Jan 20, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith on the ESPN First Take set at the CFP Fan Central at the George World Congress Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

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“Come On Bro, Be Better Than That” – Stephen A. Smith Has a Powerful Message for Top NFL Draft Prospect

Stephen A. Smith wants Travis Hunter to make smart decisions!

Jan 20, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith on the ESPN First Take set at the CFP Fan Central at the George World Congress Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Colorado Buffaloes’ star wide receiver and cornerback, Travis Hunter, has been in the news recently for his obsession with playing on both sides of the ball. Hunter is one of the top draft prospects in this year’s draft class, and it’s not only because he can play both offense and defense. In fact, most teams in the league would prefer he concentrates on his cornerback play since that will be his first position.

However, the Buffaloes’ alum has been playing both receiver and corner since the start of his footballing journey, and more so during his collegiate career with immense success. Generally, in football, there are several examples of receivers who aren’t so good at catching the ball, and change their positions to become defensive backs. Unfortunately, with Hunter, that is not the case as he is incredibly talented at the receiver position as well.

As a result, the 2024 Heisman winner has made it known in the media that he is not only willing to play 100% of the snaps in NFL games but also that if the team that drafts him does not allow him to do so, he will quit playing football.

Travis Hunter would rather “never play football again” than play one position in the NFL

Hunter told CBS Sports writer @garrettpodell pic.twitter.com/izBAcmRyKP
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) April 15, 2025

Stephen A Smith’s Message to Travis Hunter

Whether or not Travis Hunter would get the opportunity to play on both sides of the ball in the NFL has been a topic of mass discussion of late, especially after the player himself has come out and addressed his intentions.

While some experts and analysts are on board with the idea and letting him try it, there are a number of others who are not in favor of it. The main issue at hand remains that football is a highly physical game and the NFL has a grueling 17-game season, which places a massive toll on the body.

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Stephen A. Smith is a staunch supporter of the latter and has issued a message on ESPN’s First Take show to Hunter asking him to play smart and not to lie about playing just because he may not get everything his way.

“Yo Travis, check this out bro, cause I know you’re watching. Your junior year at Colorado, you took 1,443 snaps, that averages out to 120.3 per game. That’s an absurd amount of work to put on your body. With the future that you have, you shouldn’t even want to do it that much because ultimately, attrition kicks in and the opportunities that you have to monetize all that you’re doing and all that your exploit demands ultimately get compromised.”

“So my young brother here’s how you do this you get drafted you walk up to the coach and let them sporadically give you what you want, just not all the time. Don’t come in lying to yourself, talking about “Oh you ain’t going to play football”. What you going to do you just going to go into the working world, you know, working somewhere else as opposed to the millions of dollars that you’re going to be able to make playing a game that you love.”

While the co-host of First Take, Stephen A. Smith acknowledges Hunter’s superstar abilities, he does raise a good point with respect to the pressures of the game and how it may eventually cost the youngster a longer career with the ability to earn millions more.

Furthermore, it does make sense for teams to allow Hunter to play both positions but that should be limited to only the most important plays or downs. Eventually, it may be in Hunter’s best interest to heed the advice of others; if not, his professional career could very well get off on the wrong foot.

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Devavrat Kulkarni

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I am a content writer for the NFL team, and joined The Playoffs after working with Sportskeeda and NFL Analysis as an NFL writer. After starting my professional career as a French-to-English translator, working as a content writer is a new adventure for me. I started out in the sports media field for two main reasons: my love for sports in general, especially the NFL, NBA, and Tennis, as well as my passion for writing. The best part of this job is that I get to write a variety of pieces with the freedom to explore content from various angles. It also enables me to stay up to date with the sporting world, which otherwise can be difficult to do in the day-to-day grind. In a world full of chaos, sports unite and entertain like nothing else!