Ty Jordan

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Ty Jordan
No. 22
PositionRunning back
Personal information
Born:(2001-11-21)November 21, 2001
Mesquite, Texas, U.S.
Died:December 25, 2020(2020-12-25) (aged 19)
Denton, Texas, U.S.
Height5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Weight200 lb (91 kg)
Career history
College
High schoolWest Mesquite (Mesquite, Texas)
Career highlights and awards

Ty-Coreous Jordan[1] (November 21, 2001 – December 25, 2020[2]) was an American college football player who was a running back for the Utah Utes in the Pac-12 Conference. He earned second-team all-conference honors and was named the Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year in 2020.

High school career[edit]

As a junior at West Mesquite High School in Mesquite, Texas, Jordan rushed for 1,236 yards and 16 touchdowns. In his senior year in 2019, he ran for 453 yards on 77 carries and had 41 receptions for 378 yards and scored a combined 11 touchdowns (7 rushing, 4 receiving).[3] Jordan was also on the school's track and field team, running a personal-best 10.52 in the 100-meter dash as a junior.[4]

Jordan initially committed verbally to play college ball for the Texas Longhorns,[5][6] but he decommitted and signed with the Utah Utes instead.[7]

College career[edit]

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic during the 2020 season at the University of Utah,[8] Jordan made his college debut on his 19th birthday on November 21, 2020, when he had 53 all-purpose yards on eight touches in a 33–17 loss to USC.[2] In his third game, he rushed 27 times for 167 yards for the first 100-yard rushing game by a Utah true freshman since Chris Fuamatu-Maʻafala in 1995.[9] He later became the first Utes freshman since Fuamatu-Maʻafala to accumulate three straight 100-yard rushing games.[10] Jordan finished the season with 597 rushing yards and six touchdowns in five games.[11] His 144.6 all-purpose yards per game average ranked second among freshmen in the Football Bowl Subdivision.[12]

The Pac-12 named Jordan to their All-Pac-12 second team and voted him the Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year.[13] He was the first Utah player to garner conference freshman of the year recognition since Jason Kaufusi in 2000, when the Utes were in the Mountain West Conference.[14] Jordan was also named to the Freshman All-America team by The Athletic and the True Freshman All-American team by 247Sports.[15][16][17] The Associated Press selected him as the Pac-12 Newcomer of the Year.[15]

Personal life and death[edit]

In December 2018, Jordan's mother, Tiffany, was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. She received a bone cancer diagnosis the following month in January. In November 2019, a picture went viral of Jordan kneeling with a friend on the opposing team in prayer for Jordan's mother.[18][19] She died in August 2020.[11]

On December 25, 2020, Jordan died in Denton, Texas, after being shot in the abdomen from an apparent self-inflicted accidental gunshot.[20] He was 19 years old.[11] His death on Christmas was just a day after he was named the conference newcomer of the year.[21]

Jordan's memorial service was held on January 6, 2021, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The University of Utah chartered a plane, and his service was attended by members of the athletic department and most of the football team and coaching staff. It was just the second memorial service ever held at AT&T Stadium—the first was the tribute to U.S. military sniper Chris Kyle in 2013.[22]

Legacy[edit]

