicks, running the ball and even intercepting passes. The 1949 Heisman winner, Leon Hart, was not just a star fullback for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, but the last defensive lineman to win the award as well. Vic Janowicz won the bronze statue a year later as a combination tailback, safety and kicker for the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Even in the modern day, most kids will find time to play on both offense and defense from Pop Warner right up through high school. Hunter certainly did, setting a state of Georgia prep career receiving record with 48 touchdown catches at Collins Hill High in Suwanee, Ga., while recording 19 interceptions at corner for the Eagles.
Rated as the No. 1 overall player in the class of 2022 by most major recruiting services, Hunter committed to the Florida State Seminoles and was widely expected to reach an inflection point where he would choose a position and stick with it when he arrived in Tallahassee.
Following the path others expect, however, isn’t Hunter’s modus operandi. In a signing day surprise, he casually tossed aside his Noles hat and instead signed with Jackson State and head coach Deion Sanders. In doing so, Hunter became the highest-ranked recruit to ever commit to a historically black college or university and was the first five-star to sign with an FCS school out of high school.
As much as some wanted to turn the decision into an existential crisis in Tallahassee or a larger treatise on players picking HBCUs as part of their career path, the opportunity to play for Sanders—a Hall of Famer whom Hunter considers to be family—with a clear expectation of playing both receiver and cornerback, overrode any concerns on taking the trailblazing path.
In his first and only season in the Mississippi capital, Hunter was named SWAC Freshman of the Year and narrowly missed out on a perfect season with an overtime loss in the Celebration Bowl. Along the way, he leaned into Coach Prime’s orbit, such as taking part in an Amazon docuseries about the program and earning plenty of plaudits as the rare player who never left the field outside of injury.
“I definitely think I opened some doors, but it’s going to be hard to squeeze inside that door because I’m the only one that has ever done it,” Hunter says of his pioneering path. “It’s going to be hard for [other kids] to believe that they can [play both ways]. I have a different type of mindset. I don’t go out. I don’t drink. I don’t do nothing. None of the extra stuff.”
Such focus flies in the face of the outside attention surrounding Hunter that expanded exponentially after he followed Sanders to Boulder, Colo., two years ago. After an upset against the national runner-up TCU Horned Frogs in the pair’s FBS debut, the Buffaloes became one of the biggest story lines in college football. Pregame shows flocked to the Flatirons for the first time in decades, Lil Wayne milled about campus in between pop-up shows and even Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson suddenly started donning CU gear. Nearly 10 million viewers tuned in for a 10:30 p.m. ET kickoff, eye-popping numbers for a team that was among the worst in the power conferences in 2022.
Sanders’s loquacious persona naturally amplified the hype, but the national magnifying glass quickly seized upon Hunter’s early exploits for the novelty. It was one thing to dominate in the FCS ranks, it was another to do so at college football’s highest level while playing an eye-opening 280 snaps across your first two games.
“His ability to just comprehend what he’s doing on both sides of the ball, much less at the level that he’s playing at, is exceptional,” says Robert Livingston, who spent a dozen years with the Cincinnati Bengals before becoming Colorado’s defensive coordinator this season. “His conditioning is truly elite. I mean, he’s playing damn near every play on both sides of the ball. He’ll let us know if he needs a blow—selfishly, I hope it’s on offense. But he’s got a great feel for his body and obviously puts in the work in the offseason and during the season to get him through these long and trying times we’re at late in the year.”
Injuries have been an issue for Hunter during his college career despite his body’s ability to recover from a double workload. The 6' 1", 185-pounder missed five games at Jackson State and suffered a lacerated liver that knocked him out for 3½ games last season. Despite the missed time, he still led FBS players in total snaps played in 2023 and averaged 119 plays across the nine games he saw action in.
So far this season, Hunter has missed only four quarters—two came in the second half of the Buffaloes’ last loss, a three-point game against the Kansas State Wildcats on Oct. 12. Since returning to the field against the Arizona Wildcats, Hunter has once again become a mainstay as a playmaker on both sides of the ball and has helped Colorado reach a point where it controls its fate in the Big 12 title race.
Equally abnormal to the action on the field is the schedule Hunter keeps—largely unrecognizable to most of his peers at the collegiate level. He is often in the football building at 6 a.m. (or earlier) and does not always practice every day. When he does, Hunter wears a special gray jersey to allow for fluidity between playing with either the offense or defense that are clad, respectively, in white and black uniforms.
Post-practice, Hunter fits in online classes when he’s not watching double-digit hours of film each week, often bringing up suggestions to both offensive and defensive coaches. Sometimes, Hunter goes through as many as eight hours of treatment on his body a day as he shuffles almost exclusively between the weight room, the training room, the practice field and home each week during the season.
