He didn’t play football until he turned 20. Now Dyjuan Jordan is a starter for MJC.

On Nov. 21, 2016, his 20th birthday, Dyjuan Jordan made a decision:

He wanted to play football.

“I have always been a neighborhood basketball and football player,” Jordan said. “I was just thinking about my dad telling me that I was athletic enough to do it.”

Problem was... Jordan hadn’t played any football since he was 9 so was there a way he could play college football?

Yes.. well sort of..

Jordan enrolled in Modesto Junior College head coach Rusty Stivers’ touch football class in the spring of 2017 and it was there where he excelled.

“We did measurements and he had an extremely fast 40-yard dash time and he long jumped over 10 feet,” Stivers said. “I started asking him questions and found out he hadn’t played a lot of football.”

Stivers encouraged Jordan to try out for the team during the summer.

“I was pretty confident (about making the team) because I did pretty well (during the tryout),” Jordan said.

Stivers was going down the line of the players who tried out telling some they made it while others unfortunately wouldn’t be joining the Pirates. Relief set in when Stivers told Jordan that he made the team.

“He said I might have a chance at playing defensive back,” Jordan said. “I wanted to play wide receiver but he told me I should play defensive back and at first, I was a little worried about it but then I was like I’ll play wherever they put me.”

It just another challenge for Jordan to overcome..

Jordan was raised in Oakland until his family moved to Modesto when he was 9. He went to John Muir Elementary, La Loma Middle School, and Downey High School.

In high school, he ran into some academic issues.

“I was in an AVID (college readiness) class and I wasn’t really liking the class,” Jordan said. I wasn’t really working in it and I missed out on a year of elective credits.”

During the second semester of his sophomore year, Jordan transferred to Elliott Continuation School, where he finished the rest of his high school career before going to MJC.

As a freshman on the team, Jordan “was basically learning how to play football” Stivers said but he was able to contribute and had seven tackles in six games in 2017 as well as one memorable moment midway through the fourth quarter against Chabot on Oct. 28, 2017.

His first career interception.

“It was kind of crazy,” Jordan said. “I didn’t know what to do. I had a lot of emotions when I was moving around but after the play, I was like I could have done this or done that.”

This year, Jordan has started all four games and has five tackles and one fumble recovery.

“He didn’t play high school football and now he is a starter for us,” Stivers said. “It’s pretty impressive.”

It’s even more impressive considering the Pirates are playing their “toughest schedule in last 40 years” according to Stivers, with games against several of the top teams in the state including No. 2 Laney, No. 6 San Mateo, and No. 7 San Francisco City College.

Jordan is enjoying every moment of it.

“Football is crazy, it’s like life honestly,” Jordan said. “It shows you everything you are made of. When I am on the field, nothing else is on my mind.”

The 5-foot-10, 175-pound corner back has also enjoyed the academic side of college, including developing a passion for sociology thanks to Professor J Douglas Penn.

“He really got me into sociology,” Jordan said. “It’s my major and it’s something I really like.”

Besides hopefully playing in the NFL in the next 10 years, Jordan also wants work in the community, specifically with kids.

“I just met Dyjuan over the summer and his charisma was infectious,” Penn said. “He certainly pursues excellence and he believes in excelling at everything he does.”

Stivers also said Dyjuan is a great student on and off the field and defensive coordinator Jim Stevens and defensive backs coach Brett Butler both are “really impressed” with his growth.

Jordan said he knows that not everybody gets the opportunity that he has and he wants to make the most of it for him and his family.

“My dad was always on me about it (the opportunities),” Dyjuan said. “He says you have a lot more opportunities than anyone else in the family so take advantage of it now before they slip out of your fingers so that’s a big thing for me... not living up to my potential and not being able to take care of my family with the opportunities that have been given to me.”

He made the decision 675 days ago and now Dyjuan Jordan is a key member of the Modesto Junior College football team.

The Pirates host San Mateo at 6 p.m. on Saturday and the game will be live-streamed at https://www.norcalsportstv.com.

This story was originally published September 26, 2018 at 12:59 PM.