Whether it’s Usain ‘Lightning’ Bolt or Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis, athletes’ nicknames signify everything from their best qualities to simple wordplay. However, few athletes have a more unique backstory behind how they earned their nickname than U.S. volleyball legend Jordan Larson. What’s most striking is how the sport Larson mastered had little to do with her nickname.

However, the incident that earned her the moniker of ‘The Governor’ did kick off during a volleyball game. “So one of my really good friends in the national team, (Foluke Akinradewo) we were in Thailand for our national team games. All of a sudden I see this guy at the end of the like, fan section.” Larson started explaining on the Just Women’s Sports Podcast in 2021.

Yet what caught Larson’s attention was that the fan was wearing a Nebraska Huskers t-shirt. As a Huskers alumni who led the team to an NCAA national title in 2006, Larson didn’t expect a Huskers fan, thousands of miles from Nebraska. “Foluke is like ‘seriously?’ And this guy’s like waving me down, and he’s like, ‘And he’s like, Hey, I know your dad.’,” added Larson.

The unexpected exchange became memorable for the former Husker and her USA teammate. After returning to the States, Foluke Akinradewo told the story to her bother, who, keeping in mind the Olympic medalist’s popularity, cracked a joke. “I mean, not surprising – She’s like, the governor of Nebraska.” Akinradewo’s brother retorted. The name immediately caught on.

Foluke Akinradewo was the first person to start addressing Jordan Larson as ‘The Governor’ but it soon caught on. “So now everybody calls me ‘Gov’, ‘Govy’, ‘The Governor’ – it’s it’s kind of funny so it’s become part of the brand,” disclosed the 38-year-old. And that’s how a joke became a nickname for Jordan Larson. However, there’s a good reason why the name stuck.

Jordan Larson has done it all in her career

To say the former Nebraska Huskers’ career has been legendary would be an understatement. During her career with Big Red, the women’s volleyball icon led Nebraska to 127 wins to just 8 losses. By the time The Governor retired from college volleyball, she had amassed 1,600 kills and 1,410 digs and a school record of 186 aces. The record-breaking all-rounder would only get better at the international level.

After putting her small town of Hooper, Nebraska, on the sports world’s map, Larson shot to worldwide fame with Team USA. After leading Team USA to an Olympic silver (in 2012) and bronze (in 2016) alongside her friend Foluke Akinradewo, the Nebraska native went for gold at Tokyo 2020. “We won a silver, we won a bronze. I want another shot,” Larson told NBC ahead of the games.

When the time came, ‘The Governor’ led Team USA to their first Olympic volleyball gold. However, that didn’t mean the first American indoor athlete to win four Olympic medals was done making history. Since there’s little left to do after winning Olympic gold and the NCAA title, Jordan Larson decided to blaze a new trail with LOVB Omaha.

Despite her age, the 38-year-old has become one of the founding athletes of the newly formed LOVB Omaha. And as League One Volleyball (LOVB) prepares to kick off its inaugural season, Larson will join fellow Huskers Lexi Rodriguez, Madi Kubik, Justine Wong-Orantes, and others to redefine women’s pro volleyball in America. So it’s safe to say The Governor is a perfect nickname for a leader like Larson.