Jordan Westerkamp had every reason to rebel.
His dad played football and coached at Montini. Older brother Christian played there. So many Westerkamps have suited up for the Catholic school in Lombard — nearly a dozen — that Jordan might have figured it was his duty to don a helmet, like the Kennedys entering politics.
Yet Jordan insists he never viewed football as a burden.
OK, there was this one time in the third grade …
“I was coaching and it was one of our first practices in August, so it was about 98 degrees,” said Bob Westerkamp, Jordan’s dad. “We were running some drills, and Jordan said, ‘I don’t feel good.’
“Then I heard the bell of an ice cream truck. Jordan is sitting there and I thought: ‘Uh-oh. I think we might have lost him to the ice cream man.’ It took a little coaxing to get him back.”
But not too much.
“First game back,” Bob recalled, “his first catch was an 85-yard touchdown.”
Jordan Westerkamp, a Nebraska receiver who will try to help the Cornhuskers upset Michigan State on Saturday night, still has a flair for the dramatic. He caught the 49-yard Hail Mary that brought bedlam to Memorial Stadium and helped ruin Northwestern’s 2013 season.
“Thank God for Jordan Westerkamp,” Huskers quarterback Ron Kellogg said afterward.
“I was just fortunate to be there,” Westerkamp explained.
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In the 2014 opener, Westerkamp made a behind-the-back catch on a ball tipped by a Florida Atlantic defender. The descriptions from the TV commentators: “Westerkamp’s a magician … Unbelievable … I think the replay booth just wants to watch that some more!”
Westerkamp’s description: “It was all luck.”
That’s Jordan. He graduated from Montini as the state’s all-time leader in receptions (235), receiving yards (4,618) and receiving touchdowns (68), drawing a slew of big-time offers and ultimately picking Nebraska over Notre Dame, Michigan State and Northwestern.
But the Tribune’s 2011 Player of the Year missed the memo that calls for star wide receivers to be cocky and self-centered.
“I attribute that to my dad,” he said. “Ever since I was little, he taught me to be humble — and he humbled me when I needed it. He’d say: ‘Hey, take it down. You’re never as good as you think. Hey, you stink.’ It made me want to work hard. I thank him for that now.”
Bob recalled telling a young Jordan: “One day you’re the hero, the next you could be the goat. You can always get better. You can always work harder. Hey, I know you had eight catches, but it should have been 10 or 11. You ran a bad route …”
Bob mentored him at Montini as the school’s receivers coach and remains his No. 1 guide. Asked how often they speak, Jordan replied, “Every day — at least.”
Bob was an excellent player in his own right, an all-state receiver who played for Illinois’ 1983 Rose Bowl team before tearing three ligaments in his right knee. He’s also a world-class needler.
In the days before last Saturday’s Illinois-Nebraska game, Bob told his son he would be in the pro-orange section, wearing his Rose Bowl jersey.
“I said, ‘Oh, great,’ and started laughing,” Jordan recalled. “He’s a Nebraska fan and he loves it here.”
Jordan’s favorite player growing up was Randy Moss after they met on holiday in the Bahamas. A photo from the beach encounter is priceless, with Moss looking far more enthusiastic as he wraps his arm around the 8-year-old’s shoulder.
Said Bob: “I appreciated (Moss’) athletic ability, but I tried to point (Jordan) to Jerry Rice. He’s the best receiver to ever play but practiced like he could barely make the team.”
Jordan takes that attitude to the field, even though he’s Nebraska’s second-leading receiver. Playing in a run-heavy scheme, he has 16 catches for 316 yards and three scores in five games, all victories.
“He’s an extremely disciplined route runner, a big-play guy and he’s tough,” raved Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio, adding that “you can tell” he is a coach’s son.
In every way but one: Westerkamp is not clean-shaven. Not only that, his mustache has its own Facebook page.
“I have a superstition not to touch my facial hair during the season,” he said. “That’s all it is.”
Twitter @TeddyGreenstein