Beloved Kansas athlete, Super Bowl champ takes alma mater on long shot during sports bet

Kansas native and Super Bowl champion Jordy Nelson stayed true to his alma mater by placing a $20 bet Thursday on Kansas State University football winning the Big 12 Conference.

Nelson was hired to take part in the grand opening of the FanDuel Sportsbook at the Kansas Star Casino in Mulvane.

The casino started taking sports bets when it became legal in Kansas on Sept. 1, but the final touches in the sports betting area weren’t done. The grand opening happened just before the NFL kicks off Thursday night. The 2,100-square-foot sports betting zone has kiosks, a betting counter, around 20 recliners and 28 massive TVs.

On the Sept. 1 official launch date, six online platforms, including FanDuel, were ready to launch and start taking bets. The Kansas Star Casino and Hollywood Casino both welcomed in-person sporting. At that time, Boot Hill Casino and Resort in Dodge City and Kansas Crossings Casino in Pittsburg were still working to get in-person sports betting up and running.

Asked about how many people have bet in person and online in Kansas, a FanDuel official said that number has been released in earnings reports in the past. He said current numbers would have to come from the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission, which regulates gambling in the state. The commission did not return a call from The Eagle.

Nelson, 37, who is now retired and coaching at his former school in Riley County, talked about the importance of betting responsibly. He said a few dollars can make some games more interesting.

“I’ve heard before you should never gamble enough to change your tax bracket,” he said. “Put a little bit on there to have some fun but don’t ever put yourself in jeopardy.”

Nelson showed his ticket to media after placing the bet and said it “looks like we will be winning $260 here in a few months.” When a reporter joked that the ticket said he was betting against K-State, he said with a straight face: “Never.”

Nelson fielded questions from the media during the grand opening. Some of those questions came from John Whitmer, a former state representative who runs a conservative radio show. Whitmer asked Nelson what he thinks about the NFL and players having messages like “End Racism” and “Stop Hate” on players’ helmets and similar words on the turf in the end zones.

“It’s a business on their end and they are trying to involve every person into the sport,” he said. “I think the game is for everyone.”

Nelson is a beloved athlete in Kansas history and a big Kansas City Chiefs and Wildcats fan. He played multiple sports at Riley County High School and still holds two state records in 3A track.

He was a walk-on at K-State under legendary coach Bill Snyder, who convinced Nelson to switch from defensive back to receiver. He finished his K-State career off with a bang, going for 1,606 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns. Those stats were more than the two years before that combined.

His first two years in the NFL weren’t glamorous in the stat chart. Nelson’s third season ended with him winning a Super Bowl. He wasn’t one of the biggest names on the Green Bay Packers at that time but had a Super Bowl that started to propel his career into wide receiver dominance.

He scored the first touchdown of the game on nine catches for 140 yards.

During the regular season that year, he had 45 catches for 582 yards and two touchdowns, which was a career high up until that point, according to ESPN. The next season he had 68 catches for 1,263 yards and 15 touchdowns, ESPN data shows.

He had three more 1,000-plus yard seasons before playing his final year with the Oakland Raiders (now Las Vegas). He was 33 when he retired at the end of the 2018 season.

Now he stays busy with farming, golfing and coaching back where he grew up. Nelson and his wife, Emily, who also grew up in that area, have three children.

Nelson is passionate about watching K-State and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Nelson said he’s happy to see the influx of local talent committing to K-State, which includes top-rated Maize quarterback Avery Johnson. Nelson said he hopes the new recruits will help the program get back to the 10-win seasons he was used to watching as a kid.

As for the Chiefs, Nelson, who had future Hall-of-Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers for most of his career, said there will be some uncertainty with the team losing star receiver Tyreek Hill, but you can’t discount any team that has a star quarterback like the Chief’s Patrick Mahomes.

“When you have a quarterback, you are always in the running,” he said.

Since retiring, Nelson has coached baseball, high school basketball alongside his sister and football. He is currently helping coach his son’s middle school football team.

When asked if coaching one age is more frustrating than another, he said: “It’s all frustrating. As they’re young, you’re frustrated and when they’re older you’re still frustrated they still don’t know it and you’ve been coaching them for how long. It’s good. It’s fun.”

And about ever coaching at a higher level, including K-State, he interjected, “No.”

“Their schedule is out of control,” he said. “I want to stay retired.”