07-26-2023, 08:27 PM
(This post was last modified: 08-03-2023, 08:44 PM by Assistant to the POR GM. Edited 6 times in total.)
Bases loaded, top of the ninth, Jordan Bamford on the mound trying to finish his full game shutout in the state championship. In all my years of scouting, I haven’t seen a kid this good. The crowd goes wild as Bamford gets his second strike with top corner fastball. Full count, all he needs is one strike to finish this game. All Jordan knew was baseball, his dad made sure of it. Every second of his life was devoted to becoming the best player he could be, whether it be adding more velocity to his slider, or learning how to hit against righties better, Bamford was always working. His dad, Jake Bamford, was a minor league pitcher for the Nags Head Heads, the triple-a affiliate of the Charlotte Heads. At 42, his odds of reaching the majors were slim as Tutu Atwell. To ensure Jordan would have the pro success he never had, Jake would always keep pushing Jordan to do better. Jordan took a deep breath and threw his pitch, his curveball sunk below the strike zone leaving the batter swinging at air: final Result, East Nags Head High 1, Central Wilmington 0. Walking off the field for the last time as a junior, Jordan knew he would have a lot of attention from colleges coming up.
For most of the summer between his junior year and his senior year all Jordan did was play baseball. He developed a cutter, got his fastballs up to 100mph, and added much more break to his curveballs. He already received scholarships from many colleges and had plenty of pro teams scouting him. But it wasn’t enough to satisfy Jordan, he kept working to the point where he didn’t want to keep going anymore, but there was no getting out of it. His dad had retired to help him develop and he sure as hell didn’t end his 22-year career to let Jordan slack off. After weeks of intense training, it was time for Jordan to visit his family in Sacramento. Jordan was actually born in Sacramento, but when he was young, his parents decided to get divorced because his dad was traded from the San Fransisco dwarves to the Charlotte Heads along with a few rough years of marriage. Jake took Jordan and moved to North Carolina while his mom, Veronica Mickenson, a luxury car salesman, stayed in Sacramento with Jordan’s two older brothers. His sister was forgotten about in the ordeal, but we don’t talk about what happened to Hazel Bamford in the incident of ‘39.
With his desire to practice baseball dwindling Jordan was excited to have some fun in Sacramento. He said bye to his dad, who made him pack all of his baseball equipment and promise to practice and boarded the plane. When he finally arrived he was greeted by his oldest brother Todd, and his other older brother Lucas. Todd was a civil engineer and Lucas was a starting edge rusher for the UC Davis Aggies. Jordan only had one week without baseball which he planned to enjoy. On his third day in Sacramento Jordan with Todd to watch Lucas at training camp. Lucas was practicing with the first-teamers, he did a spin move to the inside of the left tackle and was in pursuit of the quarterback. The quarterback ran to the right, juked back to the left leaving Lucas in the dust then threw a deep ball to his receiver for a touchdown. Even though it was just a training drill Jordan was left astonished. Todd told him that the Quarterback was senior Jamar Lackson, a projected first-round pick with elite mobility and a great arm. Jordan became entranced by his game and started watching his highlights, then started watching football highlights. He fell in love with the game and couldn’t think about anything but football.
When he returned from the trip, he was a completely changed man. Sure he still played baseball, but it was obvious his heart wasn’t in it anymore. Anytime I would see him after a minicamp he would be watching football on his phone or talking to someone about the latest college football game. When his senior year started he was the number 1 pitcher prospect in North Carolina and was still insanely good. When football season started he tried out and made the team as the starting quarterback as many of his pitching skills carried over to football. His baseball season was exquisite, he had a sub-2 era, an 11-0 record, and led them to another state championship. On top of that, he hit .276 and led the team in home runs and rbis. He didn’t have a bad football season either leading the team to a 9-4 record with 21 touchdowns and only 9 interceptions. He showed flashes of greatness in football and seemed to have great potential but it wasn’t enough to get an offer from a team. On the other hand, he had an offer from practically every college to play baseball and a promise from the Nationals that they would pick him in the first round if he went pro. The decision seemed simple, but Jordan didn’t enjoy baseball anymore, his new passion was football and he couldn’t imagine doing anything else. Realizing Jordan wasn’t going to accept a scholarship, Jake was fuming. He told his son that he either had to accept a baseball offer or find his own place to live and so Jordan did just that.
