Take Pinellas Park's Jordon Scott lightly at your own peril
PINELLAS PARK — Jordon Scott has always been big. He's the kid teachers put in the back row for class pictures. In pee-wee football leagues, he's the one coaches move up because he's too big to play with kids his own age.
Ever since he can remember, his nickname has been "Fat Mac."
So in 2013, as a 290-pound freshman at Pinellas Park High, it's no wonder Scott didn't last long on the junior varsity. Patriots coach Kenny Crawford does not like to move freshmen from junior varsity to varsity. In fact, he'd never done it in his six years as head coach. But when Nate Rivera was suspended for fighting with three games left in the regular season, Scott got the call to start on the defensive line.
He played five games that season, including two playoff games.
"He's the only freshman starter I've ever had," Crawford said. "And he's the only junior varsity player I've had who has come up and played on the defensive line as a freshman in the 20 years I've coached (as a head or assistant coach). In fact, my JV coaches tried to hide him from me. They didn't want to give him up."
Now a 6-foot-2, 350-pound junior, Scott is a secret no longer. He leads the team with 51 tackles in six games. In the last game against Lakewood, Scott had nine tackles (five for a loss) and a sack.
At first glance, Scott doesn't look like he can move fast. That was exactly the first impression some of his teammates had when they saw him on campus.
"Slow. Unathletic," senior linebacker Nate DeMint said. "I didn't think he was going to be any good. But as soon as we started, he was balling."
Scott admits he doesn't make a very good first impression. He does indeed look slow and unathletic.
"I'd prefer people to think that," he said.
Aside from being a good football player, Scott is also a good student. He has a 3.8 grade-point average and has straight As this semester. But grades were not always high on his list.
Scott said he was only an average student until seventh grade. It wasn't that he couldn't do the work, it was mostly because he kept getting referrals for goofing off in class. Then the light bulb came on.
"About late seventh grade I realized that I might be good enough in football to do something with my life," Scott said. "I could have a chance to not only play in the NFL, which is my dream, but to do something else in life. The chance of playing in the NFL is slim, so I have to have a backup plan.
"I started realizing that being bad isn't going to get you anywhere. My mom told some things and I started to turn it around. …The referrals stopped and my grades went up from Bs to As."
Scott also realized that with good grades and good football come college opportunities. So far, he has offers from Florida Atlantic, Southeast Missouri State and Navy. He has interest from other schools, like Vanderbilt, Kentucky and Miami.
"Interest is nothing, I'd like to hear the offer," Scott said. "But it's good to know those schools are watching."
Scott said he would love to play for an Ivy League school, but he is keeping all of his options open. Wherever he ends up, he said he would like to major in science, with an emphasis on biology. He would also like to minor in culinary arts.
It is perhaps a cliche that a 350-pounder likes to cook and eat, but Scott said he is a very good in the kitchen. His grandmother, Elois Scott, taught him to cook at a young age. His specialty is cubed steak, cabbage and cornbread pancakes.
The one thing he could eat at every meal is collard greens.
"My grandmother taught me how to cook them," Scott said. "She makes them for me after every game."
If his first dream of playing in the NFL doesn't work out, Scott said he has another goal. He would like to one day open up his own restaurant and perhaps have a chain like Lee Roy Selmon's.
And lately, Scott has been in good moods after games. The Patriots are 5-1 heading into a must-win game tonight against district rival St. Petersburg. Scott will be counted on to bring pressure against the Green Devils, who boast a very good running attack. His teammates have no doubt he will come through.
"He's mean and aggressive," senior quarterback/linebacker Nick Hernandez said. "He takes it very seriously. And he's a good player to have if you are a linebacker because we barely get touched back there."
