SALT LAKE CITY – At 9, my middle son is a huge fan of Ty Jordan – as much as anyone can be in a five game season.
And really, it doesn’t have much to do with Jordan or where he played, at least not entirely. See, my son is a fan of all the players who don’t have the prototype size of the sport they play. He calls them “Tiny Guys”. And he roars for them all as if he were a card member of an elite club.
Jose Altuve, before Houston’s cheating ordeal, was another one of those Tiny Guy that my son roared for when he saw him play, although Houston was never his favorite MLB team.
My son considers himself one of those tiny guys and is actually very self-conscious about his size, although he is not much smaller than his colleagues. But it is still something that worries you in your young mind.
So, when he sees athletes like Jordan, a 1.5 meter tall running back, who excels in his sport, there is no way to stop him. As a result, I’m also a fan of Jordan.
Not as a sports fan, per se, or even because he is someone I met briefly in the past few months, he was at the University of Utah when I reported his success.
No, it’s because my son is a fan.
Due to the ongoing pandemic and the lack of personal contact with the players, I chose not to travel to the Utah road games this year. As a result, I reported games on the road on my couch while my family watched closely, including my son who can’t get enough of the sport.
It was there that my son quickly grew an affinity with Jordan. With each fall, he hoped Utah would give Jordan the ball. And when Jordan stopped for a big run or scored a touchdown, my son celebrated like it was the last move to win the Super Bowl.
He would run and give me a hug after each one – the kind of hug that is comprehensive and full of pure joy – as if he had just played.
When I interviewed players and coaches after the game and during the week, my son would run into my home office and ask if I could interview Jordan that day. And if I did, he had the biggest smile on his face, as if he somehow had the same opportunity to speak to one of his heroes. And if he didn’t, it was a sense of frustration that Utah was limiting his access.
He never knew what was said in the interviews or even if I was making it all up, but the connection was still there for him. It was enough to know that one of his Tiny Guys was being recognized.
And on Saturday, when we woke up to the news of Jordan’s premature and tragic death, it was my son who was most devastated and asked repeatedly how he died – almost as if his request could change the circumstances if he knew more.
But sometimes life is not fair and we are left with more questions than answers. Questions about your potential, questions about the loss your family feels, questions about why a talented and humble boy who just wanted to leave his mother, who recently died of cancer, could be proud so soon.
Sometimes Tiny Guys can’t have it all, but we are blessed just to know them in their quest for something bigger – literally and figuratively – than they are.
So, although many focus on the tragic loss to football – it was and is – there is a more lasting impact, at least on my family, because of who he was. Jordan was a fighter and someone who didn’t let obstacles get in the way or keep him from moving forward.
His career was only short, but Jordan’s small, limited impact will be felt forever.
Jordan said he played to make his mother proud, and she would definitely be.
But if my son is any indication, there is much more out there that is proud to have met him, even for a brief moment. He will always have a special place as one of the great Tiny Guys.
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Josh Furlong