The sky is the limit for Travis Hunter’s confidence heading into the 2025 NFL Draft.
Hunter, 21, told reporters at the NFL combine on Thursday that he believes being a two-way football player is more difficult than what Shohei Ohtani does in the MLB.
“Probably me, what I do in football [is harder] because it is a lot on your body,” Hunter said. “Ohtani, he’s a great player, but you gotta do a lot in football.”
Similar to MLB, being a two-way player in the NFL is a rarity, with there not being a full-time player achieving that status since the 1950s.
Ohtani first achieved MLB two-way status during his rookie season in 2018 and has since won three MVP awards while also finishing fourth in the American League Cy Young Award voting in 2022.
Hunter is known for his success playing both sides of the ball, winning the 2024 Heisman Trophy while playing wide receiver and cornerback at Colorado.
Despite not participating in any on-field workouts at the combine, Hunter conducted a media session with reporters, where he made clear that he hopes to continue being a two-way player in the NFL.
“I want to play both,” Hunter told reporters Thursday. “That’s not my job to figure it out. I like to play both sides of the ball. If they allow me to play both sides of the ball, I’ll play both sides.”
Hunter assured that he does not experience any physical fatigue from being a two-way player, citing his preparation being a large factor into his health.
“It doesn’t happen very often because I put my body through so much during the week,” Hunter told reporters. “I know how to treat my body and know what my body needs to be ready.”
Deion Sanders, who coached Hunter at both Jackson State and Colorado, previously told NFL teams that they shouldn’t draft the 21-year-old if they don’t plan on using him on both sides of the ball.
“He’s gonna do that, or they shouldn’t draft him,” Sanders said when asked about Hunter’s future in the NFL in an interview with Rich Eisen in December. “Don’t do that. And I’m gonna make sure of that. Don’t draft him if you’re not gonna give him the opportunity to play on both sides of the ball.
“Now, you can be creative. He don’t have to do what we did with him here and play every snap.”
