‘This was the plan’: Jordy Nelson loving post-NFL life as a farmer and K-State fan
There is only one main difference between Jordy Nelson and everyone else who lives in Manhattan or its surrounding farming communities.
He used to be famous.
When Nelson retired from the NFL after a long career that featured millions of dollars in salary, hundreds of catches from Aaron Rodgers, 72 touchdowns with the Packers/Raiders and one Super Bowl ring, he decided to move back home to Kansas and raise his family on a farm between Leonardville and Riley.
These days, he blends in like any other farmer. He drives a truck. He wears jeans. He works around the clock when it’s time to harvest crops. Hardly anyone notices when he goes shopping at a local store or eats at a popular restaurant. Sometimes, a stranger will ask for a picture in Manhattan. But that’s about all the attention he gets.
“People ask me all the time what kind of reception I get when I go back home,” Nelson said. “They don’t care about me. I’m the same little brat kid that ran around for all those years when I was at Riley County.”
A semblance of anonymity has allowed Nelson to establish the same type of daily routine as anyone else in the area, even though he was once a star receiver for the Kansas State Wildcats and he used to be a staple on fantasy football teams.
He plays golf once a week at Colbert Hills with friends, but he makes sure to start early in the morning so he still has time to complete his chores. He coaches youth sports and recently agreed to become the assistant girls basketball coach at Riley County High School.
He watches high school football on Fridays at Riley County, his alma mater. He tailgates in the Kansas State parking lot on Saturdays and never misses a home K-State football game. He spends most of his free time with his wife and three children.
Sounds like any other average dad, right?
Not even joining the K-State athletics Hall of Fame was enough to break his normal routine last week.
“I’m leaving here to go work cattle,” he said.
Life was much different for him when he was catching passes in front of big crowds on Sundays in Green Bay.
Those were fun days, but he says he doesn’t miss them.
“I haven’t second-guessed my decision to retire all,” Nelson said. “It’s been a great transition to come back here. I think we’ve been busy enough with everything from the kids to building a new house. I have enjoyed every Saturday coming in here and tailgating, watching games.”
Unlike some NFL players, he knew exactly what he wanted to do when his playing career came to an end. That helped make for an easy transition.
Nelson wanted to return to his roots and settle back into the life he enjoyed when he was unheralded high school defensive back, before Bill Snyder convinced him to walk on at K-State and then suggested he switch positions to receiver. One could say he paused that life to go play football.
“This was the plan,” Nelson said. “I am very fortunate to marry someone who grew up with me and went to Riley County with me and grew up three miles away from where we just built our house. I wasn’t having to debate between do we move back to your hometown or my hometown? It was come back to work on the farm, hang out, enjoy K-State, enjoy being around the family and put our kids in a small school.”
Some have suggested he called it quits too early.
He caught 63 passes for 739 yards and three touchdowns during his final season with the Raiders in 2018, and he was only 33. Who’s to say he couldn’t still be playing today if that’s what he truly wanted.
But it’s easy to see why he has no regrets about how and when he decided to trade in his football cleats for cowboy boots.
This post-football life suits him.