“Never playing football again”: Travis Hunter threatens to exit NFL if not allowed to play as both wide receiver and cornerback

Travis Hunter, the 2024 Heisman winner from Colorado, has stirred debate by insisting on playing both wide receiver and cornerback in the NFL. His coach, Deion Sanders, supports this demand, urging teams to draft him only if they're committed to both roles.

However, former NFL linebacker Emmanuel Acho criticized Travis Hunter's request, calling it “disgraceful” and warning that playing both ways in the NFL could hurt his career.
“I can’t speak to offense. I can only speak to defense. But in order to master defense, you have to focus on defense. Not in order to be good at defense. You can be good and not be a master…And it is an indictment and a disgrace to what it takes to master defensive football to assume a rookie can do it without focusing on it,” Acho said on FS1.

In response,Hunter stated, “It's never playing football again.” He was essentially emphasizing that if NFL teams aren’t willing to let him play both positions, he would prefer to stay out of the league rather than compromise on his desire to be a dual-threat player. It reflects his strong commitment to his vision and his unwillingness to settle for a limited role in the professional game.
With the No. 3 overall pick in hand, Giants GM Joe Schoen spoke highly of Travis Hunter, calling him a rare talent., “Travis is a unique individual..This guy can do it all. He’s a great kid. It would be hard to keep him off the field…Would not be afraid to play him on both sides of the ball.”
With the No. 2 pick in the draft, Browns GM Andrew Berry seems fully on board with Travis Hunter’s two-way potential.We wouldn’t put a cap or a governor in terms of what he could do,” Berry claimed.
But he did say, “We would see his first home at receiver and his second home on the defensive side of the ball.” In 70 years, only Patrick Ricard briefly played both ways in the NFL under coach John Harbaugh, making Harbaugh a key voice on whether Hunter’s two-way role can work.
“It’s going to be interesting to see how they do it, wherever he goes. I don’t know if there’s enough hours in the day for a player to be able to do that, and to have every detail locked down. You certainly could do it. I would think, on one side of the ball and then have some sort of a package on the other side of the ball, which is my guess is how the team will do it,” Harbaugh speculated.
Harbaugh, having coached the only recent two-way player, thoughtfully reflected on whether Hunter could truly handle both roles in today’s NFL.
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