INDIANAPOLIS – For Travis Hunter, the NFL scouting combine is a job interview, and he showed up with a sales pitch.

The Heisman Trophy winner from the University of Colorado wants to regularly play on both sides of the ball in the NFL. And that’s what he’s been telling teams.

“They say nobody has ever done it the way for real the way I do it,’’ Hunter said Thursday before a hundred or so reporters in Indianapolis. “But I tell them I’m just different. I’m a different person.”

Indeed, Hunter is. In 2024, he played 672 offensive snaps in 13 games as a wide receiver and caught 96 passes for 1,258 yards and a school-record 15 touchdowns. At cornerback, he played 682 defensive snaps and had four interceptions, 11 pass breakups and 36 tackles.

Hunter is listed in media handouts at the combine as a defensive back but said he’s “listed at both” defensive back and receiver for his dealings with teams. Hunter won’t be doing any workouts on either side of the ball at the combine but is scheduled to showcase his skills March 18-21 at Big 12 Pro Day in Frisco, Texas.

Hunter has been talking with team officials at the combine in preparation for the April 24-26 draft. He wouldn’t discuss any specific teams, but those who have the top four picks and are eyeing him closely are No. 1 Tennessee, No. 2 Cleveland, No. 3 New York Giants and No. 4 New England.

Hunter wants to go No. 1. If that happens, he would join Colorado State safety Gary Glick, who went to Pittsburgh in 1956, as the only player from a Colorado school to be the draft’s top pick. And he would become the highest Buffaloes draftee, surpassing running back Bo Matthews, taken No. 2 by the San Diego Chargers in 1974.

“It’s super important. That was one of my dreams to go No. 1 and be the best I can be,’’ Hunter said.

Hunter was peppered with questions about his desire to play both sides of the ball, something no player has done regularly in modern NFL history. While Roy Green was mostly a receiver from 1979-92, he did have periods of also playing defensive back. For the St. Louis Cardinals, Green had a season with three interceptions in 1981 and a season with 78 catches for 1,555 yards in 1984.

Hunter’s college coach, Deion Sanders, was mostly a cornerback and made the Pro Football Hall of Fame for that role. But he did catch 36 passes for Dallas in 1996, his only season out of 13 with more than seven receptions.

“Nobody has done it, but I feel like I have put my body through a lot,’’ Hunter said of playing both ways. “I do a lot of treatment. People don’t get to see that part, what I do for my body to make sure I’m 100% each game. But I feel like I can do it because nobody has done it. I know I can do it. I did it at the college level where you rarely get breaks. There’s a lot more breaks in the NFL.”

Hunter said what he does is harder than Shohei Ohtani being both a position player and pitcher in baseball because “you got to do a lot in football.”

Some observers believe Hunter would be best served in the NFL to play regularly at cornerback and have a part-time role at receiver. Hunter did acknowledge that the team that drafts him ultimately will decide on his usage.

“I want to be 100 percent but it’s up to the organization,’’ Hunter said. “If they give me the opportunity to play both sides of the ball, I’m going to play both sides.”

When asked about specific teams Thursday, Hunter regularly said, “Next question.” But there is one team he said he wants to be on next season.

As the reigning Heisman winner, Hunter seeks to be on Nissan Heisman House commercial in 2025.

“I definitely want to be in one,’’ Hunter said. “I can’t wait to go to the house and be able to film one of them. … (They’re) super funny and they’re genuine.”

Hunter certainly has the personality to land on more commercials than just that one.

“Everybody knows that I can light up a room just by walking in it,’’ he said. “I always have a smile on my face. I bring the excitement and I’m a communicator.”

On the football field, Hunter often lit up foes on offense and on defense dimmed their hopes.

“He’s a great athlete and a hard playmaker to slow down and he doesn’t ever look like he’s tired,’’ said linebacker Karene Reid of Big 12 rival Utah.

“He was everywhere on the field,’’ said Kansas cornerback Mello Dotson, whose Jayhawks at least were able to beat the Buffaloes 37-21 last November in a game in which Hunter had eight catches for 125 yards and two touchdowns, and seven tackles and a pass defended. “If he wants to (play both sides of the ball in the NFL), he can do that.”

As for his abilities at receiver, Hunter grew up in South Florida and said he “would watch a lot of Jerry Jeudy” and “copied his movements a lot.” Jeudy, who played for the Broncos from 2000-23 and is now with Cleveland, is also from South Florida. Hunter didn’t name an influence at defensive back.

Hunter originally signed to play for Sanders at Jackson State in 2022 because he said that was the only college opportunity he had to play both ways. He then joined Sanders at Colorado for the past two seasons and continued with that role.

“I’ve been doing it for a long time so I feel like I can keep doing it,’’ he said.

But there is a limit to how much Hunter wants to play in the NFL. He was asked if he would also like to be a return specialist.

“I don’t know about returner,’’ he said. “I’ve already got two jobs on my hand.”