Colorado’s Travis Hunter Impresses Fans as Deion Sanders Plays Star at WR, CB vs. TCU

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Deion Sanders famously played on both sides of the football at times during his NFL career, so it’s only fitting the Pro Football Hall of Famer would coach another potential superstar who does the same thing.

Travis Hunter, who followed Sanders from Jackson State to Colorado, played receiver and cornerback during Saturday’s season opener against TCU and dazzled on both sides of the ball.

Throughout the game, Hunter impressed several professional athletes with his performance:

Others jumped in to congratulate the team after completing the upset:

There was also plenty of excitement around the internet as Hunter continued to make plays:

Addressing the high snap count for the 20-year-old, Sanders told Fox’s Jenny Taft at halftime that Hunter “is him” and he would be on the Heisman ballot if quarterback Shedeur Sanders had hit him on two deep balls.

Hunter made two fantastic plays, one on each side of the ball, in the first half even though one of them didn’t count. The first one was a near-touchdown reception that was overturned on replay because his right foot landed out of bounds.

The second play saw Hunter knock the ball out of Jaylon Robinson’s hand to prevent a TCU touchdown that would have tied the score at 14.

The Horned Frogs settled for a field-goal attempt on that drive, but Griffin Kell was unable to convert a 43-yard attempt to keep the score at 14-7.

In the second half, Hunter ended another TCU scoring opportunity when he picked off Chandler Morris by jumping in front of a pass intended for Major Everhart.

Fans and analysts were understandably impressed by what Hunter was doing, though there was a lot of concern about how he could keep up this pace for the entire season.

It’s not surprising to see Hunter playing on both sides of the ball. He did it as a freshman at Jackson State last year. The Georgia native had 188 receiving yards and four touchdowns on offense, along with 20 tackles and two interceptions as a cornerback.

Hunter was the nation’s No. 1 overall prospect in the 2022 recruiting class coming out of Collins Hill High School. He enrolled in Jackson State as part of Sanders’ efforts to build the program into a national power.

The Tigers finished 12-1 with the lone defeat coming against North Carolina Central in the Celebration Bowl.

When Sanders was hired by Colorado in December, he brought several Jackson State players, including Hunter, Shedeur and Shilo Sanders with him. The Buffaloes are looking to get back to national relevance after going 1-11 in 2022 and losing records in 15 of the previous 17 seasons.

Hunter is certainly a unique athlete capable of making an impact in ways that few players in the country can. Sanders might have to pull off the throttle with his young superstar to protect him for the full season, but this is a great way to introduce him to people who may not have seen him against FCS competition last year.