When a tight end who helped Clemson win the 2016 National Championship while earning second-team All-America honors by catching 46 passes for 736 yards and seven touchdowns is available in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL Draft, a team would be hard-pressed to pass on him.
The Jets didn't, and chose Jordan Leggett.
"I was very excited. I think just overall, being drafted is a once in a lifetime opportunity, kind of a dream of any kid that plays football and wants to make it to that level. So ultimately, it was just a dream come true," said Leggett, who was a two-time Mackey Award finalist, which is presented annually to the most outstanding tight end in college football, and finished his Clemson career with 112 receptions for 1,998 yards and 18 touchdowns.
"The family I married into, they're all Boston-everything fans, so they were excited but also a little distressed that I was going to in-conference rival. But for me, I was just excited to get the opportunity to play at the next level."
As Leggett began playing at the next level, he did so for the most part, by finding his own way.
"As far as teaching me the ropes, I wouldn't necessarily say there was anybody specific that did that," he said. "But there was a guy, he played right tackle for us, Brandon Shell. I'd probably say he did the best job of just helping me, pointing me in the right direction.
"If I had a question about whatever it may be, football-related, non-football-related, finance-related, he probably did the best job as helping me and kind of navigating me."
With a strong training camp, coupled with a two-game suspension veteran tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins would have to serve to begin the season, it appeared Leggett would be the starter in the season opener against Buffalo.
But…
"In the last preseason game (against Philadelphia), we had another guy, and it was me and him pretty much just playing this last preseason game. And then he caught a seam pass, but the safety went low and he ended up getting hurt," Leggett said.
"I was pretty much done for the game just because of Seferian-Jenkins being suspended. They wanted to hold me out, but with that guy getting hurt, kind of impulsively, I went in to finish the rest of the series. Unfortunately, two plays after that I got tackled out of bounds. It wasn't anything serious, just like any injury I've ever experienced before.
"But it's kind of just the aftermath. They told me I tore my TCL, which they said nobody ever gets surgery on that, I'll be fine. Which in my mind, that's kind of what I believed.
"And as we rehabbed, we saw that my knee would just not ever stay not swollen. So it was keep draining, keep draining, and keep practicing. But it did not feel great at all. And that's when they did an MRI and saw pieces of bone that had chipped and that I had cartilage damage.
"It was kind of just how long can I maintain the pain in my knee? It was kind of downhill for me. I go from being a receiving tight end and try to be a blocking tight end, just to prolong this thing as long as I could. But, yeah, that's probably the most unfortunate thing that could happen."
Inactive for the first eight games, the rookie didn't see his knee improve, and on October 31, the Jets placed him on IR for the remainder of the 2017 season.
After being able to play in 15 games with four starts the following year, Leggett had three catches for 13 yards and a touchdown in New York's Week 4 loss in Jacksonville.
"It was only touchdown I ever scored in the NFL, so obviously, that game sticks with me," Leggett said. "I think mostly in my mind, I kind of knew the whole time the ball was going to come to me. I did a great job of getting open and Sam Darnold delivered a great pass. And the whole thing in my head was, 'Just catch the ball, get two feet in,' and then after that, it was just a matter of, 'Alright, don't give anybody this ball.'
"I was excited, and based off the play that we were running, it was a three-tight-end set. So Eric Tomlinson was on the field, Chris Herndon was on the field, so it was exciting I was able to celebrate with those guys. And I had a lot of family there because I grew up in Florida, so that was exciting. Just a moment I'll never forget. It was just a great day.
"As far as that season as a whole, I was just excited. I mean being on IR my whole rookie year, having the injury that I did, it was a lot of low moments, so being able to finally get past that, even having to still wear a knee brace, which is unfortunate, I was able to play.
"I mean, outside of getting drafted, you want to play for the team you get drafted to. So I was just on cloud nine in that aspect of being able to actually go out there and wear the Green & White."
While the knee injury shortened his time with the Jets and in the NFL, Leggett's experiences living in the North Jersey/New York City area remain memorable.
"I've never been a big city guy but just having the ability to be right there in New York City and play for a team with such a huge city background, I mean, that was probably the most special," he said. "When everybody that ever came to visit me in New Jersey, me and my wife were pretty much glorified tour guides for the most part. They wanted to go to the city.
"So that was probably the most special thing, just being that close to New York and getting to spend time there. And then obviously, the teammates, they were pretty awesome."
Like some of his teammates and others who've played the game, Leggett was not necessarily sure what he wanted to do next when he left the NFL. And while he – who makes his home in suburban Atlanta with his wife, Julie, and their children, Teddy and Olivia – wasn't certain, he was prepared.
"I was very smart as far as the money I made in NFL. So that was definitely helpful in a sense of just retirement later down the line and the kids' education," Leggett said. "At the beginning, me and my wife had our first child, and when he was born, my wife was still working, so I was pretty much a stay-at-home dad. And I did some investment properties and some house flipping my first year out of the NFL.
"Then after that, we found out we're having our second kid, and being a stay-at-home dad was cool, but I feel like two kids versus one kid is a lot of work. At that point, I knew I was going to be the one to go out and get a job, and my wife was going to be the one to stay at home. And we're very blessed and fortunate that she's able to be at home with the kids all day.
"But I knew I had to go out and do something, and I was looking at what I wanted to do. It was really just a matter of time family-related, how much work-life balance I could have. And then, obviously, not having any work experience, you have to start from the bottom and work your way up.
"So I knew I wanted to go the sales route because when you're doing that, you obviously make commission and you can get paid for what you do. And ever since then, I haven't looked back."
Leggett entered the packaging industry in 2022, and for the last eight months has been an account manager for Pratt Industries, the fifth largest corrugated packaging company in the country, and the world's largest privately-held producer of 100 percent recycled containerboard.
"Long story short, what I do is the cardboard boxes that show up at your house from Amazon or whatever it is," he said. "Everybody's life ultimately works around boxes, as far as manufacturing locations, shipping boxes to somewhere else, something being built, fruit being shipped to the store. It's kind of just what makes the world go round, and that's what I got into.
"And it's pretty awesome. I get to go to these giant manufacturing facilities every day. I get to go golfing with customers. I've been able to go to some super awesome sports games. I get to go to Masters this year with my job. So, I mean, it's been pretty awesome work and I get paid for it. But it's more fun, if anything."
