Mike Vrabel Cracked This Joke To Travis Hunter With Patriots Eyeing Two-Way Star

New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel is well-known for the trash talk he unleashed both as a player and a coach.

Vrabel would even chirp Tom Brady on the practice field during their time together as teammates with the Patriots.

So when Vrabel met face-to-face with top NFL draft prospect Travis Hunter on Wednesday night, he had no problem doling out a joke at the Heisman Trophy winner’s expense.

“I’m sure Travis doesn’t even know, but we were kind of jawing back-and-forth as he left last night and I said, ‘You’re not the only one that played two ways. There were some other guys that did this, too,'” Vrabel said on the NFL Network Combine broadcast Thursday, per team-provided video. “And he kind of looked at me and we laughed.”

Vrabel, of course, is one of those players who suited up on both sides of the football during his 14-year NFL playing career.

Vrabel played tight end for the Patriots in certain red zone situations and caught 10 touchdowns passes in the regular season in his career, with eight of them coming with New England. Vrabel even hauled in a touchdown pass from Brady in Super Bowl XXXVIII against the Carolina Panthers and Super Bowl XXXIX against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Hunter, who will be 22 years old in May, was still in diapers when Vrabel made those plays on football’s biggest stage. So, it’s likely the Suwanee, Ga., native doesn’t know much, if anything, about Vrabel’s on-field accomplishments.

Unlike Vrabel, Hunter sees himself as a full-time offensive and defensive player. He excelled doing just that at Colorado this past season with the wideout recording 96 receptions for 1,258 yards and 15 touchdowns while also notching four interceptions and 35 tackles as a cornerback.

Most believe Hunter will begin his NFL career as a cornerback and be included in some offensive packages. But he’s adamant he can offer more than players like Vrabel did.

“They say nobody has ever done it for real the way I do it,” Hunter told reporters, per The Athletic’s RJ Kraft. “I tell them I’m just different. I am a different person.”