Clearly, He’s K.J., Not J.J. : Jordan Goes Own Route in Emerging as a Force for UCLA While Stokes Battles Through Injuries

J.J. Stokes was musing about his place in UCLA lore when he stopped, thought a minute and decided that it really didn’t matter.

Fame is fleeting.

“I thought, ‘You’ll go down in history,’ ” Stokes said. “But eventually, Kevin’s going to break all of the records anyway.”

Kevin Jordan has already begun replacing Stokes in the Bruin record book with 1,015 yards receiving this season. The overall mark, including postseason play, is 1,181 yards, within reach in a year that won’t include a bowl game.

Jordan’s 63 receptions are five fewer than Stokes’ regular-season record, set last season.

Sean LaChapelle holds the school record for catches in a career, 142. Stokes is one behind with two games to play. Jordan, a junior, has 126.

Stokes’ record for yardage is 2,173. Jordan has 1,777.

It’s a quiet pursuit that is really no pursuit at all because if Jordan is chipping away at Stokes’ fame, you can’t hear the hammer.

A touchdown by Stokes involves a helmet off as an invitation to a camera, hands in the air seeking crowd approval. It is theater, a curtain call after a performance.

Last season, each time he broke a record held by LaChapelle, also no stranger to the crowd, it was duly acknowledged with an announcement, inviting more applause.

When Jordan broke Stokes’ record on Oct. 29, you heard about it on Oct. 31.

They are teammates who complement each other and Coach Terry Donahue sees the pair as key to the Bruins’ 3-6 record.

“It would have really been interesting to have both of them all season,” he said, wistfully.

The Bruins haven’t, because of Stokes’ leg injury, and that disability has overshadowed Jordan’s accomplishments.

He is comfortable in the shadows.

“J.J. is a consensus All-American. He was a Heisman Trophy candidate,” Jordan said. “I love what he’s done. It’s just the way life is. People are going to note his accomplishments more than mine, but that’s OK.

“The book is going to have my name, and that’s nice, but in a few years it’s going to say somebody else’s name. It’s just going to be a nice little trivia question five or 10 years down the road: Who set the single-season yardage record? Nine times out of 10, people are going to say J.J. or Sean. That’s fine. It doesn’t bother me.”

Little does. Jordan is a throwback to pre-television days when a player caught a pass, was tackled, then handed the ball to an official and went off to the huddle. A touchdown was only another catch that changed numbers on a scoreboard.

Nowadays, UCLA practices post-touchdown celebrations, the procedure involving the scorer handing the ball to a lineman and getting out of the way.

It’s a part Jordan has had trouble playing after his six touchdowns.

“It’s part of my character,” he said. “I just don’t want to draw attention to myself. I can score a touchdown and say, ‘Yeah, it’s me, me, me,’ but it’s not. I had 10 other guys who helped me get into the end zone. It’s good when you celebrate. I’m not being critical of anyone, but that’s just not me.”

Jordan has a work ethic that is paying off.

He came to UCLA from Beltsville, Md., to join his brother, Al, who had an injury-plagued career in Westwood. Kevin Jordan was a 170-pound tight end for a High Point High team that only occasionally threw the ball and was better known as a defensive back who had 16 interceptions in his senior season.

Former Bruin assistant Rick Neuheisel became Jordan’s mentor, teaching him to catch the ball and read defenses, and, after missing a season because of an injury in a high school all-star game, and another because he was red-shirted, Jordan caught 18 passes for 150 yards as a freshman.

He had 45 receptions for 612 yards as a sophomore, while Stokes was breaking LaChapelle’s records.

To some extent, they fed off each other. Stokes was the more physically gifted at 6 feet 5, 217 pounds, faster and more flamboyant, Jordan less imposing but effective.

Opposing coaches would talk of Stokes, but warn everyone not to ignore Jordan.

When Jordan caught six passes for 152 yards, scoring on a 52-yard play against Tennessee to open this season, hopes were high for UCLA.

But when Stokes suffered a thigh bruise that night that has allowed him to play only one full game and parts of three others, those hopes were dashed.

Jordan has prospered in Stokes’ absence, though not because of it.

“It’s not so much that J.J. has not been in there as that Kevin has blossomed,” Donahue said. “He would have had this kind of year even if J.J. had been in there.

“What people don’t realize is that Kevin Jordan was one of the three or four hardest workers we had in the off-season.”

Physical preparation is one thing. Mental preparation is another. Jordan remains uncomfortable and a bit awed by acclaim.

He might be the only one who doesn’t know how good he really is. The UCLA record book can provide a clue. So do agents, who are beginning to call. The NFL might be the judge.

“I can only let time answer that question for me,” he said. “I don’t know if I’m good enough to play in the NFL. . . . People keep asking me if I’m going to come out and try to play in the NFL after this year. Where does that come from? I’m serious about that.”

Instead, he sees himself returning for his senior season. He can graduate this spring, but might delay it. Or he can take a second major, to accompany a degree in sociology. Or he can go to graduate school. Options abound.

“I’m in a good situation,” he said.

It’s one for the books, however quickly the pages change.

Big Numbers

Comparing UCLA’s Kevin Jordan through nine games this season with J.J. Stokes through nine games in 1993.

Player Rec. Yds Avg TD Kevin Jordan 63 1,015 16.1 6 J.J. Stokes 55 879 16.0 16