‘Team mom’ status brings comfort to aunt of late Utah player, Ty Jordan

PASADENA, Calif. — Some 50,000 University of Utah fans are expected to cheer on the Utes at the Rose Bowl. Two of them are forever linked to the Utes through the deaths of their players — Ty Jordan and Aaron Lowe, both of whom wore No. 22.

Ty Jordan’s aunt, Takka Jordan, still keeps in contact with the players and coaches, attends games and relishes the title of “team mom.”

“It makes me feel real good to know they appreciate the love we give, and we appreciate the love they give,” she said.

She is grateful for the continuing traditions to honor the nephew she helped raise.

“Every time I see the moment of silence, it gets me every time,” she said.

Each game, Ute fans take part in a “moment of loudness.” They stand up, hold up their cell phones with the lights on and get loud, to pay tribute to Ty Jordan, Lowe and now other Ute fans who have died.

Utah fan family grateful to see their child honored in Rose Bowl ‘moment of loudness’

To Takka Jordan, it is validation.

“You raise the boys together, and you hope and pray they go out there and do the right thing when they get older. And the fact that Ty had such an impact, and you get to see it, you know what I mean? Everybody’s standing up with their flashlights going. It’s a surreal moment. It’s like wow, we did a good job,” she said.

She knows her nephew would “eat up” the opportunity to play in back-to-back Rose Bowl Games.

And, she said, he would be excited by the recent monument installed at the Rose Bowl in his and Aaron’s honor.

“I wish he was here to enjoy it. It softens the blow a little bit. Not a lot, but a little bit,” she said.

Jordan finds bittersweet comfort to know that Ty accomplished a goal to make a lasting impact.

“His main thing was for people to remember his name, to be a household name. And he did that,” she says.

She and Aaron’s mom, Donna Lowe, will both be cheering for “the boys” during the game, both wearing their No. 22 jerseys.