Travis Hunter doesn’t understand why people are questioning why he got baptized before an NFL game… and I’m with him on that one.
It’s been an eventful start to the season for Jacksonville Jaguars rookie Travis Hunter. That’s partially because he’s capable of playing both offense (WR) and defense (CB), which is what he did while playing for the University of Colorado. Though he had aspirations to continue doing both full-time in the NFL, it seems as though the Jaguars are easing Hunter into his pro career, and have actually limited his usage on both sides of the ball so far.
Through the first six weeks of the NFL season, Travis Hunter played more offensive snaps than defensive snaps. There’s no doubt that Travis Hunter has the skills to play both sides of the ball. On the field, he’s a menace at whatever position you place him in (and the Jags are slowly but surely getting him more snaps). And off the field? Travis Hunter appears to be just the type of rookie player that any NFL team would want.
This past weekend, Hunter and the Jaguars had a home game against the Seattle Seahawks that kicked off at 1 p.m. eastern standard time. Players typically get to the stadium around two hours early to prepare and properly warm up for the contest, which means that the Jacksonville rookie had some extra time in the morning to do whatever he wished to do.
And Travis Hunter decided to use the time before his sixth NFL start to make a big-time life decision.
Video quickly started spreading online of the Jacksonville Jaguars two-way player getting baptized at Celebration Church in Jacksonville, Florida on Sunday morning before his game.
An Instagram user by the name of Kristine Love took footage of Hunter giving his life to Christ just hours before he had an NFL game to play in. Love says she was running late for church, and was grateful that she was because it allowed for her to be able to witness Travis Hunter taking a huge step in his life and in his faith:
“Couldn’t find my keys this morning and was late for church, only to come upon Jacksonville Jaguars Travis Hunter getting baptized! He asked to come get baptized before today’s game. Thank you Jesus for touching this young man’s life.”
How great is that? How could anyone be upset about Travis Hunter giving his life to Christ?
Guess that question can be directed towards Skip Bayless, because he certainly took issue with it. The miserable former Fox Sports and ESPN host (who has been hit with a $1.5 million lawsuit over sexual harassment allegations since he’s left both networks) dropped what has to be the worst take ever, criticizing Hunter for choosing to get baptized before a football game:
“There was no way that Travis Hunter should have chosen to be baptized on the morning of a 1:00 game in Jacksonville where he plays, obviously, for the Jaguars. The Jags are using him so little, especially on defense… that Travis Hunter is starting to lose interest. He’s starting to check out mentally on the Jags, so he was actually happy to be baptized on a game day morning because football isn’t taking that much concentration or focus or pregame mental preparation.
It’s not really into football right now… His attitude obviously in this case was, ‘Hey, they’re not using me that much anyway, why not get baptized on a game day morning?’”
Can’t believe that video is 28 minutes long…
I also can’t believe that someone who was once saw as a prominent sports TV figure would have that asinine of a take. And Skip himself is a Christian! But he wasn’t the only one that questioned Hunter’s decision to get baptized on the morning of a game day. Reporters that spoke with the Jaguars rookie after the game asked why he would choose to do that ahead of an NFL matchup, and here’s what he had to say:
“That’s a crazy question. ‘Why did I get baptized?’ It’s Sunday. It’s God’s day. And I’ve been planning on getting baptized for a minute. You know, I want to change my life over and become a better man. It means a lot. Becoming a better man, leaving my old flesh and just becoming the new Travis.”
We’re really going after people for getting baptized?
It didn’t affect his performance whatsoever (he ended the game with two tackles on defense and 4 receptions on 7 targets for 15 yards), and might I remind everyone that there are far bigger things than football? Like… eternal salvation?
