Travis Hunter

Wyoming

Sep 20 (Sat)

8:15 p.m.

Photo by: Tony Harman

Photo by: Derek Marckel

NCAA Football: Colorado at Texas Christian

Photo by: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

Position:
Athlete
Height:
6-1
Weight:
185
Class:
Junior
Hometown:
Suwanee, Ga.
High School:
Collins Hill/Jackson State
Major:
Psychology

The most decorated player in a season in college football history, Hunter won eight major college football awards, including six trophies, the consensus National Player of the Year winning the Heisman Trophy, the Walter Camp Award, as well as National Player of the Year by both the Associated Press and Sporting News. He earned multiple National Defensive Player of the Year awards with the Bednarik Award and Lott IMPACT Trophy. He was also given the Hornung Award as the nation's most versatile player for the second straight season and the Biletnikoff Award as the nation's best receiver, regardless of position. He is a finalist for the Sullivan Award as the overall college athlete of the year, named the Sports Illustrated Breakout Star of the Year, and given the inaugural Emerging GOAT Award by the Muhammad Ali Museum. He was named the Academic All-American of the Year after earning first-team Academic All-America honors for the second straight season. He was a unanimous first-team All-American, earning eight honors from the five publications and is the first player in the history of the Walter Camp All-America team to be named first-team on offense and defense and the first player in the history of the AP All-America team to earn mention at three positions, including two first-team selections. He was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, honorable mention Offensive Player of the Year and named first-team All-Big 12 on both offense and defense by most publications.

CAREER

On top of winning eight major college football awards, including six trophies, his outstanding career was also highlighted by being named a two-time first-team All-American, earning consensus status in 2023 as a sophomore and unanimous status as a junior in 2024, and a two-time first-team Academic All-American.
Including one season at Jackson State, Hunter played in a total of 30 games in college, eight at Jackson State and 22 at Colorado.
He finished his college career with 171 receptions for 2,167 yards and 24 touchdowns and added three rushes for -5 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively, he finished with 87 tackles, 63 solo and three for a loss, nine interceptions for 99 yards and a touchdown, 26 pass breakups, 1 forced fumble and one fumble recovery.

Hunter left Colorado as the most decorated football player in program history despite playing just two seasons for the Buffaloes.
After transferring in from Jackson State with Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders’ arrival, Hunter quickly proved to be one of the most dynamic players in college football history.
He finished his career at Colorado with 153 receptions for 1,989 yards and 20 touchdowns, scoring 21 overall touchdowns including one rushing score.
Defensively, he finished with 67 tackles, 48 solo and three for a loss, seven interceptions for 55 yards,16 pass breakups and a forced fumble.
He played in an astonishing 2,625 snaps in two seasons despite missing what amounted to almost five games due to injury, leading the FBS in both 2023 and 2024.

AS A JUNIOR (2024)

