If you’re Travis Hunter, you’ve certainly got plenty to dance about this week. The 22-year-old self-proclaimed ‘unicorn’ recently announced that his wife has officially given birth to their first child, and just a few days from now, he’ll make his rookie debut after being the second overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Oh, and don’t forget he won the Heisman trophy back in December, too.
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Even though he’s yet to play a snap of professional football, Hunter is already proving to be one of the most famous faces in the league today. In fact, shortly after winning the Heisman, he managed to sign a multi-year $3.2-million deal with Adidas, which now has him grooving along to Deniece Williams’ Let’s Hear It for the Boys with his star quarterback, Trevor Lawrence.
Thanks to his healthy endorsement portfolio, in addition to his four-year rookie deal that included a benchmark signing bonus of more than $30.5 million, it’s safe to say that Hunter will have no problem providing for his little one.
When his former coach and NFL Hall of Famer, Deion Sanders, was given the good news, he couldn’t help but take a moment to appreciate the journey that both he and Hunter have been on throughout the past few years.
“I love him to life, I love him like he’s a son,” the Buffaloes head coach explained. “It’s funny when your son is now a father, so that’s why I had to really step back. It’s a beautiful thing.”
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In terms of fatherly advice, Sanders kept it simple, choosing to remind Hunter about the added level of responsibility and discipline that is required to find success in fatherhood.
“Let’s correct all the things that we purposely think that we didn’t receive as a child. Let’s correct that in fatherhood. No matter what happens in life, let’s make sure we’re the best darn father that ever walked.”
Hunter’s wife, Leanna Lenee, had been pregnant for several months prior to their official announcement, but now that he has received his first-born child, he can worry about receiving his first touchdown pass from Lawrence. Suffice to say, this season is certainly shaping up to be one of the more exciting ones in recent history, for both Hunter and Jaguars fans.
After the franchise managed to strike gold with Brian Thomas Jr., there’s a renewed sense of hope surrounding this Jacksonville offense. The team hasn’t finished inside the top 10 in terms of scoring since 2022, and they barely made the cut.
Nevertheless, the explosiveness of Thomas, along with the meta-breaking potential of Hunter and the availability of Lawrence, has Jacksonville thinking that this could be their first double-digit win season since 2017, which would also be just their fourth since the turn of the century.
There’s something brewing down south, and unless C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans have anything to say about it, then the Jags may be able to waltz right into a free playoff spot after all.
