Travis Hunter wants to play both offense and defense. Will the NFL let him?

Almost no NFL players have competed on both defense and offense. Colorado star Travis Hunter wants to change that.

Colorado’s Travis Hunter has a message for the NFL and the team that plans to select him in Thursday’s draft: Don’t tell me I can’t do it. 

Hunter made history at the University of Colorado last season not just for his unicorn role — starting at both cornerback and wide receiver — but for his prolific success doing so. And he has the hardware to show it, having won the prestigious Heisman Trophy, as well as awards for most outstanding receiver and defensive player of the year. 

Expected to be one of the first names called by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, Hunter has been at the center of a massive debate among football insiders and draft obsessives about how teams should best use his incredible talents while also protecting their significant investment. 

Colorado wide receiver Travis Hunter takes part in passing drills at during Colorado's NFL football pro day in Boulder on April 4.David Zalubowski / AP fileTo Hunter, the answer is clear, one he has repeated for months whenever he’s asked what position he’ll play in the NFL: “I do both.”  

“They say nobody has ever done it for real, the way that I do it. But I tell them I’m just different, I’m a different person,” Hunter told reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine in February. “I know I can do it.”