He finished the 2024 season as the Heisman Trophy Winner and was the consensus National Player of the Year, also winning the Walter Camp Trophy, the Associated Press National Player of the Year, and the Sporting News National Player of the Year.
Won two National Defensive Player of the Year honors by taking home the Bednarik Award and the Lott IMPACT Trophy.
The first repeat winner of the Paul Hornung Award as the nation’s most versatile player.
Named the Biletnikoff Award winner as the top receiver in the nation regardless of position.
Sports Illustrated named him its Breakout Star of the Year.
Premier Players named him the National Player of the Year.
He was presented with the inaugural Emerging GOAT Award by the Muhammad Ali Museum.
Kirk Herbstreit named him the National Defensive Player of the Year with his Herbie Awards, and he also won the Chick-‘Fil-A MOOOVE on the Field Herbie Award.
He was named the Academic All-American of the Year, earning the overall award as one of 34 players named first-team Academic All-American.
A unanimous first-team All-American, just the sixth in CU history, it could be argued he was unanimous at both the all-purpose and cornerback positions and consensus at wide receiver.
The first player in the history of the Walter Camp Award to be named first-team All-American on both offense and defense, on the oldest All-America team in the country.
The first player in the history of the Associated Press to earn two All-America honors, and he earned three, being named first team at all-purpose and cornerback and second team at wide receiver.
At wide receiver, he was named first-team All-American by The Sporting News, Walter Camp, Sports Illustrated and Sports Info Systems.
At cornerback, he was named first-team All-American by the AP, Walter Camp, CBS, College Football Network, Sports Illustrated, Pro Football Focus, USA Today and Sports Info Systems.
At the all-purpose or flex position, he was named first-team All-American by the AP, CBS, AFCA, FWAA, The Athletic, Pro Football Focus, Phil Steele and USA Today.
He was named a second-team All-American at wide receiver by the AP, USA Today, CBS and College Football Network.
The overall Big 12 Player of the Year by College Football Network.
The Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year as honored by the coaches, AP and CFN.
Honorable Mention Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year by the league’s coaches.
CFN named him the Big 12 Cornerback of the Year.
First team All-Big 12 at four positions, named at cornerback by the coaches, AP, CFN and Phil Steele, at wide receiver by the coaches, AP, CFN and Phil Steele, at offensive all-purpose by Sports Info Systems and at defensive all-purpose by Sports Info Systems.
By the Colorado Chapter of the National Football Foundation, he was named the All-Colorado Defensive Player of the Year and first-team All-Colorado at both wide receiver and cornerback.
For national awards, he was also a finalist for the Maxwell Award and semifinalist for the Thorpe Award.
He earned midseason All-America honors at three positions, at cornerback by the AP, CBS and Senior Bowl, at wide receiver by the Sporting News and at all-purpose or flex by the AP, The Athletic, CFN and CBS.
Earned eight National Player of the Week awards, including five from the Paul Hornung Awards after Weeks 1, 3, 4, 5 and 8, when he also won the Maxwell National Defensive Player of the Week, and in Week 10 he was given the Randy “You Got Mossed” Award, the first player to win that award three times in a career, and was the Lott IMPACT Trophy National Defensive Player of the Week in Week 10, as well.
Earned 11 honorable mention or honor roll national player of the week honors including six from the Paul Hornung Award, four from the Lott IMPACT Trophy and one from the Maxwell Award.
The first player in any Power 4 conference to be named the conference Player of the Week on both offense and defense, earning defensive honors in Week 3 and offensive honors in both Week 8 and 12.
The first player to be named the NFF Colorado Chapter Player of the Week four times in one season, earning the honor in Week 2, 3, 8 and 12.
Earned CU Athlete of the Week seven times in Weeks 1, 3, 4, 8, 10, 11 and for the Alamo Bowl.
Earned 11 Preseason All-America honors, at cornerback from ESPN, Walter Camp, Athlon, Sports Illustrated and Phil Steel and at an all-purpose or flex position by PFF, Phil Steel, AP, CFN, the Sporting News and Athlon.
Named the Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year by the CFN, which also named him the preseason Cornerback of the Year, and was named the Defensive Player of the Year by the Big 12 media, Lindy’s, and CFN.
Earned nine Preseason All-Big 12 honors, at defensive back from the Big 12, USA Today, Athlon, Phil Steele, Lindy’s and CFN, and at all-purpose by USA Today, Athlon, and Pick-Six.
On the preseason watch lists for the Lott IMPACT Trophy, the Walter Camp Award, the Paul Hornung Award, the Thorpe Award, the Bronko Nagurski Trophy and the Bednarik Award.
Named the No. 1 draft eligible player by the AP, No. 2 cornerback by Phil Steele, No. 1 Cornerback by Lindy’s and the No. 1 player from the Big 12 by Lindy’s.
Finished the season with 96 receptions for 1,258 yards and 15 receiving touchdowns, setting a new CU record for touchdown receptions, finishing second in receptions and third in receiving yards.
Set a new CU record with eight 100-yard receiving games including a run of four straight to open the season, which was a streak of five straight games dating back to last year’s Utah game, another CU record.
Led CU in scoring with 96 points, 16 touchdowns, 15 receiving and one rushing, and is just the fifth wide receiver to lead the team in scoring.
His 16 overall touchdowns ranks tied for eighth most in CU history.
