Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Travis Hunter has bulked up as he works his way back from an LCL tear in his right knee. Surprisingly, it is not the franchise that is getting the glory or shade for this. Instead, it is the Colorado Buffaloes who are being called out for preventing him from bulking up during his college days. Deion Sanders Jr. reminded everyone what the former Colorado two-way star achieved in Boulder.

A fan shared a photo of Hunter’s new look on X, adding that the Jaguars’ cornerback understood his offseason assignment: to gain some weight. In response, former Houston Texans defensive end, who is also a UGA alum, David Bellamy quoted the tweet, writing, “This is how he would’ve looked as a sophomore if he had gone to UGA. Facts!”

Deion Sanders Jr., displeased with the suggestion, retorted, “Yup… unfortunately, he stayed with us and won a Heisman.”

With his Heisman win, Hunter became just the second player in Buffaloes history to win the award. He also became the fourth overall player in University of Colorado history to be selected in the top five of the NFL Draft.

Travis Hunter got into the NFL as the No. 2 overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft and played at 185 pounds in his rookie season. But he soon picked up a season-ending knee injury last October during a non-contact drill in practice and had surgery the following month to repair the torn LCL in his knee.

Before his injury, he was having an impressive run in his rookie season as a two-way player, recording 28 receptions for 298 yards and one touchdown, along with 15 tackles on defense. And once the setback occurred, he spoke about the activities that consumed his time and, in the long run, led to his massive weight gain.

“I feel a lot stronger. It was me going in (the weight room) and getting my overall body right and just getting in shape. I couldn’t run, so (the weight room) was my best friend and being able to let out some of the anger because I (didn’t) have my two feet.”

However, Bellamy’s argument was that he would have had the physical results as early as his sophomore season if he had played college football at UGA. Head coach Kirby Smart and director of strength and conditioning Scott Sinclair’s program have built a reputation for developing physically imposing athletes who meet NFL standards.

Being a two-way athlete, Bellamy thinks Hunter would have benefited from Kirby Smart’s production of several athletic freaks, as he would have been one himself. But when these benefits are compared to Hunter’s Heisman win in Colorado, they are completely outclassed.

Perhaps Bellamy understood this and quickly responded to Deion Sanders Jr.’s tweet to clarify his statement: “Know y’all get a lot of bash, so everything looks like hate- but I’m truly a fan of the family. Your pops is on my Mount Rushmore. This tweet was just an observation, not a dig! I just know UGA would’ve bulked him up. God bless!”

UGA’s bulking up reputation

The Bulldogs are renowned for their strength and conditioning work, and how it helps them produce strong players. From being talented recruits, even wide receivers and other skill players are transformed into muscular figures. All thanks to Sinclair, who explained his team’s approach to bodybuilding some time ago.

“I’ve got four other outstanding strength coaches,” Sinclair says. “I think it’s the best staff in the country. We’ll all sit down, and we’ll figure out what these guys need,” Sinclair said.

“We’re not necessarily concerned with the percentage or the weight but how fast the bar is moving, Sinclair explains. “If two players come in and one’s working at 80%, 80% to you because you have not recovered well enough feels like 102%. And 80% to me feels like 65%. Then if we just stay at that 80%, I’m overtraining you and I’m undertraining me.”

The program’s tailor-made approach to strength and conditioning is one of the main reasons for its success under Kirby Smart. However, for Hunter, he got individual success with the Buffs. And even though it took a while, he now has the results the Bulldogs would have given him.