Dexter Jordan is confident in his athletic ability. Can you blame him?
From being a baseball star to an up-and-coming soccer goalie, Jordan was a more than prominent face in Hattiesburg High athletics this past school year.
“I really feel like I can play any sport. That’s my mindset,” Jordan said. “If I feel like I can play tennis, I’ll play tennis. It’s just me willing to do it and working at it.”
Something was missing, though, and it wasn’t tennis.
Following a successful sophomore season in 2015, Jordan opted to leave the Hattiesburg football team in order to focus on baseball, where his stock continues to skyrocket as a verbal commit to Louisiana-Lafayette.
A year away from the gridiron, it was tough. So tough that Jordan rejoined the Tiger football team just days before the start of the 2017 season, his senior year. His initial thoughts were to come back as a manager just to get a sniff of what he was missing. The rest is really history.
“Me starting as a manager getting that feeling of being out there on the field or seeing the guys do what they do, I really missed that,” Jordan said. “I wanted to be a part of that, and I thank Coach [Tony] Vance for letting me come back, work and get a chance to play again.”
Vance knew what was coming from the very start.
“I knew he still had that look in his eye and desire in his heart to be out here,” Vance said. “If he couldn’t play, he just wanted to come out here and be a manager. That burning desire to play kind of overwhelmed him.”
Jordan made his season debut week two against Laurel. Simply put, it was like he never left. In a storybook finish, the linebacker came up with the game-sealing interception in the final seconds, which allowed the Tigers to retain the Little Brown Jug for a fourth-straight season.
“It hit me. I’ve got the talent to play football, and I really wanted a chance to play it,” Jordan said. “So I got the chance, and I’m taking advantage of it.”
None of it came easy. Jordan admits learning the playbook and getting back into football shape was a tough task. If anybody can make it look easy though, it’s definitely Jordan. He’s always been that type of person.
“Dexter is having fun and living life every day for what it’s worth,” Vance said. “He does that on a daily basis.”
“Having a lot of fun, but it’s still a work in progress,” Jordan added. “Playing defense and a little offense, it’s a big opportunity because we can accomplish a lot as a football team.”
Jordan and the Tigers (4-0) are off this week and will be back in action next Friday night at home against Gautier.
