Gordon wrote on an Ohio State medical web site that being diagnosed with ALS, a progressive neurological disease, was “a shock to me, my family and my friends.”
Knowing that ALS has no cure, Gordon wrote that he and his family “wanted to help support ALS research and hopefully find a cure” and continue to bring awareness to this disease through research at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.
The Gordon Family Fund has raised more than $26,000, according to the website.
In a 2001 interview, Gordon said: “I feel blessed and fortunate to have played at Ohio State. The Big 10 championships, going to the Rose Bowl, just the opportunity I had back then, I look back and say, ‘Wow.’”
Gordon said his mother, who died two days before he graduated from high school, always wanted him to attend the Naval Academy. He believes he made her proud.
“I represented myself well,” he said in the 2001 interview. “And that’s what she always wanted, to represent myself off the field.”
Gordon played varsity basketball and football at MHS and was senior class president and vice president of student council. He was inducted into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2016 and into the Gold Medal Club of the Pigskin-Roundball Spectacular in 1994.
Mark Kerns, who founded the Spectacular that raised money for college scholarships, said Gordon was introduced at the event by Bill Baughman, a high school science teacher.
“That said a lot about him that he had a teacher, not a coach, do the honors,” Kerns said. “People always said he was a great athlete, but even a better person.”
He played defensive back for four years at Ohio State and was named co-captain his senior season. He had 14 career interceptions.
Gordon was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the sixth round. He played for Tampa Bay for one season. He played two seasons for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and one season for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
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