Jordan used his savings to buy a ticket to Sacramento and moved in with Lucas. He walked on at Sacramento State(CSUS) and made the roster. The only problem was that he was the 4th stringer and wouldn’t get any playing time in-game and would barely get any playing time in practice. Unsatisfied, Jordan tried out for every single position in hopes of finding a good fit. Jordan impressed at wide receiver, using his good speed and athleticism to get open and get big gains after the catch. He was redshirted his freshman year and focused on school and finding new hobbies. All his life Jordan had been engrossed in sports and he never spent any time doing anything else. He tried art, video games, cooking, and many more. At the end of the day, the one thing that Jordan enjoyed the most was watching film. His grades were prospering and he would spend a lot of time accompanying Lucas at his new job as a pro scout. Jordan learned a great deal about how to be a great receiver and watched a lot of film from elite slot receivers like Wes Welker and Cooper Kupp.
I was still scouting for the Nationals during his freshman season so I couldn’t watch many of his games. The Hornets had an elite defense and were ranked #25 going into the season. As well, their 5 star qb prospect Tzarent Goff, was ready to play for his sophomore season. In his limited snaps, Jordan had a solid start to the season with 4 receptions for 71 yards in his first four games. I was in Sacramento for an interview to become head of scouting at UC Davis so I managed to watch his fifth game of the season against Eastern Washington. In limited snaps, Bamford impressed with 5 receptions for 61 yards and a touchdown. In total his freshman campaign was quite successful with 27 receptions for 286 yards and 2 touchdowns. Sac State went 12-1 with their only loss being in the bowl game. After the season, Sacramento State made the move from the Big Sky Conference to the much more competitive Pac-12. Sac State was looking like a contender with an elite defense, QB Tzarent Goff popping off, and amazing rb and wr rooms. However, the hype was short-lived as in the offseason star junior wide receiver, Jarrad Ramsay transferred to Alabama after a feud with Bamford and the other receivers..
For his sophomore year, Bamford was named the starting slot receiver and was the #2 receiver on the depth chart. He moved out of Lucas’s home to the Sac State dorms to be closer to the field and spent every last minute of his time playing football. Even his dad started to appreciate and flew in to watch him play. His dad had started a new job as the pitching coach for the heads and had developed some great pitchers in the last few years. Due to my new job at Davis, I managed to watch the game in the stands with his dad. Bamford played outstanding accumulating 9 receptions for 127 yards and 2 touchdowns in a win against UCLA. Sac State couldn’t be stopped for the first half of the season, they were 6-0 and Bamford’s conference-leading 11 touchdowns were a major reason for it. However, their biggest test would be against #1 ranked Alabama and their former Sac State star receiver Jarrad Ramsay. Bamford scored 2 touchdowns early giving the Hornets a 14-0 lead, but Saban’s offense quickly got going tying the game at 28 to end the half. Walking into the locker room I noticed some hostile words being exchanged between Bamford and Ramsay. Coming out of the break Ramsay broke free for a 71-yard touchdown giving Bama their first lead of the game. He ran towards the Hornet’s sideline and yelled “You’re my Bitch” at Bamford. Other than Ramsay’s touchdown, the only points scored were from a Sac State field goal. With three minutes remaining Goff finally found Bamford in the back of the endzone to take the lead. Jordan spiked the ball ran towards Ramsay and yelled, “Your Mama’s my bitch.” Ramsay grabbed Bamford’s face mask and after some ferocious words, Ramsay and Jordan started exchanging punches. After a minute the two were split apart, both were bruised across their body and Ramsay had a bloody nose. Both were suspended for 5 weeks for the incident to both team's dismay. Sac State would drop 3 of the 5 without Bamford and they ended at 8-5. Even with the suspension Bamford nearly reached 1000 yards at 991 yards and he grabbed 17 touchdowns