“One of the things that gets overlooked with Travis is just his football intellect. I think we make a big deal—and we should—about the athlete that he is,” Livingston says. “I think the beauty of Travis is that you can just have a normal conversation with him and explain what you’re trying to get done. ‘Hey bud, I want you on the outside,’ or ‘hey, I want you on the inside.’ Then he can just go and do it. His ability to grasp concepts and grasp the big picture, without a lot of time doing it, is truly unique and special.”
Hunter’s duality allows for unique changes. If matchups allow, Hunter plays on defense as the cornerback closest to the Colorado sideline and tends to line up the same way while going the other way as a receiver on offense. It can save a few steps and provide, along with lengthy TV timeouts, a bit of natural rest when he’s shuffling back and forth.
Though he is a dynamic returner, special teams is another area where Hunter tends to grab a water and a quick breather (he’s played just 19 snaps on special teams this season, seven of which came in the opener).
“Coaches don’t ask me if I need a rest because they know I know what’s going on with my body,” he says. “If I decide to take myself out, they understand. But there’s not been a game this year or last year where I felt like I’m too tired.”
Hard as it seems to believe, Hunter notes his body is actually recovering better from the typical collisions he takes on Saturdays despite the arrival of colder temperatures. Combined with doing it at altitude—Folsom Field sits more than a mile above sea level—and labeling him a unicorn grows more understandable with each performance.
Being a one-off wonder also presents challenges at the next level, which is coming into focus as the future top-10 NFL draft pick plays his final two regular-season games. Despite having another year of eligibility, Hunter is not dancing around his next steps and confirmed this week he “definitely” will turn pro.
“I’m not gonna let anyone tell me that I can’t do something that I’ve already done,” Hunter says. “They said I couldn’t do it in college, I ended up doing it in college. A lot of people tell me I can’t do it in the NFL, but I’m still going to do it in the NFL.
“Some people just don’t have the body type to go both ways full time.”
Michigan Wolverines star Charles Woodson is a natural point of comparison as the last defender to win the Heisman. Yet, he had just 11 catches for 231 yards and two touchdowns during the entirety of his historic 1997 season, which Hunter nearly equaled against Cincinnati earlier this year with nine catches for 153 yards and two scores (he also had four pass breakups).
Champ Bailey’s 1998 campaign with the Georgia Bulldogs may be the best statistical parallel, with the eventual Pro Football Hall of Famer picking off four passes to go with 47 receptions and five touchdowns as he played in all three phases. Hunter, according to CU, may have a slight edge as the first FBS player in the past quarter-century to record at least 50 catches and three interceptions—something he’s done each season with the Buffs.
“When I’m playing football, I’m just happy to play football. I’m glad to be able to play the game and do what I do on the football field,” Hunter says. “I don’t try to overthink or think about the future. I’m just putting my [mind] where my feet are. I’m just happy to be in this moment.”
Off the field, Hunter has seen his stature grow almost as rapidly as it has within NFL scouting circles. He was one of three athletes chosen by EA Sports this summer to headline the return of its college football video game, which became the best-selling title of 2024 on consoles. He added NIL deals with United Airlines, NerdWallet, Celsius and others in recent months, and he’s continued to grow an already extensive social media presence on platforms like Twitch and Instagram.
“I would say every NFL sponsor is going to work with him. He’s already reestablished himself in that space now with the 10 or so partners he has—and almost every one of them wants to come back for a renewal,” says Constance Schwartz-Morini, the CEO and co-founder of SMAC Entertainment, which represents Hunter off the field. “He’s a smart business person. He’s always asking questions. He’s just great with anyone that we want to meet or introduce, it’s ‘What do you need me to do?’ He wants everybody to walk away with a great experience and come back for more.”
Leanna Lenee, Hunter’s fiancé, also plays a valuable role in keeping the entire enterprise rolling. She handles the bulk of his business interests and overall schedule, while also doubling as everything from part-time nutritionist to acquiring many of the onesie outfits Hunter wears while livestreaming.
“I ain’t gonna sit up here and give no message to Heisman voters who are undecided,” Sanders said last Saturday. “If they can’t see, they can’t see. It is what it is. I mean, Travis is who he is. It’s supposed to go to the best college football player. I think that’s been a wrap since, what? Week 2?”
Hunter isn’t shying away from the lofty goal and has mounted one of the more active campaigns for the Heisman in recent memory, including going on podcasts to state his case and using a recent off week to fly to State College, Pa., to appear on Fox and ESPN’s pregame shows.
“A unicorn is different from anybody else,” Hunter says. “It’s hard to do what the unicorn can do.”
As the college football regular season comes to a close, that’s becoming more recognizable to all involved.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘One of One’: Travis Hunter’s Heisman Candidacy, NFL Draft Stock Grows in Unicorn Season.
