Leanna Lenee, the new wife of NFL rookie Travis Hunter, has been a lightning rod online since becoming a public figure over the past two years.
Hunter, 22, and Lenee, 23, officially tied the knot on May 24, 2025, in Tennessee. The high school sweethearts reportedly did not sign a prenuptial agreement ahead of the wedding.
Throughout the lead-up to her nuptials, Lenee faced backlash for her public behavior, leading some people to accuse the Kennesaw State University graduate of only being with Hunter for his status and money.
On July 19, Lenee recently shared a clip of herself crying on TikTok. The voice of an unknown preacher reciting a sermon played in the background of a video orginially filmed in December 2024, according to Sports Illustrated.
“When God gets ready to make you a great woman, you’ll know he’s going to make you great by how you suffer,” the voiceover stated. “The greater the glory, the more intense the story.”
Lenee seemingly took the words to heart, as she reflected on her personal growth over the past seven months with a lengthy caption for her TikTok post.
“I wish I could go back and hug December me, because oh baby, God was about to change your heart in the most important and beautiful way,” Lenee wrote. “I don’t even recognize this girl anymore.”
She added, “The amount you can [grow] and develop in just 6 months of devoting your life to Jesus and getting away from the shackles of the world and social media is truly astounding. I wish the peace I found within Jesus on everyone who reads this. Your identity in him matters, not how people choose to perceive you.”
Lenee’s teary-eyed selfie video quickly spread across the web. Social media users offered their opinions and fans showed her overwhelming support.
“I can’t imagine what it’s like for so many people to attack you. I’m sorry, you didn’t deserve it,” one of Lenee’s followers expressed in the comment section.
Lenee liked and responded to numerous complimentary comments.
While she received backing from her loyal followers on TikTok, others mocked and chastised her and offered warnings to her multi-millionaire husband.
“Travis better be ready to pay,” joked a troll on X. Similarly, another X user predicted Hunter could be headed towards financial trouble, writing, “This man about to lose all his money.”
On Instagram, someone theorized, “She is setting up her exit.” Another individual suggested Lenee was preparing a post-marriage strategy by commenting, “Pre-gaming the divorce is nasty work.”
Hunter and Lenee’s romantic history dates back to their days as high school students in 2022. The pair later established the Travis and Leanna YouTube channel in May of that year.
After two years of dating, the couple announced their engagement in February 2024. Lenee celebrated the moment with a four-slide Instagram photo carousel. She captioned the post, “A million times, yes.”
Hunter’s mainstream profile continued to rise as the Georgia native became a standout collegiate football star at Jackson State University for one season (2022) and the University of Colorado Boulder for two seasons (2023, 2024).
In 2024, Hunter won the prestigious Heisman Memorial Trophy, cementing him as the top player in college football. Lenee’s appearance at the Heisman ceremony placed her in the internet’s crosshairs.
Footage of Lenee not immediately standing up when Hunter was announced as the Heisman winner sparked widespread backlash. She was accused of being unsupportive and attempting to steal the limelight from the Colorado cornerback and wide receiver.
The Heisman ceremony controversy took place in December 2024, the same month Lenee recorded her crying video. Hunter publicly stood up for his then-fiancée against the cyberbullying at the time.
“I know what I got. I know my girl. My girl’s been with me for five years,” Hunter said during a livestream in December 2024. “Y’all are just now starting to talk about me and just now starting to be with me.”
Lenee offered her own defense as well. In a now-deleted TikTok video, she explained, “When his name was called, I instantly was going to get up. If you watch the video, his mom didn’t get up, so I was like, ‘Oh, maybe I don’t get up, I just sit here.’”
“No one told me to stand up. No one had to tell me to celebrate with him. I was just sitting there crying. I wanted to take it in. I was super excited for him. But I wanted the moment to be about him and his family,” Lenee resumed.
The Jacksonville Jaguars selected Hunter as the second overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft. He signed a four-year, $46.65 million deal with the Florida-based franchise that included a $30.57 million signing bonus.
