An epidemic has infested discourse in society at large, and the CFB sphere hasn’t been immune either. Social media has only fanned its flames. It’s the fallacious and dangerously widespread notion that public-facing figures’ private lives are up for debate. One even more dangerous branch that stems from this is the fans’ misbelief that their decree is always the correct one. Or that it has any bearing whatsoever. Unfortunately, this epidemic swept across to Travis Hunter on the biggest night of his life.

The unicorn that Travis Hunter is has fulfilled his potential. In fact, he has transcended beyond it. The 2-way superstar won the Heisman Trophy this weekend, beating out Ashton Jeanty, among others. Being bestowed this accolade was naturally an emotional moment, with all his loved ones in the proximity to share his big moment. Amidst the concoction of mixed emotions, a rather distasteful one permeated through via a faction of fans. Travis’ fiance, Leanna Lenee, bore the brunt of some targeted hate due to a perceived lapse of judgement.

When he was announced as the winner, a celebratory Travis Hunter walked towards Leanna, his mother and coach Deion Sanders, who were seated adjacent. Leanna didn’t stand up on her feet very promptly to greet him. Deion could be seen having to instigate her to do so. This momentary exchange sparked a rampant hating spree towards an unassuming Leanna Lenee across social media. There have already been echoes of disdain from fans of Travis towards Leanna, which has been simmering for a long time. This scenario allowed them to boil over. In the backwash of this going down, football HOFer and resident uncle Shannon Sharpe gave his two cents on the situation.

During his show Nightcap, Shannon said, “I get it. You don’t want the man to be taken advantage of. Nobody does…But y’all don’t dictate anything,” said a disgruntled Shannon Sharpe. He proceeded to give Leanna the benefit of the doubt for her failure to reciprocate Travis and others’ excitement.

“Yeah, I would have thought [when] she sees everybody else standing [she’ll stand as well]. She’s still sitting down. I saw Coach Prime was hugging his mom, and he asked [Lenee] to stand up. Maybe she don’t know what she don’t know…[If] I see everybody else take their hat off, I take my hat off too. I see everybody else standing; I’m standing, too. That’s just me. I’m not saying everybody [does the same]. Sometimes, the mistake that we make is that we think everybody sees things as we do.” 

Shannon dissected the crux from which the lamenting of Leanna stems. Leanna has been vocal about her not instantly taking a liking to Travis when they first met, saying he “wasn’t her type”. Fans, likely falsely, think she’s with him for some ulterior motives.

“Guys, y’all gotta let the man make his mistakes. He’ll figure it out, hopefully sooner than later. But he loves this woman. This is not an act, and y’all not going to [dictate anything]. He told y’all, he does stuff now to tick y’all off. He told you that. So the more y’all try to pull them apart, all it does is drive them closer together,” said Shannon. Travis has explicitly acknowledged that he knows about the public’s dislike for his relationship.

Travis Hunter makes a major move in retaliation to the scrutiny

In a podcast appearance prior to his Heisman win, Travis Hunter stated that he rebels against the masses in his own twisted way. He makes his relationship stand out more prominently. This includes him posting Leanna on his socials more often than ever, as well as involving her in his off-field escapades. Travis recently signed an endorsement deal with Adidas, and Leanna was part of the ad campaign. The nationally televised commercial also featured her.

Naturally, she was present at the announcement with him. Unfortunately, a video from the event has surfaced, which only fuels this proverbial fire circling the couple. While Travis clicked pictures with his fans, Leanna could be seen visibly disgruntled as she sat waiting for him. Her demeanor could be construed as one of disinterest.

Travis Hunter and Leanna Lenne’s traversal as a couple has been marred from the outset of his being under the public lens. However, It is safe to say that judging their relationship based on some scattered clips and assumptions is unjust, perhaps even prejudiced. Alas, the couple doesn’t appear to be affected. However, persistent external forces can strain the relationship. That is why the discourse and those partaking in it cannot be absolved.