In his junior year, Bamford couldn’t be stopped. He was the best receiver in the nation to start the season with 342 yards and 3 touchdowns in his first two games. Sac State were ranked #4 going into week 3 but a 41-44 loss to Arizona saw them fall to #11. Jordan continued performing well and surpassed his yards total from the previous year after week 6. After a few good performances, CSUS was ranked just outside of the college football playoffs at #5. Instead of competing for the championship, the Hornets would face the Crimson Tide and Jarrad Ramsay in the Rose Bowl. Bamford and Ramsay were the two best receivers in the nation by far with Bamford slightly edging out Ramsay in most categories. To start the game both defenses dominated, the first points came from an Alabama field goal in the second quarter. Then, Ramsay and Bamford exchanged long touchdowns making it a 3-point Hornets deficit to end the half. Sac State scored 17 unanswered points in the third to take a 24-10 lead and put the pressure on Nick Saban. Saban drew up a brilliant play that saw the Rolltide rb throwing it to the fullback for a touchdown. The Hornets had a long, clock-draining drive that resulted in a field goal to make it a two score game. Alabama quickly scored a touchdown to make it a one score game then forced CSUS to punt with less than 2 minutes on the clock. Ramsay fielded the punt, juked one defender, and cut in between two others to suddenly find himself in open space. He easily outran the punter and scored the touchdown for the lead. With time winding down and no timeouts Sac State needed a quick field goal to tie, Goff completed a few quick passes to move up the 50. Goff took the snap with less than 20 seconds remaining and handed it to Bamford on a jet sweep, he outran everyone to the edge, then bolted forwards juking passed 2 guys and stiff-arming a third. He found himself in a footrace to the endzone which he barely won, scoring the walk off touchdown in the Rose Bowl. Bamford finished the season with 154 receptions for 1781 yards and 23 touchdowns. He was named team MVP and would win the Fred Biletnikoff award in a landslide over Jarrad Ramsay. He came narrowly in second for the Heisman behind LSU quarterback Joe Sheisty who had 5200 yards and 54 touchdowns along with a national championship win.
Bamford had a major choice to make for his senior year, he could play another season for the Hornets and try to win a Heisman or the Natty. Or he could declare for the DSFL draft in hopes of making it pro. He easily made the choice to declare and understands the increased level of competition but he knows he has the skills to make it at the next level.
As someone who spent most of his adult life watching Jordan Bamford play, I feel like I’m qualified to discuss why he should be drafted. Bamford is very confident, he allowed me to release this article about him although it’s absolutely terrible. He’s a super funny and nice guy to be around, or at least that’s what his mom said about him once. Finally, most important of all, he has no life, and so a lot of time to be on Discord and be active. This is Xiaueoziio Musk ending my report on Jordan Bamford and wishing him luck on his next journey in life.
For most of the summer between his junior year and his senior year all Jordan did was play baseball. He developed a cutter, got his fastballs up to 100mph, and added much more break to his curveballs. He already received scholarships from many colleges and had plenty of pro teams scouting him. But it wasn’t enough to satisfy Jordan, he kept working to the point where he didn’t want to keep going anymore, but there was no getting out of it. His dad had retired to help him develop and he sure as hell didn’t end his 22-year career to let Jordan slack off. After weeks of intense training, it was time for Jordan to visit his family in Sacramento. Jordan was actually born in Sacramento, but when he was young, his parents decided to get divorced because his dad was traded from the San Fransisco dwarves to the Charlotte Heads along with a few rough years of marriage. Jake took Jordan and moved to North Carolina while his mom, Veronica Mickenson, a luxury car salesman, stayed in Sacramento with Jordan’s two older brothers. His sister was forgotten about in the ordeal, but we don’t talk about what happened to Hazel Bamford in the incident of ‘39.
