A salute to Jordan Whittington, one of the most persistent, unbreakable Texas Longhorns in school history

It’s rather amazing that Jordan Whittington even finished his football career at Texas. His body, mind and spirit should have been broken years ago.

But it wasn’t. That’s not how they’re built in Cuero, Texas. And now, the sixth-round draft pick everybody figured would break down physically is now on a 53-man NFL roster as a member of the Los Angeles Rams.

Duct tape and bailing wire sure can hold your dreams together. A high school groin injury. A hamstring issue in 2020. A torn meniscus, a strained hip flexor, a broken clavicle. If he could go back in time, what would 2022 Whittington tell his younger self?

“The first thing I would tell him is take care of your body,” Whittington said at the time. “I know you’re coming out of high school, you’re young, you feel great. And when you’re young, you can go practice, go home, go to sleep, come back, and you’ll feel the same.

“When you get older and you go through what I went through,” he added, “you have to make a conscious effort to take care of your body.”

Whittington goes the distance at Texas

Whittington was healthy going into that season and he played in all 13 games, finishing second on the team with 652 receiving yards. Then as a senior, Whittington went the distance again, playing the entire season and catching 42 passes.

All told, Whittington finished with 141 catches for 1,757 yards and five touchdowns from 2019-23 at Texas.

Whittington never let those injuries derail his vision. His life has been consumed with hydrotherapy, cold tubs, hot tubs and contrast baths. Even two years ago, Whittington admitted, “I’m probably doing three more hours a day on just my body.”

But that’s what it takes for those who want to overcome whatever obstacle is presented.

“You could give up, and if you give up, you know it’s a no,” Whittington said before his junior season. “But what if you do it again, and what if this is the time that God blesses me to actually go all the way? So that's kind of how I view it and just how I was raised.

“I don't really start stuff and not finish it.”

Now with the Rams, Whittington has a chance to become the surprise draft pick of the 2024 class. The team needs receiving depth. Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacau are expected to be the primary targets and for good reason. Who’s the third receiver?

From sixth-round pick to the 53-man roster

Whittington had an impressive training camp with double-digit catches in preseason games. Rams coach Sean McVay was confident Whittington could be another diamond in the rough. “He’s going to be a factor for us,” McVay said.

The odds are always stacked against sixth-round draft picks. Typically, they get cut when rosters are formalized, if not well before. At that point in the draft, teams will take fliers on players just because they have to draft somebody.

Not many Rams fans thought about Nacau after he was a fifth-round pick in 2023. But Nacau took the league by storm. Who’s to say Whittington won’t as well?

At this point, anyone who doubts Jordan Whittington’s ability to contribute simply doesn’t know who they’re talking about.

“If somebody asked me would I want to take everything back and just have a smooth transition through college, go straight to the NFL in three years, I don't think I would,” Whittington said in 2022. “I was so — mentally, I was just childish. I'm glad I went through those things. I'm glad where I am right now.”