The gap between the top two echelons of football is perpetually shrinking. At least in terms of finances. Some of this NIL money and the figures floating about are appalling. So much so that Travis Hunter, a consensus top 3 pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, is actually entertaining a previously unfathomable scenario. Suspend disbelief and walk with me for this one.

Carson Beck’s decision to rescind his NFL declaration for a return to CFB facilitated widespread discourse. As people tried to discern why, the reason became conspicuous and left the masses in collective disbelief. It is alleged that Carson stands to make $10 million in NIL with the Miami Hurricanes this year. How Carson Beck is a great player in his own right. But with all due respect, he’s no Travis Hunter. Naturally, when the Heisman recipient caught wind of this gaudy figure, he tried to translate it for himself. 

“How do you get $10 million? Where’s my $10M? How are people getting this much money bro?… Let me go back. I’m going back to college. Let me see if I can get $100M.” said Travis Hunter, in jest of course. Maybe not a $100 million, but the potential money Travis can make with one more year in CFB is cusping on generational. Conversely, the tryst with plying your craft among the very best athletes in the sport creates a conundrum. One football savant has weight in on this conundrum. He reckons the answer is obvious.

Jake Crane of the “Crane and Co.” YouTube channel is having none of it. Crane was asked “Travis Hunter should return to college next season, punt or go?” “Punt. I’m punting this into the Sun,” he remarked. “[Travis Hunter is] in a totally different situation than Carson Beck…You got a chance to be the number 1 pick. You’re going to play in that league for a long time. Most likely, God willing. [If he] doesn’t get hurt or whatever.” Not only is Travis in line for a massive amount of money from the onset of his NFL career by virtue of his imminent high draft pick, the potential of injury is particularly high in his situation.

“To the point of getting hurt,” proceeded Jake Crain, “You play both sides, and a lot of it. The volume is really high…so your chances of getting hurt are doubled. He may play on both sides in the NFL, but it won’t be nearly as much.” Crain summed up his discernment aptly with, “It’s not worth it. You are at the top. You are tapped out.” The echoes of injury concern are, rather morbidly, suitably timed after what transpired at the Polynesian Bowl.

A tryst with fate that almost put Travis Hunter’s NFL future in jeopardy

Travis Hunter was present at the Polynesian Bowl, a showcase of some of the country’s best high school talent, as an honorary captain. Although he didn’t suit up, that couldn’t keep him from being a part of proceedings, permeating his inexhaustible energy from the sidelines. The exhibition itself lived up to the billing. The climax, especially, showed the sport is in good hands going forward.

5-star future USC Trojan Husan Longstreet threw a 75-yard go-ahead TD to take a 28-21 lead in the dying embers for Travis Hunter’s Team Makai. However, What ensued though was a potential crisis. Travis charged towards future Oregon Duck Dakorien Moore to celebrate with him in the endzone. Right as he was about to leap up and embrace Moore, Travis Hunter lost his footing and slipped. It’s a bit of a blessing the Heisman winner didn’t throw his ACL joint or something. Because boy, was that knee bending in a direction it’s not supposed to. Travis got right up, and a collective sigh of relief was taken across the footballing realm.

Jake Crain is likely correct. It’s true that a return to college will bring more immediate wealth in for Travis Hunter. However, it could well prove detrimental in the long run. Not just for him, but the lineage of footballer forthcoming. Travis is a role model, and him setting a precedent may bring about a seismic shift in the mentality of those in a similar predicament going forward. What’s definitive is that this conundrum he’s alluded to is only going to get more challenging as time goes. As aforementioned, The gap between these two rungs of the football ladder is perpetually shrinking.