How is Hunter able to handle the workload? CBS Sports spoke with some experts who weighed in on the incredible feat: [rlb: say all you want about “grit”, it’s a lot easier to find and employ it when you’re healing your body and brain in between bouts of body abuse.]
Genetics: Hunter’s father, Travis Sr., was a football and track standout at Boynton Beach (Fla.) High School. At 15, Hunter Sr. ran a 10.82-second 100 meters. Dad never played college or pro football.
Supplements: As least that’s what Palmer said would be helping Hunter. He owns a company called Threadbare Performance. One of its products, Daily Edge, promotes blood oxygenation. Palmer works with the likes of Jalen Milroe, Cade Klubnik, Kyle McCord, Joe Burrow and Sam Darnold.
“You’re able to recover quicker,” Palmer said. “You feel more energetic. You’ve got to get blood to your brain … not just your hammies.”
Hyperbaric chamber: McCarty said Hunter climbs into the device that uses oxygen that helps in healing and recovery.
“Players need metabolic rest, they need body rest,” McCarty said. “I don’t know how much Travis sleeps. That would be a good question. A lot of his ability is natural.”
Intangibles: Marcas Bamman is a research scientist at the Florida Institute for Human & Machine Cognition. His company develops what is called an “expression circuit” that measures everything from genetics to molecular traits to a psychological profile to cognitive abilities.
“If we were to test him on things like grit and resilience, I imagine he would score really, really high,” Bamman said. “I imagine he would score really, really high on cognitive intelligence tests because he’s having to make decisions very quickly.”
Bamman’s firm measures those qualities in elite groups like Navy SEALS and Army Rangers.
“At the end of the day, we would like to find out the secret sauce that defines grit,” he added. “If we can do that, a lot of people would want to drink that drink, right?”
