Former ESPN host criticizes NFL star Travis Hunter for surprise baptism before Sunday game
Sports commentator Skip Bayless said Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Travis Hunter is checking out from football.
Bayless, a former ESPN2 and FS1 commentator, posted a 28-minute video on Tuesday in which he claimed that Hunter should not have taken time out of his day last Sunday to get baptized.
'It's Sunday. It's God's day.'
Hunter was baptized on Sunday before a home game against the Seattle Seahawks, completing the ceremony at Celebration Church, a non-denominational congregation in Jacksonville.
In a post on X, Bayless criticized Hunter, stating, "There is no way Travis Hunter should've chosen to be baptized on the morning of a game. He is losing interest. He is mentally checking out on the Jags."
A Christian himself, the 73-year-old went on to tell his audience that the baptism was evidence that Hunter was "starting to lose interest" in his team.
"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," he said.
The analyst continued to opine, citing Hunter's college coach Deion Sanders as saying that Hunter needs to be played a lot in order to stay engaged with football. This is allegedly because the athlete likes video games and fishing.
Explaining that he did not think the baptism was any sort of protest, Bayless still claimed that Hunter's attitude in this case was, "Hey, they're not using me that much anyway; why not get baptized on a game-day morning?"'
Hunter, on the other hand, was flabbergasted when asked by reporters about his choice to get baptized.
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"Did you get baptized this morning?" a female reporter asked Hunter on Sunday, after his team lost 12-10 to the Seahawks.
"Yes," Hunter plainly replied.
"Why'd you do that?" the reporter continued.
"It's a crazy question: Why did I get baptized?" Hunter said with a smile.
Still pressing, the reporter then asked, "Why did you choose to go to church this morning?"
The 22-year old-provided a simple answer: "Sunday. It's God's day. I've been planning to get baptized for a minute. I changed my life over to become a better man."
A male reporter then chimed in to ask, "What did it mean to you?"
Hunter, turning to his right, revealed, "It means a lot. Becoming a better man, leaving my old flesh and just becoming the new Travis."
Bayless had stats to back up his claim that Hunter may not be getting the amount of playing time he is used to, stating that in his last year in college at Colorado, he was used in 87% of offensive plays and 83% of defensive plays. With Jacksonville, through six games, he has been used in just 63% and 39%, respectively.
"If given the correct opportunities, Travis Hunter will revolutionize modern-day pro football as a two-way player [on] offense and defense," Bayless claimed.
The now-independent commentator revealed in his remarks that he knows Hunter's baptism was special because he himself is a Christian who recently rededicated his life to God.
"I'm a God guy," Bayless said. "I was baptized as an infant in Methodist Church."
At the same time, Bayless added that he does not like to call himself Christian any more because "that's been condemned as this term for far-right nutcases, zealots. I believe in God and the Bible with all my heart and all my soul. My life is dedicated, start to finish, to God and the Bible."
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