Joel Klatt Claims Prestigious College Football Award Has Become Devalued
A college football award that's been around since 1986 has apparently lost its luster, according to FOX broadcaster Joel Klatt.
For nearly four decades, the Jim Thorpe Award has been presented to the top defensive back in college football. Iconic players like Deion Sanders, Charles Woodson and Patrick Peterson have won the award in the past. Last year, it was presented to Tre Taylor of Air Force.
On Tuesday, the college football world learned that Colorado star Travis Hunter isn't a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award. That news didn't sit well with Klatt, who played for the Buffaloes from 2002-2005.
Klatt thinks the Jim Thorpe Award has devalued itself by snubbing Hunter.
"Not having Travis Hunter as a FINALIST for the Thorpe Award is crazy...It devalues the award...He is the best CB in CFB and his numbers reflect that all his opponents know that," Klatt said.
Colorado coach Deion Sanders would agree with Klatt's assessment of the situation. He defended Hunter during his press conference earlier this Tuesday.
“How is Travis Hunter snubbed by the Jim Thorpe Award? You can have my award. You can have it back,” Sanders told reporters. “I’m going to give him mine. I ain’t using it. It’s just sitting up there collecting dust. If this ain’t the most idiotic thing in college football, that he’s not a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, I don’t know what is. And he is, I would say arguably, but I don’t think it’s really an argument about this young man being the best defensive back in college football. I ain't say nothing about the receiver part of it. I'm just talking about defensive back. He rarely gets thrown at."
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - DECEMBER 02: FOX color commentator and analyst Joel Klatt during the Big Ten Championship Game between the Michigan Wolverines and the Iowa Hawkeyes on December 02, 2023 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, IN. (Photo by Jeffrey Brown/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Jahdae Barron of Texas, Caleb Downs of Ohio State, and Malaki Starks of Georgia are the finalists for the Jim Thorpe Award. They might not have the star power of Hunter, but they're playmakers in their own right.
As for Hunter, he'll enter the final week of the regular season with 30 tackles, nine passes defended, three interceptions and a forced fumble. He's a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award and the Maxwell Award.
