Travis Hunter Jr. honors his father and watches the Heisman ceremony on TV

In his acceptance speech Saturday night, Colorado Buffaloes two-way star Travis Hunter recognized the efforts of every coach, family member and supporter who helped him along the way to winning the Heisman Trophy.

But Hunter mentioned one person in particular who wasn’t in New York for the glittering ceremony.

“I want to say something to my father. He’s not here and couldn’t make it, but I know you’re watching on TV,” he said. “Dad, I love you. For all you’ve been through, man… Now look at your oldest son. I did it for you, man.”

Hunter Jr.’s emotional words didn’t even begin to convey the struggles his family experienced before his triumph.

Why wasn’t Travis Hunter Jr.’s father at the Heisman Trophy ceremony?

Travis Hunter Sr. learned on television that his son had won the Heisman like most of the rest of the United States.

“I don’t want to go,” he said in a recent interview with the Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Network. “I want to be there when he gets married and gets drafted. I’ll watch it from home.”

Hunter made the comments to the Post on Dec. 5, the day he was released from the Palm Beach County West Detention Center in Belle Glade, Florida. Travis Sr. was sentenced to 90 days in prison in late September in connection with a 2023 arrest. He was released about three weeks early.

After watching his son win college football’s most coveted award, Hunter told the Post that it was always part of the plan.

“I really don’t feel any different because I always know he could win if he just focused on winning,” he said. “He always had that…since he started playing soccer when he was 4 years old.”

“At the end of the day, I always told him that he’s the best player anyway, so he has to go out and play like that. Every time I told him he had to go out and play like he was the best player in the world.

Who is Travis Hunter Sr.?

Travis Sr., now 39, was a football and track star at Boynton Beach High School in Florida in the early 2000s.

As a 15-year-old middle school student in 2001, he ran the 100 meters in 10.82 seconds. He was a star football player on offense, defense and special teams and dreamed of playing in college and perhaps the NFL.

“I just want to play ball. I was supposed to go to Dodge, Kansas (for junior college after graduation), but I had two kids so I couldn’t leave them,” he told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in 2008.

He played in a semipro league in Florida, but never made it past that level.

In that context, it became even more special that Travis Hunter Jr. managed to play college football at Jackson State and then Colorado. Travis Sr. often attended his son’s games, but was unable to do so during the second half of the season. Instead, he watched them on television in the detention center.

So it was no surprise that his son got a little emotional in his acceptance speech.

“All the times you didn’t see me, or the times you came to watch my games. From probably two games in high school to you seeing me on TV every weekend and then coming to see me. That’s what it means.” “That’s very close to my heart,” Hunter Jr. said.

“I know you wanted to be here and you can’t, but trust me, I’ve got you. I’m bringing the trophy home. I love you.”

Contributor: Eric J. Wallace, Palm Beach Post

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Travis Hunter Jr. honors his father and watches the Heisman ceremony on TV

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