With his desire to practice baseball dwindling Jordan was excited to have some fun in Sacramento. He said bye to his dad, who made him pack all of his baseball equipment and promise to practice and boarded the plane. When he finally arrived he was greeted by his oldest brother Todd, and his other older brother Lucas. Todd was a civil engineer and Lucas was a starting edge rusher for the UC Davis Aggies. Jordan only had one week without baseball which he planned to enjoy. On his third day in Sacramento Jordan with Todd to watch Lucas at training camp. Lucas was practicing with the first-teamers, he did a spin move to the inside of the left tackle and was in pursuit of the quarterback. The quarterback ran to the right, juked back to the left leaving Lucas in the dust then threw a deep ball to his receiver for a touchdown. Even though it was just a training drill Jordan was left astonished. Todd told him that the Quarterback was senior Jamar Lackson, a projected first-round pick with elite mobility and a great arm. Jordan became entranced by his game and started watching his highlights, then started watching football highlights. He fell in love with the game and couldn’t think about anything but football.
When he returned from the trip, he was a completely changed man. Sure he still played baseball, but it was obvious his heart wasn’t in it anymore. Anytime I would see him after a minicamp he would be watching football on his phone or talking to someone about the latest college football game. When his senior year started he was the number 1 pitcher prospect in North Carolina and was still insanely good. When football season started he tried out and made the team as the starting quarterback as many of his pitching skills carried over to football. His baseball season was exquisite, he had a sub-2 era, an 11-0 record, and led them to another state championship. On top of that, he hit .276 and led the team in home runs and rbis. He didn’t have a bad football season either leading the team to a 9-4 record with 21 touchdowns and only 9 interceptions. He showed flashes of greatness in football and seemed to have great potential but it wasn’t enough to get an offer from a team. On the other hand, he had an offer from practically every college to play baseball and a promise from the Nationals that they would pick him in the first round if he went pro. The decision seemed simple, but Jordan didn’t enjoy baseball anymore, his new passion was football and he couldn’t imagine doing anything else. Realizing Jordan wasn’t going to accept a scholarship, Jake was fuming. He told his son that he either had to accept a baseball offer or find his own place to live and so Jordan did just that.
Jordan used his savings to buy a ticket to Sacramento and moved in with Lucas. He walked on at Sacramento State(CSUS) and made the roster. The only problem was that he was the 4th stringer and wouldn’t get any playing time in-game and would barely get any playing time in practice. Unsatisfied, Jordan tried out for every single position in hopes of finding a good fit. Jordan impressed at wide receiver, using his good speed and athleticism to get open and get big gains after the catch. He was redshirted his freshman year and focused on school and finding new hobbies. All his life Jordan had been engrossed in sports and he never spent any time doing anything else. He tried art, video games, cooking, and many more. At the end of the day, the one thing that Jordan enjoyed the most was watching film. His grades were prospering and he would spend a lot of time accompanying Lucas at his new job as a pro scout. Jordan learned a great deal about how to be a great receiver and watched a lot of film from elite slot receivers like Wes Welker and Cooper Kupp.
I was still scouting for the Nationals during his freshman season so I couldn’t watch many of his games. The Hornets had an elite defense and were ranked #25 going into the season. As well, their 5 star qb prospect Tzarent Goff, was ready to play for his sophomore season. In his limited snaps, Jordan had a solid start to the season with 4 receptions for 71 yards in his first four games. I was in Sacramento for an interview to become head of scouting at UC Davis so I managed to watch his fifth game of the season against Eastern Washington. In limited snaps, Bamford impressed with 5 receptions for 61 yards and a touchdown. In total his freshman campaign was quite successful with 27 receptions for 286 yards and 2 touchdowns. Sac State went 12-1 with their only loss being in the bowl game. After the season, Sacramento State made the move from the Big Sky Conference to the much more competitive Pac-12. Sac State was looking like a contender with an elite defense, QB Tzarent Goff popping off, and amazing rb and wr rooms. However, the hype was short-lived as in the offseason star junior wide receiver, Jarrad Ramsay transferred to Alabama after a feud with Bamford and the other receivers..
