Travis Hunter Says Intangible Wealth Comes From ‘Football Awareness’

Shortly after Roger Goodell kicked off the draft, while Jacksonville and Cleveland were consummating the weekend’s marquee trade, Travis Hunter was calmly playing Clash of Clans on his phone.

Football comes so naturally to Hunter, he looked like a fish in water while dominating in college. Many wonder whether James Gladstone had him in mind two months before the draft when the new Jaguars general manager talked about filling the roster with “intangibly rich” players. Hunter might as well serve as Gladstone’s poster child for that philosophy.

Case in point, Hunter picked off Central Florida quarterback K.J. Jefferson on Sept. 28 at Camping World Stadium in Orlando. Within a fraction of a second, Hunter shed his assignment, diagnosed the route of the intended receiver in the flat, and launched off his back foot to close a 7-yard gap.

“I saw the quarterback get pushed out the pocket,” Hunter explained last week for Jaguars.com. “His only option was to throw the ball to the tight end, so my instincts just took over.”

His diving interception, followed by a Heisman pose, erased all hope of a UCF comeback in Colorado’s blowout win, during which he also caught a touchdown on offense. Hunter said the second-nature intangibles come from more than simple film study.

“It’s your feeling of the game, because once you're on the football field, it's a lot of stuff that they can change up,” he said. “It's a lot of stuff they do different…You just play football. You gotta understand where you’re at. Football awareness.”

That awareness is something the NFL will see for the first time on a Jaguars practice field this weekend when the team conducts its first rookie minicamp under head coach Liam Coen. And if those intangibles translate well to the next level, Jacksonville will surely have bold results.