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Jordan Highley continues chasing football dreams
By Amanda Miller
Nevada Daily Mail
The Joplin Crusaders, Missouri's only semi-professional football team, are making extraordinary strides this season.
Although the team has only been playing for about 13 years, the Crusaders are six-time CFL Champions and three-time CFL runners-up. Last season, after winning the championship, they even had the opportunity to travel to Texas, where they played a bowl game at the AT&T Stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys.
Jordan Highley, an outside linebacker for the Crusaders, is one of two members of the team with Nevada ties. Running back Heath Baker is the other.
Baker, who was profiled in an earlier story, is a Nevada High School graduate.
"It was humongous," Highley said, recounting his experience at AT&T Stadium last year. "Loudest place I've ever played in.
"It was just awesome, especially because they're so high, nationally. There was a Jumbotron TV and it was just quite the experience."
This is Highley's third season playing on Joplin's team. The first year he played, the Crusaders were runner-up for the championship -- last year, they won.
"Currently, the team is 7-0 and we're looking to win another championship," he said.
The Crusaders have an overall record of 133-16, only having lost less than 10 percent of their games in the 13 years they have been playing. The team travels across the region, with games in Kansas City, Wichita, Oklahoma and Arkansas, as well as Missouri.
Highley said he really enjoys being part of the Crusaders because "after college, I got to play football again. I loved having the venue for being able to play after college. A lot of people are still athletes at that age and being able to continue the career is nice."
He added that this team is "a neat mix of people. Some of the guys are straight out of high school that didn't get recruited, some from small schools, some Division I college. We've even played against guys in the NFL."
Glad for the chance to continue football semi-professionally, Highley exclaimed, "I still got it! I don't like to brag, but I'm pretty good at it. It's one things that I can say I'm good at."
Highley added that he particularly enjoys being able to work with a different mix of talent levels, because it's a lot different from how high school and college were, where most of his teammates had the same skills or experience.
A graduate from Fort Scott High School, Highley continued his education at Friends University, in Wichita, where he received two bachelor's degrees and played football.
Currently, he said he's attending Missouri State University, where he's a year away from his master's in Special Education. He has a 3.75 GPA and has been recognized on the Dean's List for his accomplishments.
"I just took a job in El Dorado for next year to teach and right now, I work in student teaching, in Nevada."
When asked what his plans for the future were, Highley said, "Every year, I say it's the last year I'm going to play. We work and train so hard, when you're finished, your body feels like it got into a car wreck. But I love it. Every year, I say I won't play again and then, I get in better shape."
Even after suffering a knee and leg injury in a four-wheeling accident -- after which he was told he might never walk again, let alone play football -- Highley endured through it all to do what he loves.
An added bonus is that the team stays connected to the community, he said.
Highley added that the team has special promotions in which youth attend the games free of charge and just recently, the Crusaders teamed up with the Wounded Warrior Project and donated half of its proceeds.
The Wounded Warrior Project raises money to help those in the military who are wounded in action and then, come back home.
Military members are honored at the games, "so the charity event is for them," Highley explained. There is more information about The Wounded Warrior Project on the team's website.
"I just wish more people knew about it," said Highley, in reference to the Crusaders. He said he wants students to realize that they have an opportunity with the Crusaders to continue playing football, even after college and have the same chance to keep living their dreams.