Photo via Final X New York press release
Jordan Burroughs on Family, Legacy, and Final X New York
Jordan Burroughs vs Chance Marsteller goes down at Final X New York/ Beat the Streets 12 on June 8th at Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden.
I spoke with Burroughs at the virtual media day prior to this hugely intriguing amateur wrestling contest.
Jordan Burroughs
Being the co-producer and host of Groundbreakers in the context of historical appreciation of wrestling as a device to embolden Burroughs’ own efforts in carving out his legacy
“It’s one of the motivational factors for me. There’s a few things that you realize. Wrestling made me everything that I wasn’t in real life. It made me strong, it made me fearless. Made me brave and courageous. It made me highly recognized by my peers. It gave me honor. Gave me money, a following, fame. Those are all of the things that I wasn’t when I was a young man. I was the youngest of four. Was the runt of the family. Relatively obscure. All the swagger and bravado that I became accustomed to.”
“The grit or the toughness. So trying to create my sons and daughters into Olympic gold medalists in the sport of wrestling is a very different proposition. What I can teach them is all the principles that I’ve learned through the sport. So when I think about legacy I think about, I want the reputation of myself and my family to precede us anywhere we go. I want them to go to places and say oh you’re a Burroughs? There’s a certain level of expectation we have.”
Final X New York
Jordan Burroughs continued, “There’s a standard that your dad set that you have to uphold because of how hard he worked to create this wonderful life for you. So that’s legacy for me. So every time I work hard (and) every time I win, My entire family wins. My whole team wins. We all get to move on and do the things that we love to do because of the hard work that I’ve put in. It’s really a full and complete team effort. Everyone’s all in to help me be at my best.”
“They’ve made a ton of sacrifices. I’ve had to make some surrenders on my own. I get to do something that I really love and I’m really good at and I’m really passionate about. I’m well into my 30s when most people at this point are retired and moved on or got a coaching job, I’m still able to compete at a high level. That’s a blessing to me.”
