It is January and a chilly front goes through Arizona. At Roosevelt Lake, about 100 miles east of Phoenix, whistle winds, crash on the dock as white waves.
A ship appears rigorously and yet quickly and is searching for a canopy in a bay. There is precious freight to guard. Twenty -four karat gold. And a fisherman who is best known than the reigning Heisman Trophy winner.
Al Noraker was so sure that his friend and fishing partner Travis Hunter would win the Heisman Trophy 2024 that he had created a congratulations gift for him before Thanksgiving. In Noraker's office in Loveland, Colorado, there was a gold fishing for nearly two months, which was equipped with the newest technology within the industry.
It shouldn’t be easy to seek out time after the timetable of the newest sensation of College football. It is nothing like in 2023 when Hunter got here to Colorado for the primary time and Noraker, the previous president of the Fishing Equipment Company Kastking, sent an SMS almost daily to get out on the fishing boat.
“I realized that this day was not only a first-class talent in college football, but also a damn child,” recalls Noraker at the primary meeting with Hunter. “He and I couldn't be different. I am this old white from the burbs, and here is this world-class athlete, a young black man from the south.
“But after we get on the boat, it’s as if we now have done all of it our lives, and that's all that interests us. It's just really fun.”
Finally Noraker presented a silver briefcase with its name No. 12 and a buffalo helmet on a bronze plaque, an ode to the Heisman trophy on a cool January day. Inside, a fish roll was better for a trophy case.
“I believed he would fall out of the boat,” recalls Noraker. “His mouth noticed.”
But it is difficult to distract hunters on a fishing boat for too long.
“As soon as we now have closed it and the camera switched off, Travis said:” In order, can we go fishing now? “, Said Aj Gore, who was for the trip with castking.” It was funny, also because he got this golden, fully functional and most advanced fish roll on the market, and he was more excited to go fishing. “
There isn’t any hunter of the two-way soccer star (and doubtless top five nfl draft pick), without the fisherman, without hunter. Obtain touchdowns or lose passes? Hunter never dreams of anyone when he told the Heisman Trophy ceremony of December ESPN.
“When I dream at night, I fish on a boat”, ” he said.
The 21-year-old describes his fishing on YouTube, including Competitions against Colorado coach Deion Sanders. An episode of the second season of the “Coach Prime” series by Amazon Prime begins with Hunter and Noraker on a boat, whereby Hunter said: “I've only been pretty known since I used to be little to fishing or playing football.” He signed the name, image and similarity to fishing companies in college, including castking. And at the NFL scouting of the last month of ESPN by Laura Rutledge, how he deals with the pressure of the upcoming NFL design, Hunter twitched to the shoulders.
“I'm just taking a look at fishing all day,” he replied.
But it is unfair to describe a hobby for Hunter.
“When Travis talks about fishing, he’s fatally serious,” said Noraker. “I mean, that's all he really desires to do except to be one of the best football player on the planet.”
This is the side of the hunter that most people do not see. Football takes a back seat on a fishing boat. The athlete spoke to six people who have fished Hunter in recent years, and each of them said he didn't talk much about the rust. In the close -meshed fishing community, some didn't even know who he was when they met for the first time.
“I believed he was by some means big and lanky for a football player, but I’m,” said professional angler Max Hernandez, who fished in Colorado in the summer of 2023. “After I went that night … I said,” Oh, I don't know who this Travis is hungry? “
“I googled him and I like my god, he is a big one (deal).”
Hunter's familiar skills on the soccer field are also, he shouldn’t be her “average fisherman,” says skilled bass angler Matt Becker. In May 2024, Becker Hunter scored on a lake outside of Orlando for a couple of quick hours. When he arrived, Hunter jumped out of the automobile and went straight to the water and studied it.
“I could just take up his passion for fishing. I can sniff it into someone pretty quickly,” said Becker.
It's peaceful on the water. No music or podcasts. Nature is the background noise, which is after all mixed with a competitive flair.
“There was a lot of conversations and tried to fish the other,” said Becker. “Travis caught the first fish, so I heard an ear over it.”
Jokes, high energy and healthy competition are guaranteed for a fishing trip with Hunter. The operations vary.
One day Noraker Hunter presented a bet. The fisherman with the biggest total variety of fish caught on that day would win. If Hunter won, he would get a brand new rod and a brand new role. If Noraker won, he would get tickets for the following Colorado Football Home Game, which happened to be the sold-out out-out out out-out-out-out-out against Nebraska.
“My wife and I had to enjoy a very good game with great places,” said Noraker.
Apart from the competition, fishing will be an escape from reality, even when travel shouldn’t be as planned. In a recent tour on the Valley Lake Ranch in North Texas, Hunter's Boat Motor Blies on the water with Cooper Thor of the sixth Sense fishing on the water. A stressful situation first, Thor reflects and laughs. They didn’t let it derail in the course of the day and hopped on a friend's boat to finish.
“He is just one of the boys,” said Thor about Hunter. “He likes to catch fish. He will sit there and hang with us. He will fish for as long as possible, from the sun to the sun with absolutely zero symptoms.”
Travis Hunter on the left and fished in January with Max Hernandez am Roosevelt Lake in Arizona. (With the type permission of Max Hernandez)
Fishing is a chance for Hunter to maneuver away from the highlight of a football profession with high missions. After all, he was not the primary to perform the chance.
In 2007 the long run Pro Football Hall of Fame Offensive Tackle Joe Thomas was famous skip the NFL draft for a catch day With his father on Lake Michigan. He called a call from the Cleveland Browns, who had chosen him in third place from the boat.
Thomas never expects the choice to make headlines, he says now. Saturdays were at all times spent to fish together with his father. And these moments of the “fish arch” of the NFL life were of crucial importance for his profession.
“You spend 99 percent of your waking times playing football, going to meetings, training your body, recovering your body, seeing film,” said Thomas, who didn’t refer to Hunter about fishing, but is connected to many former teammates in regards to the hobby. “You spend this time for a very, very high intensity, stressful work with super high missions. It is huge to recharge the batteries again.”
The ideal charging for Hunter ends with a well-recognized tradition: grill. The day on which Hunter received his golden role, the group arranged a visit to the Salinas' Smoke Street in Globe, Arizona. The large opening of the restaurant only the following day. But the food with the Heisman Trophy winner tends to drag a couple of strings.
“I don't know if people know that,” said Gore. “He likes football. He loves to fish. And he grill.”
Even if life is overcrowded, fishing stays constant. A straightforward pleasure. A mental escape. A dream.
“If he was not without Travis Hunter, the winner of the Heisman Trophy, I would almost guarantee that he would either be a huge social media fishing star or at the highest level,” said Jose Cinco, who occurred in Hunter's podcast “The Travis Hunter Show” for discussion fishing. “He's just so passionate.”
When Hunter's name is called in Green Bay, Wisconsin in April in April, his future team will already know that it adds a dual-throat player-an experienced wide-angle and lockdown cornerback, which teams see in each directions. But how a few two-sport Athlete?
There is a shared judgment in the neighborhood of fishermen who saw him what Hunter is more sent – if he catches footballs or fish. It seems that Hunter could have a clearer answer.
“He was in the middle of the landing of a fish and I joke a lot around, so I said:” Are you higher within the offensive, defense or bass fishing? “
“He quickly answered bass fish. That is his passion.”
The athlete
image credit : www.nytimes.com