Colorado’s two-way star Travis Hunter surged further into the lead for the Heisman Trophy after his Week 14 heroics against the Oklahoma State Cowboys. According to FanDuel, Hunter is now priced at (-10000) to win the Heisman over the closest challenger, Boise State Broncos running back Ashton Jeanty (+2500).
Despite being such a strong contender for the Heisman, Hunter was controversially snubbed for the prestigious Jim Thorpe Award on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024, which recognizes the best defensive back in college football. Instead, the three finalists named were, Georgia’s Malaki Starks, Texas’ Jahdae Barron, and Ohio State’s Caleb Downs.
Travis Hunter Not Named a Finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award
After the announcement was made, Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders was livid during his weekly news conference, even offering to give Hunter his own version of the award that he won in 1988 when he played for the Florida State Seminoles before he was drafted into the NFL.
“How is Travis Hunter snubbed by the Thorpe Award?” Sanders said. “You can have my award. You can have it back. Matter of fact, I’m going to give him mine. I ain’t using it. It’s just sitting up there collecting dust. So Travis can have my Thorpe Award, because if this ain’t the most idiotic thing in college football, that he’s not a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award.
“And he is, I would say arguably, but I don’t think it’s really an argument about this young man being the best defensive back in college football. He rarely gets thrown at, they just messed up all the integrity of the award, and he can have mine. Whoever’s voting down there, whoever’s bringing it home, thank you. Because I don’t even want mine now. God bless you.”
🗣️ Deion Sanders
"How is Travis Hunter snubbed by the Jim Thorpe Award? You can have my award, you can have it back. As a matter of fact, I'm going to give him mine."
Watch the full interview here👇https://t.co/I0Ouzp22JW#CUBuffs pic.twitter.com/ETnvye9dzX
— Guerilla Sports (@guerillasports_) November 26, 2024
NFL-Bound Hunter’s Snub Continues To Cause Controversy
On Wednesday, Nov. 27, during FS1’s “The Facility,” Fox Sports analyst Emmanuel Acho claimed that Hunter’s snub for the Jim Thorpe “undermined the integrity” of the award.
“Travis Hunter should be at a minimum — at minimum — be a finalist because it quite literally is a disgrace to the award and it undermines the integrity of the award,” Acho said.
“If he does not win it, I get that. There are some other great college football defensive backs. Jahdae Barron, Caleb Downs, Malaki Starks, are all worthy of being finalists, but Travis Hunter has single-handedly won games at defensive back. Remember, forced a fumble against Baylor in overtime to win that game.”
People’s unnecessary disdain for @DeionSanders has robbed Travis Hunter of the Thorpe award. Let’s keep it real.
“Travis Hunter not being a finalist undermines the integrity of the award.”pic.twitter.com/78tgHmsjdQ
— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) November 27, 2024
Hunter has been nominated for other major awards including the Walter Camp Player of the Year, Maxwell, Fred Biletnikoff, Paul Hornung, and Chuck Bednarik awards, but the controversy around the Jim Thorpe is likely to rumble on for a long time.