It is hard to be more confident than Travis Hunter is right now. That’s partly because what he’s done in college football at the University of Colorado is so unprecedented. If you ask him who he models his game after, he’ll tell you himself: “I model my game after me. I’m just Travis.”
He’s coming off one of the most historic seasons in college football history, playing both cornerback and wide receiver at an elite level. At the time of writing this, he is the -2500 favorite to win the Heisman Trophy, according to BetMGM. Hunter is a projected top-3 pick in the 2025 NFL draft, according to just about every one of the latest mocks.
And now, he and Adidas are officially announcing a new partnership that has him joining other Adidas football athletes like fellow Heisman finalist Cam Ward, Patrick Mahomes, Micah Parsons, and more.
“Growing up as a kid, having all the shoes and the clothes and stuff, I always wanted to be a part of a brand that brings the whole family together,” Hunter says.
Adidas cites Hunter’s leadership as well as his on-field success as key components that led to the brand’s desire to sign him.
“As part of our continued investment in the next generation of athletes, we’re proud to partner with someone whose passion for sport and drive to create impact on and off the field mirrors our own,” Aaron Seabron, General Manager, US Sports & Creation Center Portland at Addas says. “Travis is undeniably one of the most dynamic athletes in any sport.”
Hunter was all smiles during his first campaign shoot with Adidas in Denver this week, playfully dancing in between takes, admiring proofs from the shoot with his fiancée, Leanna Lenee, and checking out his brand new Adidas chain.
Ahead of the Heisman Trophy announcement this Saturday, we caught up with Hunter in Denver to discuss his new deal with Adidas, making college football history, the NFL draft, and more. The interview has been edited for clarity.
I want to start with Adidas. You are now officially a part of the Adidas family. Can you express how much that means to you?
It means a lot. Growing up as a kid, having all the shoes and the clothes and stuff, I always wanted to be a part of a brand that brings the whole family together. It felt like a family when I first met ’em, so that definitely helped to make my decision.
What made you decide to join Adidas over other brands? Obviously being in Colorado surrounded by Deion and Shedeur Sanders, what made you decide to sign with Adidas?
Definitely a family-oriented organization. They always kept everybody close. They never hid nothing from me and the more conversations that I have made me feel more like home.
What are some of your favorite Adidas sneakers of all time?
I’m definitely going to have to say the AE 1s, definitely my all-time favorite, having a little basketball background, that one shoe that you can go out there and hoop in that has different vibes. So yeah, definitely AE 1s, or some Dames, some Hardens. Growing up it definitely was Hardens.
Complex recently named the AE 1 sneaker of the year for 2024. Do you think we made the right decision?
Complex naming the AE 1s, the sneakers of the year? Definitely. Because nobody was expecting AE to come out with some dope shoes like this, so yeah.
Have you spoken to any other Adidas athletes about joining the brand? Guys like Anthony Edwards, Patrick Mahomes, or anyone like that?
I talked to Donovan Mitchell, but they also sent me a little video once they knew I was going to sign, so I was definitely surprised and happy.
Custom cleats and basketball sneakers becoming football cleats has become such a huge thing, you’ve worn a ton of customs this year. Can you speak to how big a part of football culture that’s become?
Just turning basketball shoes into football cleats has been a big thing because they’re different types of styles. You never see that type of style on the football field. So definitely I know why they do it. I’m one of the guys that loves to decorate my cleats and have ’em different styles every game.
What can we expect to see from you and Adidas going forward now when you start your professional career?
We don’t know what the future holds, so hopefully it’s something good, something special, and if we do have something, I’m not going to say it, because I want it to be a special moment.
You’ve played on both sides of the ball your whole collegiate career, dating back to Jackson State. What are the five things that really helped propel you to the top of both crafts in 2024 that has you in the position you’re in now as a Heisman favorite?
The five things that helped me become one of the Heisman favorites? The first one that helped me is definitely God. Believing in God is a big part of my life. So definitely the first one is God. Second one, my fiancée. She stays on me. There’s no way of me letting up because she’s right there on me no matter what I do. And the third, definitely my family—the rest of my family. And fourth, I’d probably say me just being an athlete, grinding, always out there ready to work, I don’t want to let down my family. So that’s definitely the fifth reason of what helped me become the Heisman favorite because when you don’t want to let down your family or let anyone down, you go as hard as you can.
You’re having one of the most historic seasons in the history of college football, you’re the clear favorite to win the Heisman, has that sunk in yet?
No, it hasn’t sunk in yet being a favorite for the Heisman. But I’m definitely excited to see what happens on Saturday. I want to see if I’m going to be able to walk across the stage with that trophy.
Would young Travis have believed that you would be in the position you’re in right now?
Young Travis definitely would’ve never believed in the position I’m right now. He definitely would’ve never believed it because I didn’t think I was ever going to leave Florida and move to Georgia when I was younger. So definitely never would’ve believed it, but I would’ve told ’em to keep going. Stick to your dreams and don’t let the outside affect your dreams.
Do you know what you plan to wear on Saturday?
Oh yeah, I definitely know what I’m going to wear on Saturday. I’m not saying that, though. You’re gonna have to wait and see
Who are some of your style inspirations? Who do you take cues from for how you dress?
