When 5-star Travis Hunter thwarted a blue-chip program at FSU to go play under Deion Sanders at Jackson State, he was taking a massive gamble. Deion sold him on preparing him to follow in his footsteps as someone who played both sides of football at the highest level. Albeit much more sporadically. Travis took the leap of faith, and the rest, as they say, is history. Now a Heisman Trophy recipient preparing to ascend to the NFL, it’s only right Travis Hunter transferred down this footballing acumen and his learnings to a 3rd player. He’s doing exactly that. Permeating his gained knowledge across to a high school kid. Quite poetically, this kid has the same blood coursing through his veins as Travis.

The college football realm will forever be indebted to Hunter for how he captivated them. His departure left a sour taste, though, with people facing up to missing the void he’ll leave behind. But there’s good news. We may have a Travis Hunter clone in the pipeline. He wears #12 as well and also plays WR exclusively. A splitting image of Travis, who’s impossible to distinguish when running at full pelt. That would be his younger brother, Trayvis Hunter, about to enter his junior year in high school. Trayvis is currently partaking in the prestigious OT7 camp. A venture from Overtime where NFL icons such as Cam Newton and Robert Griffin III assemble a bunch of high schoolers. Giving them the platform to express their game in front of a national lens. Travis Hunter pulled up to the camp to show Trayvis love. But he took things a step further.

Not only did Travis support his brother from the sidelines, he even began spitting games on how he needed to play. Coming from the Fred Biletnikoff Award winner and WR1 in the NFL Draft, best believe he was dropping gems that Trayvis was onboarding right away. Fortunately for fans, the latter was mic’d up. Meaning their conversations were audible in a montage shared on Overtime’s IG handle.

In one clip, Travis Hunter pulls Trayvis and says, “Why you keep running the same route? Get open!” In another instance, he says, “When you open, bro, tell the quarterback! Wave your hands, get his attention! You don’t have to [wait] there like a sitting duck.” This made for some content that was equal parts heartwarming and a testament to Travis’ character. Their mother caught wind of this video on the airwaves and had words of her own.

Ferrante Edmonds is perhaps the very first and biggest fan of Travis Hunter. Her public appearances at the Heisman ceremony, for instance, expressed how much she’s supported his endeavors thus far. Naturally, seeing Travis share his wisdom with her youngin brought out an emotion. But it wasn’t merely an emotion of joy and pride. It has subliminal undertones of airing caution. Something along the lines of ‘You’ve seen Travis do what he did; now prepare for the sequel.’

Over her own IG, Edmonds posted a story of the aforementioned Overtime montage alongside a message of her own. “He’s been giving his brother the game since they were young!” This becomes more intriguing when baked in the context of where Trayvis Hunter stands in his CFB recruitment process right now.

The Class of 2027’s Trayvis still has time before he’s making his move onto the next rung. However, he’s only managed to attract 4 scholarship offers so far. None of them are from a school at a power conference. Compare this to Travis Hunter, who was already gaining notoriety as a star in the making at the same juncture. It’s possible their mother wants to push it out there that Trayvis has a lot more in common with Travis than people seem to think. Alas, it really is visible in Trayvis’ game and demeanor on the field that he did, in fact, pick things up from his elder brother from when they were young. Right up till now. Whether this translates into offers remains to be seen. As for Travis himself, his own future is pretty up in the air as well.

Travis Hunter’s NFL landing spot more difficult to project than ever

The draft process was bound to throw up a few curveballs down the stretch. That’s exactly what’s transpiring, with T-3 weeks to go. For the longest time, it seemed like Travis Hunter was destined to wind up with the Patriots at #4 overall. 2 of the 3 teams picking above them have more pressing needs at the quarterback position, and the general consensus seemed to agree EDGE Abdul Carter held a slight edge over Travis. However, his own ex-teammate Shedeur Sanders’ slide in both perception and stock over the past fortnight has thrown a spanner in the works.

QB Shedeur Sanders seemed destined for the Giants, picking #3. However, they’ve just signed two veteran free agents at the position. This, in tandem with concerns around Shedeur’s game, hasn’t just pushed him down the board. But also bumped up Travis Hunter. Will he mind this? Look, seeing a dear friend face adversity is never great. But the higher you get drafted, the more you’re due to make on your rookie-scale contract. So Travis’ rise will, quite literally, pay dividends.

A better situation and a franchise conducive to his development will certainly take precedence over marginal monetary gains for Travis Hunter. He can rest on his laurels, for the most part. There’s no shortage of suitors, and he can’t impact proceedings any more. That’s not the case with Trayvis Hunter. There does appear to be a dearth of suitors, at least right now. Fortunately, he can make an impact, too. There are still 2 years for Trayvis to show he can live up to the name and number on the back of the jersey. If he remains receptive to guidance and criticism as he did in that exchange with Travis at camp, the signs bode well.