When Nelson Jordan Jr. was five months old, his father, Nelson Sr., was at his job in Starkville, Mississippi, cutting down trees. One of them fell and hit him on the head, and he died from his injuries.
Later Jordan found a father — Jesus.
“I never had a father growing up. I needed the guidance, leadership and discipline of a father. I didn’t find that until I started to seek Jesus,” Jordan said. “Being that I was an athlete, I sought for that leadership through different coaches and men that were in my life.
“It never could equal up to what Jesus had for me. Jesus filled the void of me being fatherless,” he continued.
“Out of all the times I yearned to fill the void with other things, I never was able to be complete until I met Jesus.”
When Jordan, a redshirt junior, goes on the field as a starting defensive end for Samford University in Birmingham, he writes, “4 You Pops,” on his wrist tape.
“In games, [my father] is there in spirit,” the 22-year-old said.
Spiritual growth
Jordan has grown spiritually through the campus ministry Ransom (Radical Athletes and Student Oasis Ministry), designed to provide mentorship and leadership training on college campuses.
“Ransom has pushed me so hard in my faith, in my relationship with God,” Jordan said, “and pushed me to be bold, to be unapologetically confident in Christ.”
He is very involved in the ministry, leading Bible studies and preaching “strictly from the Bible,” he said.
Samford running back Ty Boles, a senior academically but a sophomore on the field because of NCAA regulations involving COVID-19, was invited to Ransom by Jordan after he transferred from William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri.
“He is always inviting teammates to come to Ransom,” Boles said. “Students grow tremendously in their walk with Christ. Through this multiple players have been led to Christ.
“Nelson has had a huge impact on my life [and] has an incredible spiritual impact on the team. He is always stepping up to lead our team in prayer after practice or workouts and continually encourages teammates to grow in their faith. Nelson has helped my faith grow immensely.”
‘Big brother’
Jordan took Boles, who is from Panama City, Florida, under his wing at Ransom and became “my big brother,” Boles said.
“He has guided me through life and helped me in areas where I struggle and has given me courage to step out and share my testimony at Ransom when I used to be terrified of public speaking,” Boles said.
Jordan distributes flyers on Samford’s campus, encouraging people to attend Ransom.
“To do that showed the boldness I needed to have for God,” Jordan explained.
He said his faith has grown as he has studied the Bible.
“I truly feel there is nothing that I can pour out that I don’t have. I read … in the Bible where it says Scripture is like milk to a baby. Starting off my faith, I was in baby mode. The more I fed, the more I was able to get into God’s face and see my faith grow,” Jordan said.
It also grew when he realized he needed to change the crowd of people he was hanging around.
“It got to a point I didn’t have any control over my life. I would do whatever the crowd was doing. It was a turning point when I realized that God consecrated me, that He set me apart and made me to be special,” Jordan said.
“One of the toughest things of being a college athlete and being a Christian is not conforming to the culture. You have to have discernment [about] what you can get into and what you don’t need to get into.”
Ransom was founded by former Samford and NFL defensive lineman Jeremy Towns, who played for the Washington Redskins, Philadelphia Eagles and Buffalo Bills.
Towns graduated with honors from Samford with a degree in sports medicine in 2013 and later graduated from the University of South Alabama medical school. He will finish medical residency at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2023.
Jordan earned a bachelor’s degree in May and is now working toward an MBA.
He was a freshman All-American in 2018. At Starkville High School in Mississippi he played on a state championship basketball team in 2014 and a state championship football team in 2015.
Jordan graduated from Starkville High in 2017 and was redshirted his freshman year at Samford. He didn’t know he had earned freshman All-American until a teammate told him.
Along with playing in the NFL and later being an athletic director, he has another goal.
“My ultimate goal is to know God and make Him known. I want to use sports as a tool to make God known.”
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