Why Travis Hunter is ready to be the NFL's next star - ESPN

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — When Travis Hunter walked the stage in the University of Colorado's undergraduate commencement ceremony at Folsom Field stadium on Thursday, the white sash that topped his black gown told the world he's a first-generation college graduate.

What he wore under his academic dress told the world he's looking forward to his first post-graduate job as an NFL receiver and cornerback.

Three weeks ago, the Jacksonville Jaguars traded up to select the 2024 Heisman Trophy winner No. 2 overall in the 2025 NFL draft. After all the celebrating, phone calls, interviews, hugs, handshakes and congratulations were over, Hunter's first purchase as a pro athlete was a pair of Jaguars pajama pants to wear at graduation.

«That's the first thing I ordered off of Amazon after I got drafted,» said Hunter, a two-time first-team academic All-American who graduated with a degree in anthropology.

Just 18 hours after drafting Hunter, Jacksonville's first-year general manager, James Gladstone, set stratospheric expectations on Hunter's shoulders.

«He elevates not only this football team, not only this city, but the sport itself, right?» Gladstone said. «Along the way you can count however many drafts you want to, there are players who have the capacity to alter a game. There are players who have the capacity to alter the trajectory of a team. There are very few players who have the capacity to alter the trajectory of the sport itself. Travis, while he still has a lot to learn, in our eyes, has the potential to do just that.»

That's really nothing new for Hunter, who has been billed as a generational talent since he starred on both sides of the ball at Collins Hill High School in Suwanee, Georgia, then at Jackson State University,