On defense, he finished the season with 36 tackles, 25 solo and one for a loss and another for no gain, with four interceptions for 65 yards, 11 pass breakups and one forced fumble, while also having nine third down stops and one fourth down stop.
Led the FBS with 1,483 plays during the season, 714 on offense, 748 on defense and 21 on special teams, plus 65 more that were called back due to penalty for 1,548 overall snaps.
He played 714 of 823 (86.8 percent) of the offensive snaps and 748 of 902 (82.9%) of the defensive snaps and his 1,460-of-1,725 snaps from scrimmage equates to 84.6%, and no other FBS player played in more than 56 percent of his team’s snaps in 2025.
If you take out the Kansas State and Arizona games when he missed time due to injury, his percentages increase to 92.8 percent of defensive snaps (718-of-773) and 94.4 percent of offensive snaps (652-of-691) for a total of 93.6 percent of CU’s snaps from scrimmage (1,370-of-1,464) in those 10 games.
PFF graded him out at 88.8 on offense, 89.7 for receiving, 89.3 for defense and 90.7 for coverage.
On offense, his receiving grade of 89.7 ranked third for Power 4 receivers with at least 500 snaps and his overall grade of 88.8 ranked fourth in the Power 4.
His receiving grade of 89.7 was best in the Power 4 for receivers with 500 receiving snaps and he caught 11 of 16 contested catches, with his 68.8% rate for those ranking second best in the Power 4.
He caught 96 percent of his catchable passes and was credited with three dropped passes and his overall completion percentage of 78.7 was the second-best in the Power 4 for receivers with 500 receiving snaps to teammate LaJohntay Wester (80.4 percent).
In coverage, he was one of just two players graded out over 90 percent in the Power 4 with at least 400 coverage snaps and was the only P4 corner that graded out above 85 percent with 200 plus snaps in press coverage.
Of P4 corners with 400-plus snaps, he was targeted the fewest amount of times, just 10.8 percent, or 46 times in 428 snaps, and in those 46 targets he gave up just 24 receptions, the second lowest total in the P4 and his 214 yards against were the fewest by 57 yards and his one touchdown surrendered ranked second. His interception per target rate was 10.9 percent, the best in the P4 and one of just two marks over 10 percent, and his 16 open targets was the second lowest total in the P4. His NFL passer rating allowed of 32.6 was the second best mark in the P4, as well.
Caught 7 passes for 132 yards and 3 touchdowns against North Dakota State to open the season. His three touchdowns tied the school record for a single game.
Had 10 receptions for 110 yards on offense, three tackles, a tackle for loss and pass breakup against Nebraska.
Had 13 catches for 100 yards and two touchdowns at Colorado State to go along with five tackles, an interception and pass breakup on defense. He became the first known player in college football history with 13 catches, 100 or more yards receiving and an interception in the same game.
Had 7 receptions for 130 yards against Baylor when he also had three tackles and the game-winning walk-off forced fumble in overtime to secure the Buffs victory over the Bears. He was targeted just one time and allowed -4 passing yards on defense.
Had 9 catches for 89 yards and a touchdown on offense, two tackles an interception and pass breakup on defense at Central Florida. He allowed just two catches on five targets on defense. He became the first player with two games of 9 receptions and an interception in at least the last 25 years of college football and his two instances doubled the previous total entering the 2025 season.
Against Cincinnati returning from two games being banged up, he had 9 catches for 153 yards and 2 touchdowns on offense, two tackles and four pass breakups on defense. He was targeted six times and gave up just two catches for 9 yards and got his hands on the other four balls that came his way.
At Texas Tech, he had 9 catches for 99 yards and a touchdown on offense and was not targeted a single time on defense. He was targeted twice and gave up one pass for five yards. He played a total of 161 snaps in the game, breaking his own CU record from the previous season, and had 169 snaps counting plays negatived by penalty.
Against Utah, he had 5 catches for 55 yards receiving, a five yar rushing touchdown and an interception and pass breakup on defense. He was the first player in college football and just the second in the NFL or college football to have 50 receiving yards, a rushing touchdown and an interception in the same game, joining Champ Bailey, who accomplished the feat for the Washington Redskins in 2000. His three games with an offensive touchdown and defensive interception are the only such three games in at least the last 25 years of college football.
At Kansas, he had 8 catches for 125 yards and 2 touchdowns on offense, 7 tackles and a pass breakup on defense. He was targeted three times and didn’t give up a catch.
Against Oklahoma State, he had 10 catches for 116 yards and 3 touchdowns on offense, an interception, two pass breakups and a tackle on defense. He was targeted five times and gave up just two receptions. He again tied the school record with 3 touchdown receptions. He became the first player in at least the last 25 years to score three touchdowns and have an interception in the same game and the first player to have multiple touchdowns and an interception in two games in the last quarter century, doubling the overall total of such games in that time frame. He also became the first player to catch three touchdown receptions in the same game twice.
Against BYU in the Alamo Bowl, he had 4 catches for 106 yards and a touchdown and added four tackles on defense. He was targeted three times and gave up just one reception.