After his death, the Ty Jordan Memorial Scholarship was founded, and it was awarded to Aaron Lowe, with whom Jordan played in both high school and at Utah. Lowe changed his jersey number to No. 22 in Jordan’s honor. Lowe was shot and killed on September 26, 2021, which was nine months and one day after Jordan’s death.[23] No. 22 was retired on October 30, 2021, in Jordan’s and Lowe’s memories.[24] On December 3, 2021, at the Pac-12 Conference Championship, there was a “moment of loudness” in their memories.[25]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Call, Jeff (January 6, 2021). "'I love Ty and I miss him': Utah football family honors Ty Jordan at celebration of life in Dallas". Deseret News. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  2. ^ a b Newman, Josh (January 1, 2021). "'We went crazy every time he touched the ball.' How Ty Jordan's deep football roots in Texas led him to Utah". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved January 2, 2021. Jordan turned 19-years old on Nov. 21, which happened to be the same day as his collegiate debut vs. USC at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
  3. ^ Allen, Trevor (December 18, 2019). "Ty Jordan Adds Speed To RB Position After Signing With Utah". KSLSports.com. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  4. ^ Newman, Josh (December 9, 2020). "Ty Jordan's track and field background aiding his emergence for Utah football". The Salt Lake Tribune. Archived from the original on December 13, 2020.
  5. ^ Hasson, Devin (September 16, 2019). "West Mesquite's Jordan commits to UT". Mesquite News. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  6. ^ Dukes, Chris (September 16, 2019). "Texas football: Watch: Highlights of new Texas running back commit Ty Jordan". SI.com. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  7. ^ McVeigh, Griffin (December 18, 2019). "Former Texas commit signs with Utah". USA Today. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  8. ^ Newman, Josh (November 23, 2020). "Utah Utes' long-awaited season-opener vs. USC offered mixed results". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  9. ^ Kamrani, Christopher (December 6, 2020). "Ty Jordan bursts through Oregon State, and to the top of the Utah depth chart". The Athletic. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  10. ^ "Utah Football Rallies From Behind For 45-28 Win Over Washington State". Pac-12.com. Utah Athletics. December 19, 2020. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  11. ^ a b c Schlabach, Mark (December 26, 2020). "Utah Utes RB Ty Jordan, Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year, dies". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
  12. ^ Marshall, John (December 25, 2020). "Utah's Ty Jordan named Pac-12 newcomer of the year by AP (+Pac-12 all-league honors)". Associated Press. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  13. ^ "2020 Pac-12 Football All-Conference honors and annual awards announced". Pac-12 Conference. December 22, 2020. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  14. ^ Call, Jeff (December 22, 2020). "Utah's Ty Jordan earns Pac-12 Offensive Freshman Player of the Year honors". Deseret News. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  15. ^ a b "TY JORDAN NAMED AP PAC-12 NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR, FRESHMAN ALL-AMERICAN". Utah Utes. December 24, 2020. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  16. ^ Olson, Max (December 22, 2020). "The Athletic's 2020 college football Freshman All-America team". The Athletic. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
  17. ^ Allen, Trevor (December 30, 2020). "Utah RB Ty Jordan Named 247Sports Freshman All-American". KSLSports.com. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  18. ^ Walker, Noelle (November 8, 2019). "Viral Photo of NTX Football Players from Opposing Teams in Prayer Gives Mom Fighting Cancer Hope". NBCDFW.com. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
  19. ^ Stump, Scott; Abrahamson, Rachel Paula (November 8, 2019). "Viral Photo of NTX Football Players from Opposing Teams in Prayer Gives Mom Fighting Cancer Hope". Today.com. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  20. ^ Grass, Justin (December 27, 2020). "Medical examiner reports Utah running back Ty Jordan died in Denton of gunshot wound". Denton Record-Chronicle. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  21. ^ Quatrino, Nina (December 29, 2020). "Former Sherman football player reflects on Ty Jordan's death". KXII.com. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  22. ^ Engel, Mac (January 6, 2021). "A fallen football star's homecoming has one final trip to the end zone at AT&T Stadium". Fort Worth Star-Telgram. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  23. ^ "Utah football player Lowe killed in SLC shooting". ESPN.com. September 26, 2021. Retrieved December 4, 2021.
  24. ^ "Utah to honor Jordan, Lowe by retiring No. 22". ESPN.com. October 26, 2021. Retrieved December 4, 2021.
  25. ^ @utah_football (December 1, 2021). "We are bringing the Moment of Loudness to Vegas" (Tweet). Archived from the original on December 2, 2021. Retrieved May 31, 2023 – via Twitter.

External links[edit]