‘Bad take’ – Travis Hunter sparks debate with bold claim about MLB superstar Shohei Ohtani
Travis Hunter is feeling confident ahead of the NFL Draft.
He entered this week's combine as a Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 overall pick candidate, who was elite at playing wide receiver and cornerback at the same time in college.
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Much of the talk around Hunter is whether he can be a two-way star in the pros.
Depending on which NFL scout you ask, he could end up on either offense or defense.
Many suggest that finding an elite cornerback is harder than finding an elite receiver, and that's pushing teams to prefer that Hunter starts on defense.
But there is a chance he ends up playing on both sides of the ball and if he does, he won't be the only two-way star in the sporting world.
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Shohei Ohtani has forged a historic career in MLB, proving himself a duel-threat who can hit and pitch at the same time.
His prime seasons have been considered among the greatest in baseball history.
Ohtani hit 46 home runs and struck out 156 batters en route to winning his first American League Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) in 2021.
That statistically unprecedented two-way campaign also saw him bestowed with the Commissioner's Historic Achievement Award, and in 2022, he went on to became the first player in the modern era to qualify for both the hitting and pitching leaderboards in one season.
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He won his second AL MVP in 2023, leading the AL with 44 home runs while recording 10 wins as a pitcher, before winning the 2024 National League MVP.
Ohtani has long been considered one of the most elite two-way players in all of sports, but according to Hunter, being a two-way football player is more difficult than what he does in the MLB.
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During a press conference at the NFL Combine, the Colorado Buffaloes star was asked which sport is harder to play on both sides of the ball.
"Probably me, what I do in football (is harder) because it is a lot on your body,” Hunter said.
“Ohtani, he’s a great player, but you gotta do a lot in football.”
Hunter's comments soon went viral online, and sparked a massive debate on social media.
"Baseball is, and always will be the most difficult sport. Athleticism does immediately not translate to pitching and hitting at the highest level," one person responded.
"Dude hasn’t even TOUCHED the big league playing corner and receiver. This was the wrong answer, he should’ve just deferred," another said.
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"A take so bad it should impact Travis Hunter’s draft stock," a third concluded.
"WR/CB is very similar. Hitting and pitching is very different, Ohtani is way more impressive," a fourth wrote.
Others, however, could see Hunter's side of the argument.
"What do u expect him to say? I mean you can’t expect him to diminish his sport," one person said.
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"Let’s see what Hunter does in the pro before we make a comparison," another responded.
"DB is the hardest position to play in all of sports. He’s got a point," a third wrote.
While only time will tell if Hunter does indeed become a two-way star in the NFL, he is certainly continuing to talk a big game ahead of the draft.
“I want to play both,’’ he said on Thursday.
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"That’s not my job to figure it out. I like to play both sides of the ball. If they give me the opportunity to play both sides of the ball, I’ll play both sides.
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"They say nobody has ever done it for real the way I do it, but I tell ’em I’m just different, I’m a different person."
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