Travis Hunter, the two-way star of the Colorado Buffaloes, has been named the Associated Press National Player of the Year. He made history as the first player from the University of Colorado Boulder to receive the honor.
On Thursday (Dec. 12), the Associated Press announced that the wide receiver/cornerback received 26 out of a possible 43 votes from a panel of AP Top 25 voters.
Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty came in second with 16 votes. Cameron Skattebo, a running back from Arizona State received one vote and finished in third place.
In an email response to Pat Graham of the AP, Hunter praised his teammates.
“Couldn’t do what I do without my team,” Hunter said. “So I view being up for these awards as team awards.”
Under head coach Deion Sanders, Hunter caught 92 passes for 1,152 yards and a school-record 14 touchdowns. On the defensive side, he leads the Big 12 with 15 passes defended, including 11 breakups and four interceptions.
The prowess of Hunter has been incredible. According to cubuffs.com, he played 688 total snaps, including 658-of-708, or 92.9%. On offense, he was on the field for 672 snaps, including 610-of-649, or 94.0%, taking out the two games.
Since the inception of the award 27 years ago, Hunter is only the second player to play defense. Ndamukong Suh in 2009 was the first
Hunter and Jeanty are finalists for the Heisman Trophy this week, Skattebo did not make the final cut.
Quarterbacks Dillon Gabriel of Oregon and Cam Ward of Miami are the other two finalists for the award.
The winner will be announced on Saturday during the Heisman Trophy Ceremony on ESPN at 8:00 p.m. EST.
In addition to his prestigious awards, Hunter recently signed an endorsement deal with Adidas. He will represent Adidas on and off the field and in marketing campaigns.
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