Travis Hunter became an Adidas athlete right after his senior season came to an end, leaving fans quite curious about the decision. Mostly because his coach, Deion Sanders, and quarterback, Shedeur Sanders, are both signed with Nike, Adidas’ rival company.
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Despite his coach and QB’s affiliations, Hunter still chose to partner with Adidas. It’s a significant signing for the footwear company, especially given the challenges they have faced in recent years.
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The first thing fans didn’t let go unnoticed about the deal is that Deion Sanders has a line of shoes with Nike. Now, Hunter cannot wear any of Coach Prime’s shoes in the future, they joked.
Earlier in the season, a video surfaced of Hunter mentioning he had a pair of his coach’s shoes on layaway. However, it’s unlikely we’ll ever see him wearing them—at least not in public. One user had fun with this notion.
“Bro gotta go put all of Coach Prime’s shoes back in his office now,” the user wrote, accompanied by a laughing emoji.
— Semper (@Semper152892) December 12, 2024
The deal comes at a time when Adidas is in a downturn. Sales across the board have been down for the footwear company this year after they had a costly breakup with Kanye West. The breakup came in 2022 after Mr. West made antisemitic remarks that forced Adidas to sell his stock shares and scrub him from the company DNA.
Now with Hunter as the frontward-facing athlete of the company, Adidas looks forward to greener pastures with a player who has been nothing but likable to the media. This deal should be the beginning of an uptick in sales. However, some fans have questioned how Nike fumbled so baldy and let Hunter slip away.
— Semper (@Semper152892) December 12, 2024
— Semper (@Semper152892) December 12, 2024
It is strikingly curious how Nike let this one get away. They are known for getting A-list athletes to join their company, and they already had Hunter’s teammate, Shedeur, signed. It’s crazy to think that Nike didn’t employ any strategies to try to get Hunter’s fellow comrade to join their squad. Or maybe they did, and the deal just didn’t work. Either way, the decision was shocking to Nike fans and its community.
Shedeur has been signed with Nike since the start of the college football season. His announcement came almost 30 years to the day that his father, Deion, signed his deal with the company. Like father, like son, as they say. His deal is valued at $5.1 million and made him the sixth most valuable player, according to NIL.
Hunter’s deal, while it’s not worth as much as Shedeur, is still coming in at $3.1 million as of right now. But Adidas, while they may not be as popular as Nike, they still have some of the biggest stars in each respective sport.
Patrick Mahomes, Lionel Messi, Damian Lillard, and David Beckham are all Adidas athletes. The footwear company clearly believes Hunter could become one of the biggest stars in the NFL.