AS A SOPHOMORE (2023)

One of the most dynamic players in college football history, Hunter successfully played both cornerback and wide receiver throughout the 2023 season and despite missing 3-and-a-half games due to injury, he played more snaps from scrimmage in the regular season than any other player in the FBS.
He won the Paul Hornung Award as the nation's most versatile player, becoming the ninth player to win a major postseason award and bringing home the 11th such award for the Colorado Buffaloes. He was named to the Paul Hornung Award honor roll after five of the seven full games he played.
A consensus first-team All-American and first-team Academic All-American, he is just the second player in CU history to earn consensus honors on the field and first-team academic honors in the classroom, joining Joe Romig, who accomplished the feat in 1960 and '61.
Academically, on top of being a first-team Academic All-American, he was named to the Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll and the All-NFF Colorado Academic Team earning first-team honors as a defensive back an second team as a wide receiver. He received a perfect 4.0 GPA during the fall semester.
He is just the eight player to be a consensus first-team All-American and pick up any level of Academic All-America honors.
He earned first-team All-America honors from four of the five publications the NCAA uses to determine consensus and unanimous selections. He was named first-team by the Football Writers Association of America, the Associated Press, Sporting News and American Football Coaches Association. The only publication that didn't name him first team was Walter Camp, which is the only publication that doesn't include an All-Purpose, Flex or Athlete position on its team.
He also earned first-team honors by Sports Illustrated and second-team honors by FOX Sports.
He earned the program's 64th first-team All-American honor and is the 60th player to earn first-team All-America status. It is the 31st consensus first-team All-American season in CU history and he's the 28th player to earn consensus honors. He just missed becoming the sixth unanimous first-team honoree.
He was a quarterfinalist for the Lott IMPACT Trophy and semifinalist for the Paycom Jim Thorpe Award.
He played a total of 1,102 snaps including 475 on offense, 631 on defense and 32 on special teams, an average of 114.7 per game, or 121.4 per game when calculating without the second half against Colorado State.
He now has the top five scrimmage snaps in a game in CU history, the most coming against Stanford when he played 149 snaps. He also had 140 against TCU, 125 against Nebraska, 118 against Oregon State and 116 against Arizona.
On offense, he finished with 57 receptions for 721 yards and five touchdowns, averaging 80.1 yards per game and 6.3 receptions per game.
His 57 receptions ranks 20th in CU's season chart while his five touchdowns ranks 23rd and he already ranks 53rd for career receptions and 51st for career receiving yards.
He had at least two receptions in all nine games he played and eight or more receptions on two occasions, including 13 against Stanford and 11 against TCU.
Defensively, he had a team-lead tying three interceptions and five pass breakups to go along with 30 tackles, who of which went for a loss.
He had two interceptions against UCLA and one against TCU while his PBUs came one each against TCU, Nebraska, Oregon State, Arizona and Washington State.
He became the first player in at least the last 25 seasons of college football with 50-plus receptions and 3-plus interceptions, the only other comparable season coming in 1998 when Georgia's Champ Bailey had 47 receptions for 744 yards and five touchdowns to go along with three interceptions.
He was named to the All-Transfer team by On3 at the flex position, by The Atheltics and 247 Sports at defensive back and to the second team at cornerback by the CFN.
He earned All-Pac-12 honors at multiple positions, including first-team honors at defensive back by the league's coaches, who also named him second team All-Purpose. The Associated Press named him first team at all-purpose and second-team at cornerback. The Bay Area News Group had him listed first team at defensive back and College Football Network named him second-team at the flex position. Athlon named him first-team at both cornerback and all-purpose while the AP and Phil Steele named him second-team.
At CU's annual CUSPY banquet, he was named the Athlete of the Year among all CU sports.
His FBS debut was a memorable one as CU shocked No. 17 and defending national runner-up TCU 45-42. He set CU records for most receptions (11) in a starting debut at wide receiver, most receptions in the first game of a career at CU and was the first player in over 20 seasons to record a 100-yard receiving game and have an interception on defense. He was rewarded as the National Player of the Week by the Bronko Nagurski Award, Lott IMPACT Trophy, Paul Hornung and was honor able mention by the Jim Thorpe award while also being the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week.
He had 13 catches for 140 yards and two touchdowns against Stanford while coming up with five tackles defensively.
Had eight catches for 98 yards against Oregon State and eight catches for 107 yards, his third and final 100-yard game, in the season finale at Utah.
At mid-season, he was named a first-team All-American by Sporting News and FOX Sports and honorable mention by ESPN and The Athletic has him on its midseason all-transfer team.
In the preseason, he was named first-team All-American by the AP and Athlon and second-team by Sporting News and Phil Steele, while also earning first-team All-Pac-12 honors with first-team honors coming from CB and Phil Steele and second-team honors by Sporing News and Phil Steele.
He was on the preseason watch lists for the Lott IMPACT Trophy and Paul Hornung Award before being recognized as a first-team honoree.
Preseason honors include being ranked the No. 1 overall player in the transfer portal, he was ranked as the top newcomer by ESPN. On3 had him ranked the No. 31 player in college football in the preseason and ESPN ranked him No. 70 and the top newcomer.
Named Preseason All-Pac-12 by the league’s media at three positions, first-team at defensive back and all purpose and honorable mention at wide receiver. The only player named first-team at multiple positions and to three overall.

