Travis Hunter’s determination to be a full-time starter on both offense and defense has become one of the most talked-about storylines leading up to the 2025 NFL Draft.
NFL Network analyst Kyle Brandt recently explored the history of NFL two-way play on “Good Morning Football.”
Travis Hunter Wants to Keep Playing Both Ways in the NFL
A standout at both wide receiver and cornerback, Hunter earned national attention for his ability to dominate on both sides of the ball during his college career at Jackson State and Colorado.
After initially committing to Florida State out of high school, Hunter flipped to Jackson State to play under Deion Sanders, another former two-way star. Hunter became the first five-star recruit to ever attend an FCS school. When Coach Prime took the head coaching job at Colorado, Hunter followed him to the FBS.
“In his very first FBS game against TCU — which was coming off a national title game appearance — Hunter played 147 snaps and had 119 receiving yards and an interception,” Brandt said. “It was like a national star was born. It wasn’t just that he played so well — it was that he played so much.”
Hunter finished his Colorado career with 153 receptions for 1,979 yards and 20 receiving touchdowns. Defensively, he posted 66 total tackles, 16 pass breakups, seven interceptions, and a forced fumble.
In 2024, he won the Heisman Trophy after catching 96 passes for 1,258 yards and 15 touchdowns, while also recording four interceptions and a forced fumble on defense.
On Travis Hunter, and the long, difficult history of guys trying to play both ways in the NFL…. pic.twitter.com/VOrrtyDUtl
— Kyle Brandt (@KyleBrandt)
“I think he’s the most interesting player in the draft. I think he’s the most talented player in the draft,” Brandt said.
Hunter Is Embracing the Challenge
Throughout the draft process, Hunter continues to hear how rare it is for a player to succeed in the modern NFL while playing both ways. But he’s not interested in what others say he can’t do — he’s ready to make history.
“I want to play 100 percent [on both sides], but it’s up to the organization,” Hunter said at the NFL Combine. “They say nobody has ever done it the way I do it, but I tell them I’m just different. I am a different person.”
“He better be,” Brandt said in response. “Because it would be not only incredibly impressive — in the modern NFL, really unprecedented. Incredibly rare at best.”
History of Two-Way Players in the NFL
Brandt highlighted players like Sammy Baugh (QB/DB/Punter), Don Hutson (WR/S/K), Ace Parker (QB/RB/S), and Chuck Bednarik (C/LB) as players who succeeded on both sides of the ball —but all of them played in the 1930s and 1940s, long before the specialization of today’s game.
Modern Era Two-Way Players
Roy Green
In 1981, Green racked up more than 700 receiving yards and three interceptions while playing safety for the St. Louis Cardinals. The team later converted him to full-time receiver, and he went on to lead the NFL in receiving in 1984.
Deion Sanders
“Roy Green did it well, but the only player since then to do it with any consistency is Travis Hunter’s coach, Deion Sanders,” Brandt said. “After making cameos on offense early in his Cowboys run, Prime started on both sides of the ball for eight games in 1996.”
Even for Sanders, the workload was intense. He skipped baseball that season and attended minicamp for the first time in his NFL career to learn the offensive playbook. Eventually, he returned to full-time cornerback duties with occasional offensive snaps.
Charles Woodson
Woodson won the 1997 Heisman Trophy as a dynamic corner who also played some offense and special teams. But in the NFL, he caught just two passes in his entire career. With the Raiders already having Tim Brown, Woodson was used almost exclusively on defense.
Champ Bailey
In 2000, Bailey started a game on both offense and defense for Washington, recording three catches for 78 yards. After that game, he returned solely to cornerback duties.
Antonio Cromartie
Cromartie started one game at wide receiver in his career and finished with just one catch — for negative two yards — in a 2012 game against the Jaguars.
Can Hunter Be Different?
Hunter knows starting on both sides in the NFL will be a major challenge. But if anyone is built to do it, it might be him. He’s been a dominant two-way player at every level, became a Heisman winner, and is a projected top-five pick in this year’s draft.
Whoever drafts Hunter will be getting a dynamic athlete who’s already proven he can change games — on either side of the ball.
