Deion Sanders’ Exclusive NFL History Ended by Travis Hunter

Originally posted on Athlon Sports
By Rowan Fisher-Shotton | Last updated Oct 12, 2025 4:38 PM ET

The Seattle Seahawks traveled to EverBank Stadium on Sunday and defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars 20-13, led by an efficient performance from quarterback Sam Darnold and another elite line from wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

Darnold completed 16-of-27 passes for 295 yards and two touchdowns, while Smith-Njigba tallied eight receptions for 162 yards and a score.

Despite the close loss, Jaguars rookie Travis Hunter turned heads beyond the scoreboard. While his stat line — four receptions for 15 yards plus two defensive tackles — does not leap off the page, what he accomplished has set him apart.

According to Stats Perform, Hunter is the first player in the Super Bowl era (including playoffs) since Deion Sanders on October 27, 1996, to post four or more receptions and multiple defensive tackles in a single game.

Sanders was Hunter's former college coach at Colorado.

The @Jaguars' Travis Hunter is the first NFL player with 4+ receptions and multiple defensive tackles in a single game (including playoffs) since Deion Sanders on October 27, 1996. pic.twitter.com/nYXRjoXUME
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) October 12, 2025

At Colorado (after transferring from Jackson State with Sanders), he led the FBS in snaps played in both 2023 and 2024, while posting seven interceptions, 16 passes defended and 153 catches for 1,989 yards and 20 touchdowns over two seasons in Boulder.

In the 2024 college football season alone, he hauled in 96 passes for 1,258 yards and 15 touchdowns, while tallying 36 tackles and four interceptions.

Hunter also became just the second defensive player to win the Heisman Trophy and the first ever to win both the Bednarik and Biletnikoff awards. Colorado has since retired his No. 12 jersey.

Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders and wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter.© Todd Van Emst/Heisman Trust via Imagn Images

The statistical tie to Sanders isn’t coincidental. Sanders is among the rare modern NFL stars who played both offense and defense, earning eight All-Pro and Pro Bowl selections as a cornerback, return specialist and occasional wide receiver from 1989 to 2005.

However, their bond runs deeper than that. Hunter previously thanked Coach Prime for "changing his life" during his Heisman Trophy ceremony and referred to the relationship as "an unbreakable father-son bond" in a Fox Sports Interview in November 2024.

Through six NFL games, Hunter has now tallied 20 receptions for 197 yards on offense, along with 15 total tackles and two passes defended on defense, with more than 100 snaps on both sides of the ball.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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