'LLTY': How remembering Ty Jordan impels Notre Dame defensive end Nana Osafo-Mensah

The toughest year of Nana Osafo-Mensah’s Notre Dame career was 2020. No other compares. 

Osafo-Mensah tore his meniscus late in the summer. The injury held him out of all 12 Fighting Irish kickoffs. That was after he earned playing time in two games as a true freshman in 2019. He was bound to see some action as a sophomore if not for the banged up knee. He has played in all but one of Notre Dame’s 34 games the last three seasons. 

Osafo-Mensah’s parents didn’t go to Notre Dame’s games in 2020, partly because their son wasn’t playing and partly because Notre Dame Stadium had attendance parameters in place to slow the spread of COVID-19. Every Saturday, Osafo-Mensah was over 1,000 miles from home without family to spend time with or football to play. 

That stung. All of it. 

It was still nothing like the sting he felt early on the morning after Christmas, six days before his Irish teammates — those healthy enough to do so — kicked off against Alabama in Notre Dame’s second College Football Playoff appearance in the last three years. 

The holidays. Notre Dame in the CFP. It was supposed to be a joyous time for Osafo-Mensah, something to take his mind off a trying semester. It wasn’t. He found out through an ESPN notification one of his best high school friends, Ty Jordan, died via an accidental gunshot wound on Christmas night. 

Osafo-Mensah immediately called Joey Moss, an assistant coach at his and Jordan’s high school training outfit, True Buzz Athletics, through which they were 7-on-7 teammates. Moss answered and confirmed what Osafo-Mensah and so many others couldn’t believe. Didn’t want to believe. 

Jordan, 19, was gone. Forever. 

“He was broken up about it,” Moss told Blue & Gold Illustrated. “He took it rough. He really hated to hear the news.” 

Lil bro always put a smile on my face from crackin jokes to grindin on the turf… Can’t believe you were taken so soon after accomplishing so much… So Hard to loose a brudda but always gonna ball out in your memory💔 #LLTY https://t.co/poUbHCdw4r

— NaNa Osafo-Mensah (@NaNaOsafo2) December 26, 2020

‘ALL SO SURREAL’

Jordan was a record-setting freshman running back at Utah at the time of his passing. Osafo-Mensah remembers watching Jordan run 83 times for 597 yards and 6 touchdowns and catch 11 passes for 126 yards in five games on his way to winning Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year and All-Pac-12 Second Team honors. He was a first-team freshman All-American per The Athletic. 

“He had a bright future,” Osafo-Mensah told Blue & Gold. “A super bright future. That’s all we wanted for him. To see his life get taken by something that’s so avoidable like a gun accident, it just sucks to see that.” 

The fatality occurred in Denton, Texas. Jordan was home on holiday break in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. In a twist of fate, Notre Dame’s playoff game, the Rose Bowl, was played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Osafo-Mensah was supposed to see his close friend sometime during the duo’s overlapping stays in DFW. They had plenty of time; Osafo-Mensah is from Fort Worth and didn’t need to get back to South Bend until mid-January. He’d be there long after the CFP semifinal. 

It still never happened. They didn’t have enough time. Life is short. Jordan’s was shortened. 

He was laid to rest after a funeral held at AT&T Stadium, of all places, five days after Osafo-Mensah’s team played there. 

“It was all so surreal,” Osafo-Mensah said. 

Osafo-Mensah was good to go for offseason workouts a few weeks after Jordan’s service. On March 4, 2021, he shared a photo of a four-letter acronym written in big, black ink on the outside of his white, right Under Armour cleat; LLTY — Long Live Ty. 

The same four letters are included in his “X” bio, accompanied by a dove emoji. That’s not lost on Takka Jordan, Ty’s aunt who has been an excellent arbiter of preserving her nephew’s memory. 

“It’s so awesome,” she told Blue & Gold Illustrated. “It is such a blessing to have so many guys who remember Ty fondly. I love it. And I’m very thankful to for them to continue to keep Ty’s name and legacy alive.” 

It’s not difficult for those who knew him to do that. Osafo-Mensah called Jordan “a sensation” — on and off the field. He said he was happy to be involved in all things football. That was infectious. 

Moss saw it the same way. 

“Ty Jordan was a people person,” he said. “Never met a stranger. Biggest smile in the room. Probably the toughest competitor we’ve ever had at True Buzz when it comes to wanting to go best on best.” 

Osafo-Mensah wanted to be around such drive. Such fire. He spent the summer of 2020 working out with Jordan at True Buzz before he went north to Indiana and Jordan went west to Utah. Neither had any idea those workouts under the hot Texas sun would be the last they ever had together. Football was supposed to be something they shared throughout college and possibly into the pros. 

It wasn’t meant to be. 

‘ALWAYS A PLAN’

Osafo-Mensah found a glass half full where others would have thrown a glass half empty at the ground and given up. He wears No. 31 at Notre Dame because there are 31 chapters in The Book of Proverbs. He’s a man of religious conviction, and he leaned on it heavily in the wake of his friend’s sudden passing. 

“People go through a lot of situations out of their control, but they can really stay strong in their faith,” Osafo-Mensah said. “There is always a plan for you. There is always a reason for why something is happening. It can take you a long way. It can really get you out of some dark places.”

It’s taken Osafo-Mensah to the point of being one of the most reliable players on a Notre Dame defense that has excelled, perhaps beyond expectations, in 2023, even though he isn’t a starter or a team captain in his fifth season.

Osafo-Mensah had back-to-back games with a sack to begin October. He previously had 1.0 sack in four-plus years at Notre Dame. He’s coming on strong, and he still has another year of collegiate eligibility if he wishes to prove he can come on even stronger. He said he’s still contemplating his future.

Jordan would be proud of the success of his companion regardless of what he decides. They were both bound for a ton of it. Only Osafo-Mensah is able to keep the pair’s dream alive. He does so through the strength of four letters and the empowerment that comes from playing for something — for someone — bigger than himself. 

“He is an outspoken leader,” Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said. “He leads through the way he performs but also sometimes through his verbal emotion. He’s a well-respected guy amongst our players. He’s done a great job. 

“And [he’s] another guy that takes advantage of his opportunities. A guy that probably deep down would want to be the starter and get more reps, but he doesn’t complain. He gives you everything he has with his reps and gives his team as much leadership as he has in his body. 

“We need guys like Nana to reach our full potential. You can’t just rely on only the head coach or only the captains to be leaders… Nana is a true example of a leader for our program.”