“All the times you can’t see me and the times you came to watch my games. From probably playing two games in high school to seeing me on TV every weekend and visiting me, man, it means so much to me.”

He continued, “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.”

According to The Palm Beach Post, Hunter Sr. was not present at Sunday’s ceremony because he wanted his mother, Shirley Hunter, to be there with her grandson in New York.

“He could have gone,” Shirley Hunter told her son Hunter Sr.’s outlet. “He just wanted me to go in his place because I hadn’t been (to New York), and he wanted me to go in his place .” ”

However, Hunter Sr. told the Palm Beach Post that he plans to be there for his son’s future big life events.

“I want to be there when he gets married and gets drafted. I will watch it from home,” he said.

During the speech, Hunter also took a moment to specifically thank his mother, Ferrante Edmonds, and his fiancée, Leanna Lenee.

“I want to thank my fiancée and my mom,” Hunter said. “They have been with me since my first surgery in my first year of college. You haven’t moved a step away from me. All the hard hours. All the hard days. The whole time I didn’t want to wake up and didn’t even want to answer the phone and watch football – you all stayed with me. I am very grateful to all of you.”

He continued with Edmonds: “I’m grateful. I am grateful to my mother. She took me from Florida. Bad area, I’m always in trouble, let’s see where I stand. It’s crazy.

Earlier this year, Hunter surprised his mother with a house in Savannah, Georgia, and shared a heartwarming video of her reaction on YouTube. In the clip, he describes the five-bedroom house as “very, very nice.”

In February, Hunter and Lenee announced their engagement in an Instagram post. In a November episode of the 2Legendary podcast, Hunter confirmed that the couple plans to get married in May 2025.

Hunter, a junior at Colorado, said in November that he “certainly” planned to enter the 2025 NFL Draft, according to the NFL.

The two-way football star began his college career under coach Deion Sanders at Jackson State University and then followed Sanders to Colorado. He is scheduled to play in the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 28 when Colorado takes on BYU.

According to the NFL, Hunter earned first-team All-Big 12 honors as both a defensive back and wide receiver. He was also named the conference’s 2024 Defensive Player of the Year.