Colorado Buffs superstar Travis Hunter wins Heisman

Updated at 7:32 PM on Saturday, December 12, 2024.

Two-time University of Colorado standout Travis Hunter won the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night, cementing his status as the best collegiate football player in the country and one of the best to ever pass through Boulder.

“I thank all the brothers, all my brothers through college, including Jackson State. That was my learning ground. That's my proven ground. I had to start somewhere and I started there,” Hunter said during his acceptance speech. “Colorado! … I appreciate you all, man. I love you all. Thank you all for … holding my name, holding the name Colorado. Sko Buffs, baby!”

Hunter is only the second CU Buff to earn the award, the most prestigious honor 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 ceremony in New York City by five-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 who he is in an unapologetic way,” Sanders said. “He wants to be good at everything. Great student, great offensive player, great defensive player, great young man. Loves the game, loves practice, loves his family, loves his mom, loves his dad, loves his fiancée .He wants to have a commitment to excellence in everything he does, including fishing.”

The CU superstar plays both offense and defense and has found success and hardware in 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 victory over Baylor.

Overall, Hunter racked up those 92 receptions, but allowed just 22 as a defenseman. He scored 14 receiving TDs and allowed just one. He was responsible for 53 first downs and gave up only six. He was targeted 119 times by star CU quarterback Shedeur Sanders, but only 39 times by opposing QBs who often avoided his side of the field.

Hunter's likely final game in Boulder, a 52-0 loss to Oklahoma State, was a three-touchdown, one-interception performance.

According to Colorado research, he played 688 snaps on defense and another 672 on offense, the only Power Four conference player with more than 30 snaps on both sides of the ball.

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“I always told him, you are the prize. It doesn't matter where you go, you are the prize. It doesn't matter what the school is, you are the prize. You bring value. You are him,” , says Travis' mother, Ferrante Edmonds “You are gifted. So use your gifts, not only for you, but also for the people around you, people who need something to see. We come from an area that is quite rugged. It was pretty rough. But that doesn't dictate that you can't be who you are, that you can't be the star.

In a sport that has long specialized in specific positions and roles, Hunter represents both a throwback to the days of two-way players and a modern 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 execute a high-IQ interception on defense and moments later immediately execute a high-flying strike on offense.

Saturday's victory was less surprise and more coronation. The endless stream of highlights and excitement surrounding a star many dubbed the 'unicorn' made Hunter a firm favorite for the trophy.

“We're thankful that he can just keep pushing and block out all the noise,” Edmonds said. “The sound doesn't matter because you know who you are as a person. Once you know who you are, you keep doing what you do.”

Hunter received 552 first-place votes and 2,231 points in a comfortable win. Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty was the runner-up with 309 first-place votes and 2,017 points. Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel finished third and Miami quarterback Cam Ward finished fourth.

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College football had not seen an athlete successfully play on both sides of the football since Michigan's Charles Woodson or Georgia's Champ Baily in the 1990s. And Hunter's numbers (including time on the field) dwarfed their efforts.

His speed and versatility remind fans that his head coach Sanders was a 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 went to high school in suburban Atlanta, 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 letting me do what I do, Hunter told the Associated Press earlier this season. He did it and knows how much you need to be ready on both sides of the ball.

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Hunter was named college football player of the year by The Associated Press earlier this week and received 26 of 43 votes from a panel of AP Top 25 voters on Thursday. Just like Saturday night, Boise State tailback Ashton Jeanty also finished second in that race.

Hunter already has one second consecutive Paul Hornung award as the game's most versatile player, the Walter Camp (Player of the Year), Maxwel (most outstanding player), the Biletnikoff (best receiver) and Bednarik (best 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 was not a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, which goes to the nation's best defensive backs. That attracted Sanders' angerwho earned the award in 1988 at Florida State and promised 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) on December 28 in the Alamo Bowl.

Hunter has promised to play, instead of skipping the game to prepare for the NFL and avoid possible injuries, as many top players do. However, the 6-foot-4, 185-pound junior from Suwanee, Georgia, plans to forgo his senior season in Boulder and declare for the NFL draft. He is expected to be a top five pick, perhaps even the No. 1 overall selection.

David Zalubowski/AP, file

The AP's Pat Graham and Mike Fitzpatrick contributed to this report.