Colorado two-way superstar Travis Hunter should end up with a shelf full of trophies after the season. He won’t have one, because he’s not even one of the finalists for it.
Hunter was omitted from the list of three finalists for the Jim Thorpe Award, which goes to the best defensive back in college football.
“How?” Colorado coach Deion Sanders told reporters on Tuesday. “How is Travis Hunter snubbed for the Jim Thorpe Award? You could have my award. You could have it back. Matter of fact, I’m gonna 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 really think it’s an argument about this young man being the best defensive back in college football. . . . He rarely gets thrown at. He’s won a game for tackling for us. And he’s always on point. So if you bring up the statistics I don’t know how in the world is Travis Hunter not a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award. They just pretty much messed up all the integrity of the award, and he can have mine.”
Sanders won the Thorpe award in 1988.
The three finalists for 2024 are Texas defensive back Jahdae Barron, Ohio State safety Caleb Downs, and Georgia safety Malaki Starks.
Hunter is a finalist for multiple other awards, and he’ll likely be a Heisman Trophy finalist. Deion is right; it’s ridiculous that Hunter wasn’t a finalist for the Thorpe award.
