Travis Hunter will be a member of the Browns on Thursday night. Cleveland is poised to win a two-way phenome on the second pick in the NFL Draft. At this point, you can throw a wrench in that plan if the final trade opportunity arises.
The team is wrestling with the hunter’s NFL positions in much of the pre-draft process. Is he a wide receiver playing small corners? A cornerback where you can see the snaps on a wide receiver? There’s a wealth of embarrassment when it comes to players who have won more awards in a single season than any college football player in history. Hunter has won Player of the Year Heisman, Defensive Player of the Year Bednarik, and Bednarik for Biletnikov as the country’s top receiver. These are just some of his admiration.
It was pretty clear that during this process the Browns were dialed to take the Hunter. Heck, When GM compares Shohei ohtani with prospects It is the most obvious indication that they are being sold to men. And while that comparison with Otani may seem ridiculous, it’s not too far. Just as Shohei turned baseball into his head with his batting and pitch ability, Hunter is also about to become one of a very few true two-way players in modern NFL history.
In the era of professional soccer’s rapid growth, meeting two-way players was not uncommon. Much of this tends to be unnecessarily needed in the NFL early years, and in many cases the best athletes on the team played multiple roles. Look no further than the 1933 New York Giants leading the league. Tailback Frank Newman passed the team, rushed to lead, finishing fifth in the yards.
Sammy Beau had it One of the most ridiculous seasons in 1942 in football history When defensive statistics were tracked for the first time. Bo passed Washington, defended and recorded five intercepts leading the team. He also kicked back and was a Washington punter. Baugh literally did it all.
Two-way athletes fell on the roadside as football evolved. Coaches hone their strategy, refined the game, and shaped the players into a single purpose weapon. We’ve created the idea that if you keep a female in every position, rather than a Swiss Army knife, everyone can play two positions instead of a tool.
Deion Sanders changed everything. When Prime was poised to hit the NFL in 1989, he was one of the most spectacular all-around threes he’d ever seen in the country. Florida top cornerback, baseball team right-out hitter, and even running track. Deion had nothing to do, but until 1996 the Dallas Cowboys were actually unleashed as a true two-way player. Sanders had dabbled in taking offensive snaps in Atlanta and San Francisco, but the Cowboys created a dedicated weapon for him. That season he began 15 games in the corner and received a career-high 475 yards. It may not have been Sanders’ best season in the NFL, but it was his most diverse.
From here on, the term “two-way player” struggled a bit. Certainly, there were people who occasionally played snaps on both sides of the ball, but “two-way” tended to be introduced only to players who were under defensive attacks but who played special teams.
Kordell Stewart is considered one of the last true two-way players in the NFL to not join a special team. While the Steelers QB played offense exclusively, Stewart passed, received and rushed to blend to become a unicorn in late 90’s football. In 1998, Stewart threw for over 2,500 yards, and he ran for 406 yards, lined up as a receiver on multiple occasions.
Troy Brown came next, but in a slightly different way. The former Patriot has moved from starting receivers for most of his career to pivot to DB when he slowed down in his 30s. Brown often appeared on either side of the ball – yet none of us played much like Deion did.
That changes on a Thursday night. Travis Hunter will be the first player in over 30 years on both sides of the ball, like Colorado’s coach Dion Sanders, but unlike Sanders, Newman, Bo, Stewart and Brown, there is a legitimate debate as to what his best position is. Hunter is a true unicorn. There are impact players on either side of the football, and he does it without the need for special packages or gimmicks to make it work. He is a very good athlete who can look to the ball and legally play two starting positions in the NFL, which is totally unique.
Now, it’s about how the Browns use him and how far the coaching staff will go to put him on the field and have him cook.
