Ty Jordan

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]

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]

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]

• List of American football players who died during their careers

• Utah Utes bio