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For the first time in four years, Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders will not be teammates when their football season begins.
Hunter, the second overall choice of Jacksonville Jaguars, and Sanders, who waited two more days to hear his name called in the fifth round of Cleveland Browns, starred together in Jackson State and Colorado in their college days.
Now they hope to influence their respective franchises in the NFL.
A big ramp light is hovering over both players coming into their rookie seasons for different reasons. For Hunter, GM James Gladstone has already vocalized the expectation that Hunter will be the generational talent that lifts the team, as well as the city and football games, under what he sees as a Hall of Fame career.
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Jacksonville Jaguar’s wide receives Travis Hunter, #12, meets with the media after rookie mini stamp at the Miller Electric Center. (Travis Register-Preferred Pictures)
In Sanders’ case, he will be put in a quarterback match that includes Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett and Dillon Gabriel, the Oregon product, which drafted two rounds before him last month.
Hunter said he has been talking to Sanders since his slide down the NFL Draft Board, and he knows his former teammate and the big friend are ready to do exactly the same thing he will start his NFL trip.
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“We just go to work, man,” Hunter said, discussing his enthusiasm for collaborating with Panini America, who will give him his first rookie shopping card at NFLPA -Rookie premiere in Los Angeles.
“We both got our heads down and did what to do. There are a lot of doubters out there for him and he wants to go to work. I go to work and just want to do what we have always done.”
While the football world has looked closely at how Sanders and Gabriel competed in Rookie mini lamp, Hunter has exceeded the expectations that Jaguars already had for him.
Tony Boselli, Jaguars’ Executive Vice President of Football Operations, NFL Network told that while he understands that Hunter isn’t even driving in pillows yet, the team has been taken back by seeing him close to his new teammates.
Jacksonville Jaguar’s wide receives Travis Hunter, No. 12, reception under the NFL football team’s rookie mini stamp on Saturday, May 10, 2025 in Jacksonville, Florida. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
“We had high expectations. He has exceeded my expectations,” Boselli said. “You see the athlete in the field, you see how he moves, the change in direction, body control, but it is the person that I am most excited about.”
As Hunter is acclimated to his life in the NFL, he is also very aware of the leadership aspect of being a top choice. Jaguars already have players like Trevor Lawrence, Travon Walker and Josh Hines-all as the veteran presence in the dressing room, but Hunter knows he can be added to the mixture as long as he does his job first.
The same goes for Sanders with Browns.
“We certainly had to be leaders, especially me,” Hunter explained. “I was number two overall choices, so I have to come in and be a leader. Sheath, he has to go in there and work, earn his job just like me. But he also has to go in there and be the leader of the offense so he has to go in there and be a leader.”
Hunter said his time with Jaguars has been “big” so far, and that will only continue as OTAs will eventually lead to training camp this summer.
One of one
As Hunter continues to work, he is also excited about an important milestone in his early career – to see himself on an NFL shopping card for the first time.
Hunter collaborated with Panini America with several other incoming rookies, where they will receive their first Panini NFL trade card at the NFLPA -Rookie premiere.
Travis Hunter smiles as he opens Panini America NFL trading card packages. (Panini America)
“Just super excited to see myself on my own card, so it’s definitely a blessing,” he said.
One day Hunter’s Rookie card could be worth being the beautiful ear. But he understands that it is up to him to make it happen.
“I don’t know,” he said when asked how much he would pay for his rookie card. “I still have to put some work in.”
