After college graduation, all graduates have tough decisions to make. For ISU star defensive tackle Jordan Carstens the decision comes down to two loves: the NFL or farming.

An agricultural business major, Carstens said both are possibilities.

“I will definitely give the NFL a try at first,” Carstens said.

People that are close to Carstens see a tough decision for the 2002 second-team All-Big 12 lineman.

“[After college] he always had a desire to come back home to farm,” Carstens’ father, James, said.

“I think that if the right circumstances presented themselves, drafted by an NFL team, then he would give that a try. I don’t think that he would go into free agency, though.”

Carstens has been working on the family farm in Bagley for more than 15 years. James said the farm consists of hogs, corn, wheat and oats. While there is a lot to do on the farm, Carstens said he has some favorite jobs.

“I really enjoy running the high-tech equipment [planting and harvesting] on the farm,” Carstens said. “Also, it is good being outdoors.”

A work ethic learned on the farm has helped Jordan — a former walk-on — accomplish what he has at Iowa State.

“He was used to the hard work that it takes and he already had the discipline and work ethic that it takes on the farm,” James said. “He was used to the hard work, like getting up at 4 a.m. and working until 8 p.m. a couple of times a week. The football [success] came as no real surprise. It didn’t overwhelm him.”

There are some things done on the football field that can not be learned on the farm.

“The weight room was different for Jordan,” James said. “Also, the training and exercise was some getting used to. But the work load that he carried at home helped carry him to being a captain. He knows what has to be done.”

Carstens’ rise to the top at Iowa State is well-documented.

He was the Cyclones’ defensive scout team player of the year in 1999. The next year he forced himself into action on a defensive line already featuring current NFL players Reggie Hayward and James Reed and former ISU standouts Kevin DeRonde and Ryan Harklau. During the 2000 season, in which Iowa State went 9-3 and won the Insight.com Bowl, Carstens had 48 tackles and his first sack. He made All-Big 12 teams as a starter after his sophomore and junior seasons.

Carstens said he notices some similarities between farming and football.

“The main things that are similar to me while doing both things are that I like working on the farm and on the football field,” Carstens said. “Both are really hard work.”

With the hard work that Carstens puts in at Iowa State, with football and schoolwork, time helping out on the family farm has become scarce.

“He spends about 80 percent of the weekends in Ames,” James said. “Since he turned captain his junior and senior years, the team responsibilities have kept him there. But before his junior year, he came home to work on the farm about every weekend.”

Although Carstens hasn’t received any awards on the farm, he has achieved some on the football field.

He is a team captain this year, a two-time All-Big 12 selection, and was a first-team Academic All-American in 2002.

Carstens has 21 solo 18 assisted tackles, nine quarterback hurries and two sacks so far during the season.

With the end of the football season and semester coming up, Carstens will still be kept busy. While January is usually a slow month in football and farming, this January he will keep busy in more than one way. Jordan will compete in all-star games for seniors Jan. 10 at the East-West Shrine Game and Jan. 24 at the Senior Bowl.

In between, he will marry Sarah Deardorff on Jan. 17.

ISU head coach Dan McCarney said it’s obvious what Carstens means to the Cyclone team.

“Jordan is an unbelievable guy,” McCarney said. “He has been playing hurt all year and he keeps coming back week after week; a great motivator.

“He will play in the NFL and will have a long career, unless by serious injury. He’s got everything [the NFL] is looking for.”