Myself, I style myself. I take cues from myself. I’m not trying to be like everybody else.
Who’s a better dresser? You or Shedeur?
I would give it to Shedeur because I rarely dress up. When I do, I do something casual.
Ashton Jeanty is also having a historic year, but if you had a vote for the Heisman, who would you give it to?
If I was a Heisman voter, I’m definitely going to say Travis is getting that vote, but different people like different things in the sport. Some people love the running back, some people love the receiver and the corner. So you never know.
Whenever there is someone like yourself doing something that people haven’t seen before at this level, it causes everyone to question whether or not you can do it in the NFL. What would you say to the people who think you can’t play corner and receiver in the league?
I just tell ’em I’m gonna show ‘em better than I can tell ‘em. I got to go out there and play. I still got to go out there and perform at the next level. It’s going to be the best level. There ain’t going to be nobody out there for me. So I just got to go out there and grind and play.
Who would win in man coverage, receiver Travis or corner Travis?
Me. Simple. There’s no other option. I’m going to win.
Do you think that playing both sides gives you an advantage on both sides? Because as a corner you know what to expect from a receiver and vice versa?
Yeah, you definitely get an advantage for playing both sides of the ball. So that’s why I’m so elite and just so smart on both sides of the ball, how to get open and how to cover.
In most mock drafts, you’re projected to go in the top 5. Is that something you’d ever have imagined? What would your message be to a team getting ready to take you on draft night?
I just want to become the number 1 pick. That’s definitely something I imagined, something I dreamed of. Something that I’ve been praying for since my senior year of high school. Me being the number 1 player coming out of high school, I wanted to be the number 1 player coming out of college and the number 1 pick coming out of college. So definitely something I always dreamed of and for the team that picked me, just know it’s going to be different when you see me on the field.
Your teammate Shedeur is also projected to be a top-5 pick in the draft, what will it be like sharing this experience with him?
It is definitely fun. It is definitely humbling at the same time because I want his team to win right now and I want my team to lose. I want the team that needs the quarterback to win and the team that needs a receiver/corner to lose. So we definitely hating on each other right now.
If you could choose any team to go to, is there any team out there in particular you’d prefer?
It’d definitely be whatever the first team on the board is.
You’ve mentioned it a few times, but why is being the number 1 overall pick so important to you?
Because that’s the only time I get to be the number 1 pick.
What five players do you model your game after?
I don’t have five players. I model my game after me. I’m just Travis. I just go out there and play and work.
When you’re watching the film, there’s nobody you specifically go to and watch?
Nope. I don’t go to nobody.
You’ve gotten to play for Deion Sanders for the last two years. We’ve seen all the blogs and the social media posts, but what is it really like to play for him?
What’s it like playing for a coach like Coach Prime? Definitely humbling. You think you might know something but he’ll come and tell you, nah, you don’t know and you got to listen. You got to be disciplined, you got to be focused, you got to believe you got a strong belief, so you got to believe and you got to be prepared.
Things are obviously very different at Colorado than they are at other schools. The way you guys win, what is it like to silence the haters out there and just what makes you guys different from everybody else?
What’s it like to silence a hater? It’s fun. You love to pick on people that have been picking on you, so we get a chance to pick back on them. They told us we weren’t going to win five games this year and we showed them and now they are still telling us we are not a good team, but hey, we were picked one of the last teams in the Big 12 when we finished one of the top teams in the Big 12. So we just let ’em hate
Anytime you’re on the road. It seems like that team is extra amped up to play you guys because they are motivated to beat you. Is that a chip on your shoulder as well?
When we’re on the road, no, that’s not an extra chip on our shoulder because we know most of these fans are coming to see us. They’re not coming to see their team because they don’t sell out games when we’re not there. So we know we got to go out there and work no matter what the fans are going to be there, we just got to go out there and grind and play.
So Coach Prime did not hold back when he expressed that you were snubbed for the Jim Thorpe award. When you first heard that you were not one of the contenders to win the award what was your initial reaction and how did it feel to have him go to bat for you?
It felt great to have Coach Prime go to bat for me about the Jim Thorpe award, but it didn’t feel no type of way to me. It’s just an award. I’ll just go out there and keep playing. Hopefully they see something that they didn’t see before, but I just let them do what they’re supposed to do. That ain’t got nothing to do with me. I’m going to go out there and play.
The people that are doubting that you should win the Heisman Trophy. A lot of their arguments are, “Oh snaps aren’t a stat” or “He’s not elite at either one of those positions.” What would you say to those people?
They just haters. They can’t come out here and cover and they definitely can’t catch a ball on me, so I’m going to just let them keep talking.
Streaming culture has become such a big thing. You stream on Twitch, obviously Kai Cenat, everybody draws inspiration from him. You’ve taken inspiration from him. What’s it like having streaming be such a big thing and being able to be so public on the internet?
It is a blessing to have streaming because we always play the game, but [there’s more] entertainment than a game that other people didn’t get to see before we started streaming. And some people like to see what other people are doing. So it’s definitely a blessing. We get to check up on each other during streams and stuff like that. So you get to meet a lot of people.
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