For his sophomore year, Bamford was named the starting slot receiver and was the #2 receiver on the depth chart. He moved out of Lucas’s home to the Sac State dorms to be closer to the field and spent every last minute of his time playing football. Even his dad started to appreciate and flew in to watch him play. His dad had started a new job as the pitching coach for the heads and had developed some great pitchers in the last few years. Due to my new job at Davis, I managed to watch the game in the stands with his dad. Bamford played outstanding accumulating 9 receptions for 127 yards and 2 touchdowns in a win against UCLA. Sac State couldn’t be stopped for the first half of the season, they were 6-0 and Bamford’s conference-leading 11 touchdowns were a major reason for it. However, their biggest test would be against #1 ranked Alabama and their former Sac State star receiver Jarrad Ramsay. Bamford scored 2 touchdowns early giving the Hornets a 14-0 lead, but Saban’s offense quickly got going tying the game at 28 to end the half. Walking into the locker room I noticed some hostile words being exchanged between Bamford and Ramsay. Coming out of the break Ramsay broke free for a 71-yard touchdown giving Bama their first lead of the game. He ran towards the Hornet’s sideline and yelled “You’re my Bitch” at Bamford. Other than Ramsay’s touchdown, the only points scored were from a Sac State field goal. With three minutes remaining Goff finally found Bamford in the back of the endzone to take the lead. Jordan spiked the ball ran towards Ramsay and yelled, “Your Mama’s my bitch.” Ramsay grabbed Bamford’s face mask and after some ferocious words, Ramsay and Jordan started exchanging punches. After a minute the two were split apart, both were bruised across their body and Ramsay had a bloody nose. Both were suspended for 5 weeks for the incident to both team's dismay. Sac State would drop 3 of the 5 without Bamford and they ended at 8-5. Even with the suspension Bamford nearly reached 1000 yards at 991 yards and he grabbed 17 touchdowns
In his junior year, Bamford couldn’t be stopped. He was the best receiver in the nation to start the season with 342 yards and 3 touchdowns in his first two games. Sac State were ranked #4 going into week 3 but a 41-44 loss to Arizona saw them fall to #11. Jordan continued performing well and surpassed his yards total from the previous year after week 6. After a few good performances, CSUS was ranked just outside of the college football playoffs at #5. Instead of competing for the championship, the Hornets would face the Crimson Tide and Jarrad Ramsay in the Rose Bowl. Bamford and Ramsay were the two best receivers in the nation by far with Bamford slightly edging out Ramsay in most categories. To start the game both defenses dominated, the first points came from an Alabama field goal in the second quarter. Then, Ramsay and Bamford exchanged long touchdowns making it a 3-point Hornets deficit to end the half. Sac State scored 17 unanswered points in the third to take a 24-10 lead and put the pressure on Nick Saban. Saban drew up a brilliant play that saw the Rolltide rb throwing it to the fullback for a touchdown. The Hornets had a long, clock-draining drive that resulted in a field goal to make it a two score game. Alabama quickly scored a touchdown to make it a one score game then forced CSUS to punt with less than 2 minutes on the clock. Ramsay fielded the punt, juked one defender, and cut in between two others to suddenly find himself in open space. He easily outran the punter and scored the touchdown for the lead. With time winding down and no timeouts Sac State needed a quick field goal to tie, Goff completed a few quick passes to move up the 50. Goff took the snap with less than 20 seconds remaining and handed it to Bamford on a jet sweep, he outran everyone to the edge, then bolted forwards juking passed 2 guys and stiff-arming a third. He found himself in a footrace to the endzone which he barely won, scoring the walk off touchdown in the Rose Bowl. Bamford finished the season with 154 receptions for 1781 yards and 23 touchdowns. He was named team MVP and would win the Fred Biletnikoff award in a landslide over Jarrad Ramsay. He came narrowly in second for the Heisman behind LSU quarterback Joe Sheisty who had 5200 yards and 54 touchdowns along with a national championship win.
Bamford had a major choice to make for his senior year, he could play another season for the Hornets and try to win a Heisman or the Natty. Or he could declare for the DSFL draft in hopes of making it pro. He easily made the choice to declare and understands the increased level of competition but he knows he has the skills to make it at the next level.
As someone who spent most of his adult life watching Jordan Bamford play, I feel like I’m qualified to discuss why he should be drafted. Bamford is very confident, he allowed me to release this article about him although it’s absolutely terrible. He’s a super funny and nice guy to be around, or at least that’s what his mom said about him once. Finally, most important of all, he has no life, and so a lot of time to be on Discord and be active. This is Xiaueoziio Musk ending my report on Jordan Bamford and wishing him luck on his next journey in life.