TRANSFER RANKINGS
• The top-ranked transfer prospect in the 2023 class by 247 Sports with a rating of .9900 and five stars (as of 12/19).
• Entered CU as a transfer with four years to play three.

AT JACKSON STATE (2022)
• Played in eight games as a true freshman at Jackson State in 2022, seeing action on both offense and defense as a wide receiver and cornerback.
• Named a finalist for the Jerry Rice Award, given to the top freshman player in FCS football.
• Earned SWAC Freshman of the Year and second-team All-SWAC by Phil Steele.
• On defense, he finished the season with 20 tackles, 10 pass breakups, and two interceptions, also coming up with one fumble recovery.
• Had two-plus pass breakups in three games, including four against Texas Southern and three against Alcorn. Had interceptions against Alabama A&M and Alcorn.
• On offense, he finished the season with 18 receptions for 188 yards and four touchdowns.
• Against Alcorn, he was named the BOXTOROW National Player of the Week and the SWAC Newcomer of the Week when he returned a 44-yard interception for a touchdown and also caught a 10-yard touchdown on offense.
• In the final four games of the season, the last two regular season games, SWAC Championship and Celebration Bowl, he had 11 receptions for 135 yards and four touchdowns.
• Had four receptions for 47 yards in the Celebration Bowl, including the game-tying touchdown reception on the final play of regulation.
• Became the first five-star recruit to sign with an FCS program since ESPN began ranking players in 2006.
• Highest-ranked recruit to commit to an HBCU.
• Before freshman season, he played in the 2022 Polynesian Bowl, earning Offensive MVP honors with five receptions for 54 yards, while also getting an interception on defense.

