The Travis Hunter hype in college football is real. But there was someone who wasn’t fully buying the hype. Former NFL cornerback Richard Sherman, who played in the league for 11 seasons, once dubbed the Colorado Buffaloes WR a “bland” route runner.
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Hunter did not take the jab kindly and hit back at Sherman with an IG Story, asking Sherman to “stop speaking” on him and let him “play football.”
But now, the two men seem to have put the tension behind them. In a quick interview with Well Off Media at Colorado Buffaloes Practice in Orlando at UC, the NCAA Football star revealed how Sherman reached out to apologize and in return, the WR accepted the apology. Hunter recalled while narrating the exchange over the phone:
“Yeah, we talked on the phone. That type of no negative energy, you know?”
Hunter revealed that Sherman explained to him that the “bland” dig was in no way meant to belittle the WR. However, being aware of how it came across as poor in taste, the former NFL star apologized.
For Hunter, Sherman’s apology meant the world because growing up with dreams in his eyes of making it NFL, Sherman was one of the players he looked up to throughout his childhood. So much so that, Hunter channeled Sherman while playing in high school, who was a cornerstone of the Seattle Seahawks “Legion of Boom” defense from 2011–2017.
“49ers was my favorite team when I was growing up. So, you know, that was low-key our rival, the Seahawks. Playing DB, I modeled my game after them when I was younger,” Hunter recounted.
Thus, his childhood idol criticizing him publicly felt harsh. However, when Sherman apologized, it quickly dissolved the misunderstanding and healed Hunter from the hit of hearing criticism from someone he respects.
Interestingly, Hunter also apologized to Sherman and admitted he did not intend to escalate things with his Instagram Story.
Bland or not, Hunter is a highly regarded prospect for next year’s draft. His dual-threat abilities are the talk of the town, and with his and Shedeur’s chemistry being off the charts, some think he is a top contestant for the Heisman! Unfortunately, the way Colorado has been performing, those Heisman dreams might not turn into reality.
Analyst thinks Heisman might slip out of Hunter’s reach due to the Buffs
Taking to the Rich Eisen Show, Bruce Feldman revealed that Hunter might not be the Heisman Trophy favorite because of his team. The Colorado Buffaloes do not rank in the top 10 in most college football rankings.
Despite the poor rankings, where CU is often considered outside of the top 25 as well, what Hunter’s doing on the field is nothing short of “remarkable,” Feldman added.
He also brought up how the Heisman race might unfold favorably for Hunter if CU can manage to finish with a 6-6 or 5-7 record. According to the analyst, Hunter could still get some first-place votes if he’s healthy for the whole year.
As Feldman points out, while many Heisman Trophy winners are “terrific players,” they aren’t “doing something that’s so different” like Hunter is.
Be it his 100-yard receiving games or game-saving plays like forcing a fumble, Hunter has “lived up to and exceeded the hype.”
