Hunter, the possible No. 1 overall pick in next month’s NFL Draft, starred at both wide receiver and cornerback in college and is listed at both positions at the NFL Combine.
Ohtani, meanwhile, has achieved extremely rare MLB success as both a hitter and pitcher, blasting 54 home runs last year and also tossing a 3.01 career ERA.
But when Hunter was asked in Indianapolis who had it harder as a two-way player, he backed himself.
‘Probably me, what I do in football because it is a lot on your body,’ Hunter told reporters. ‘Ohtani, he’s a great player, but you gotta do a lot in football.’
After that answer surfaced on social media, fans blasted the Colorado prospect, with one calling him ‘delusional.’
‘That’s the dumbest take I’ve heard in a very long time,’ another said.
‘Dude needs to be humbled big time,’ a third said.
A fourth said, ‘Hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do in sports…’
And a fifth added, ‘If he does it in the NFL at a high level I’ll hear the argument but at this point in time it’s laughable.’
To that point, it remains to be seen how well Hunter’s two-way abilities will translate to the NFL – or how often he’ll actually play both positions.
The prospect told reporers this week at the Combine that he wanted to play 100 percent of the snaps at both receiver and cornerback.
‘Nobody has done it, but I feel like I put my body through a lot,’ Hunter said. ‘I do a lot of treatment. People don’t get to see that part of what I do for my body to make sure I’m 100 percent in each game. But I feel like, because nobody has done it, and I know I can do it.’
Nonetheless, Browns GM Andrew Berry said this week that the franchise would see him ‘primarily’ as a receiver first, while Titans coach Brian Callahan envisioned him playing more defense.
Eliot Wolf, the executive vice president of player personnel for the Patriots, suggested that Hunter would ‘major’ on one side of the ball and sprinkle in on the other.
‘I want to play both,’ Hunter told reporters on Thursday. ‘That’s not my job to figure it out. I like to play both sides of the ball. If they allow me to play both sides of the ball, I’ll play both sides.’
One of the few players to do that in the NFL was Hunter’s college coach, Deion Sanders, who lined up at receiver and cornerback, as well as a returner, in the pros.
He finished his career with 53 interceptions and as he settled in as more of a defensive player, making 60 receptions over his career.
While Ohtani hasn’t pitched since 2023 due to an elbow injury, he’s achieved elite status as a hitter and pitcher – winning three MVPs and also finishing fourth in Cy Young voting in 2022.
Whatever position he plays, Hunter will hear his name called at the NFL Draft on April 24.