HIGH SCHOOL RANKINGS
• A consensus five-star recruit and the nation’s top-ranked recruit in the class of 2022.
• 247 Sports rated him a perfect 100 and ranked him the No. 1 recruit in the nation on the Top247, the top cornerback and top player from Georgia.
• Rivals rated him a perfect 6.1 and ranked him as the top recruit in the class, the top athlete in the class, and the top-ranked player from Georgia.
• PrepStar ranked him as the best player in the nation.
• ESPN rated him 94 and ranked him the No. 2 player in the nation and the No.1 ranked athlete and No. 1 ranked player from Georgia.
• On3 rated him as a 99 and ranked him as the No. 8 player in the class, the No. 2 athlete, and the No. 2 player from Georgia.
• 247 Composite: .9999 Rating, No. 1 player in the nation, No. 1 cornerback, and No. 1 player from Georgia.
• On3 Consensus: 99.56 rating, No. 2 player in the nation, No. 1 ranked athlete and No. 1 ranked player from Georgia.

COLLINS HILL HIGH SCHOOL (2018-21)
• Played four years of varsity football for the Collins Hill Eagles under coach Lenny Gregory.
• Helped Collins Hill compile a 36-17 record in four years, including a 27-4 record in his junior and senior seasons.
• Career offensive numbers include 272 receptions for 3,963 yards and 48 touchdowns, 29 rushes for 158 yards and two touchdowns, and 4-of-8 passing for 118 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions.
• His 48 receiving touchdowns broke the Georgia state record previously held by Braxton Hicks.
• Career defensive numbers include 116 tackles, 19 interceptions, 18 pass breakups, four tackles for loss, three fumble recoveries, two forced fumbles and one quarterback hurry.
• Senior season Collins Hill was 15-1, winning the school’s first Georgia State Championship.
• As a senior, he was named a first-team All-American and the Georgia Player of the Year by MaxPreps and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Georgia Player of the Year.
• Defensively, he had 25 tackles, two tackles for loss, four interceptions, five pass breakups, two fumble recoveries and one forced fumble.
• Offensively, he had 85 receptions for 1,284 yards and 12 touchdowns, completed one pass for a 28-yard touchdown and had 5 rushes for 15 yards and one touchdown.
• Junior season, Collins Hill was 12-3, and he was named the MaxPreps Georgia Player of the Year, helping Collins Hill to the state championship game.
• Offensive numbers include 137 receptions for 1,746 yards and 24 touchdowns, 19 rushes for 124 yards, and one touchdown while completing 2-of-4 passes for 84 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception.
• Set new records for Gwinnett County for receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns.
• Defensively, he had 51 tackles, eight interceptions, seven pass breakups, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, one quarterback hurry and one tackle for loss.
• Sophomore season, he had 49 receptions for 919 yards and 12 touchdowns, adding five rushes for 19 yards on offense and 36 tackles, seven interceptions, and six pass breakups with one tackle for loss on defense.
• Freshman season, he had four tackles on defense and caught one pass for 14 yards, and was 1-of-2 passing for six yards on offense.
• Also played point guard on the basketball team at Collins Hill.

OFF THE FIELD
• Has attained a perfect 4.0 grade point average in two of his four semesters at CU-Boulder and has a cumulative GPA above a 3.80.
• Regularly makes time for children wishing to meet him or have him sign an autograph, knowing what an impact that could have on a young person, often time spending hours so each kid can have their own photo and own autograph from him.
• Contacted and did a video with Henry Blackburn from Colorado State, who injured him on a late hit during a game in 2023. Hunter missed three-and-a-half games but upon learning Blackburn was receiving threats, he invited him to do a YouTube video to help curb those threats from happening.
• Participated in 7-Eleven and Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals inaugural “Cleat Crew” project over the past few months and his cleats raised over $10,000 for Children’s Hospital Colorado, which he has visited on multiple occasions.
• He purchased a house for his mother and younger brother in Savannah, Ga.