TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – If you’re on social media, you’ve probably come across videos of Daniel Hughes, the Florida State punter. He dropped out of school at 16, built and ran a successful construction company in Australia, but money doesn’t buy happiness.
His happy? Punting, and chasing an NFL dream, and Hughes is taking all of us on a behind the scenes tour of his journey from Australia to garnet and gold.
“I was 24-25. I just made the decision to stop playing football in Australia, to sell my company.”
Hughes began chasing his dream to play Division I football.
“I was like this is what I want to do, this is my career path,” he said. “How does a professional athlete act? That was it. It was done.”
Now, at 28 years old, he’s set to punt at Florida State.
“I get chills just talking about this stuff because the opportunity that these boys have and I have as well, you won’t get this opportunity ever again,” he said.
His excitement to be in Tallahassee is well documented for all to see because Hughes has close to 80,000 followers across TikTok and Instagram.
“Football and the content for me goes hand in hand.”
If his story hooked you in, the content, will keep you around.
“My favorite one is a video of myself and Carter Jula, and it’s like we have to lock in,” he said, describing the video that starts out in Florida State’s weight room before transitioning to the duo inside a night club. “No one knows, we went there sober that night. We asked the security guard, hey man, I have to film a video, we were up there for five minutes!”
Self shot and self taught.
“I watch my first couple YouTube videos, and I’m like oh they’re a bit dodgy,” he laughed. “As I’m learning how to use editing programs and camera styles, it’s just getting better and better now.”
For Hughes, it’s more than just funny videos, as he’s always had a plan to turn his social media success into something bigger down the road.
“There will be a part down the track where I’m mentoring people or coaching or doing something to help people’s lives,” he said. “I heard someone say I was on the verge of suicide and because of your video, I’m on the right track now. Stuff like that, I love.”
Real results, for something that for right now is just a passion project. Despite close to 15 million views a month, because he’s an international student on a student visa, Hughes can’t profit from social media.
“There’s a lot of brand deals I’ve had to say no to. I’ve lost a lot of money I can’t take because I don’t want to jeopardize my eligibility.”
For a guy who’s quite literally living the dream, all the sacrifice it took to now wear the garnet and gold is worth it.
“JUCO, group of five, ACC,” he said of his journey from City College of San Francisco, to New Mexico, to Florida State. “I’m glad it’s this way. It’s built the story even better.”
Hughes added he is the sole editor of his content, admitting he’s a bit of a control freak. He said seven minutes of video equals ten hours of editing.
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