Colorado two-way star Travis Hunter wins Heisman Trophy as college football’s top player
Travis Hunter turned every play into prime time – on both sides of the ball – and ultimately took home the Heisman Trophy.
Now he has an advantage over his famous coach in Colorado.
The two-time star won college football’s most prestigious award Saturday night, highlighting a tireless season-long performance from a dynamic player with a unique combination of skills.
“I never thought I would be in this position,” a tearful Hunter said as he thanked everyone from his fiancée to family members and past and present coaches. “It’s crazy. Faith goes a long way.”
While posing for numerous photos with the iconic statue over the past two days, Hunter made it a point not to get his hands on the Heisman. He said he didn’t want to touch it unless it was his.
When the time finally came, he gripped the trophy tightly with both hands and let out a joyful shout, “Let’s go!”
Next stop, a local spot he reserved to celebrate with teammates.
“I don’t like staying out late, but I’m leaving late tonight,” Hunter said, smiling.
A big-play wide receiver and lockdown cornerback, Hunter dominated on offense and defense for coach Deion Sanders and the Buffaloes, joining late running back Rashaan Salaam in 1994 as the only Heisman winners in school history.
Hunter received 552 first-place votes and 2,231 points in a comfortable win. Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty came in second with 309 first-place votes and 2,017 points, the smallest margin since 2009.
Hunter scored 80.14% of possible points, the 11th highest in Heisman Trophy history, and joined Michigan cornerback Charles Woodson (1997) as the only full-time defensive players to claim the award. Woodson also made big plays at wideout, but didn’t play nearly as much on offense as Hunter.
Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel finished third and Miami quarterback Cam Ward finished fourth in voting for the 90th Heisman Trophy, awarded annually since 1935 to the nation’s most outstanding player. This year’s ceremony took place at Jazz at Lincoln Center in Manhattan, where Sanders attended.
It was only the fifth time this century that a quarterback did not win. The last time a signal caller wasn’t placed in the top two was in 2015, when Alabama running backs Derrick Henry and Christian McCaffrey went 1-2 in the voting.
Hunter also won the Associated Press Player of the Year this week, along with a host of other individual awards. He led an impressive turnaround in Colorado, going from 4-8 in 2023, when he missed three and a half games due to injuries, to 9-3 this year in Sanders’ second season. The 20th-ranked Buffaloes received their first bowl bid in four years and will face No. 17 BYU (10-2) on December 28 in the Alamo Bowl.
Hunter has vowed to play instead of skipping the game to prepare for the NFL draft and avoid possible injuries, as many top players do. The 6-foot-4, 185-pound junior from Suwanee, Georgia, plans to forgo his senior season in Boulder and is projected to land in the top five among the pros — perhaps even No. 1 overall.
“He wants to be good at everything,” Sanders said. “He wants to strive for excellence in everything he does, including fishing.”
Showcasing his blazing speed and explosive play, Hunter rarely left the field this year, making him a return to generations past in every sense and the first full-time, true two-way star in decades.
On offense, he had 92 catches for 1,152 yards and 14 touchdowns, plus a rushing score. On defense, he made four interceptions, 32 tackles, broke up 11 passes and forced a critical fumble that secured an overtime win against Baylor.
With the Buffaloes winning games and challenging for a Big 12 title, he rose from an established underdog in the Heisman futures last summer to a major betting favorite this week.
Meanwhile, he struck the Heisman pose with teammates to celebrate big plays as it became increasingly clear that Hunter was the man to beat.
“I can definitely kick (too). I just have to practice,” he said. “I can’t stop moving when I’m not on the field.”
Hunter played nearly 700 snaps each on offense and defense — the only Power Four conference player with more than 30 snaps on both sides of the ball, according to Colorado research.
It seems like an overly tiring workload for any player these days, both mentally and physically, but not for Hunter.
“I think I’ve laid the foundation for more people to come in and go both ways,” he said Friday. “It starts with your mindset. If you believe you can do it, you will be able to do it. And I also do a lot of treatments. I continue to follow my body. I get a lot of recovery.”
Rated as the nation’s top recruit in the class of 2022, Hunter surprised many observers when he committed to play for Sanders at Jackson State, an HBCU that competes in the FCS at a lower level, promising both offense and defense to play.
“A lot of people told me I couldn’t do it,” said Hunter, wearing white shoes and a light blue suit — his favorite color. “I always say I’m going to prove them wrong, and I’m going to prove myself right.”
After one season, Hunter followed Sanders to Colorado and was a consensus All-America selection as an all-purpose player last year despite sitting out three games with a lacerated liver caused by a late hit.
After his recovery, a healthy Hunter finished strong in 2023 and then really took off this season, catching passes from Shedeur Sanders, the coach’s son, and becoming Colorado’s first Heisman Trophy finalist in 30 years.
The 21-year-old Hunter, who plans to get married in May, is the sixth transfer in the past eight years to receive the award and the first winner to begin his career in the FCS.
‘Look where I am. It paid off,” Hunter said.
“I wanted to be different,” he added later. “Being different makes me feel more comfortable than doing the norm.”
Deion Sanders, nicknamed Prime Time during his playing days — seemingly alone — was a two-time All-America defender at Florida State and finished eighth in the 1988 Heisman voting.
An electrifying kick returner who also played Major League baseball, Neon Deion went on to a Hall of Fame career as an NFL cornerback, but mostly focused on offense besides a 36-catch season with the Dallas 1996 Cowboys.
Nothing like Hunter, who now has Heisman bragging rights over Coach Prime forever.