Payton was born in Torrance, California, in Los Angeles County to Jerry and Kathy Payton. As an eight-year-old youngster playing People’s Warner football, he was a backup lineman when his mother convinced the coach to play him at wide receiver during a game which they were trailing at halftime. Payton grew up in Santa Monica, California, but attended high school in Westlake Village at Oaks Christian School.
He had two games with 10 or more receptions as a junior, and finished the year with a team-leading 61 receptions for 840 yards and 9 touchdowns.
He played college football at University of California, Los Los Angeles Twice he has earned all-conference honorable mention in the Pac-12, and he became the Bruins career leader in receptions as a senior in 2015. He is younger brother of Michael Payton. On his first play, Payton caught a deep pass for a touchdown.
As a sophomore, he had 45 receptions for 1,088 yards for a 24.5-yard average and 18 touchdowns.
He also played at defensive back and had 30 tackles and three interceptions. In his senior year, he caught 61 throws for 769 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Payton verbally committed to three other colleges before ending up with University of California, Los Los Angeles As a junior, he committed to play college ball with University of Southern California, but the school was subsequently hit by National Collegiate Athletic Association (National Collegiate Athletic Association) sanctions, and Coach Pete Carroll left for the National Football League (NFL). A senior in 2012, Payton was then set to play for California, but changed his commitment after Tosh Lupoi, one of the top recruiters in the nation, left the school for Washington.
Payton announced on national television on ESPNU that he had decided to go to Washington, but he changed his mind again and settled on University of California, Los Angeles the following day.
He took a chance on Bruins coach Jim Mora, who was hired only months earlier, and a program that University of Southern California had recently shutout 50–0. Payton was ranked Number. 15 in the nation at wide receiver by both Scout.com and Rivals.com, and Number.
29 by ESPNU.
Payton started 10 games as a sophomore in 2013 and ranked third on the team with 38 receptions and 440 yards.
He did not put up extraordinary numbers, matching his freshman touchdown total of one. He emerged as the Bruins" Number.
1 receiver, finishing the season with 67 catches, the most by a Bruin since Craig Bragg had 73 in 2003. He also finished with team-highs of 954 receiving yards and seven touchdowns, and earned All-Pac-12 honorable mention.
Payton had three 100-yard games, and nine times he finished with at least five receptions.
Although three-year starting quarterback Brett Hundley was leaving school early for the 2015 NFL draft, Payton opted to return for his senior year in part due to the potential he saw in incoming freshman quarterback Josh Rosen. After needing a few games to develop a rapport with Rosen, he tied the single-game school record with 14 receptions, set originally by J. J. Stokes, for 152 yards in a 31–27 loss to Washington State. Payton also became University of California, Los Angeles"s first player since Nelson Rosario in 2011 to reach 1,000 yards in a season.
He again received honorable mention for the all-conference team
As a junior in 2014, Jordan broke out in the season opener with eight catches for 98 yards, both career-highs at the time, in a 28–20 win over Virginia. In a 62–27 win over Arizona State, he made five catches for 151 yards and two touchdowns. Prior to the 2015 season, Payton made the preseason watch list for the Fred Biletnikoff Award, given annually to the nation"s top receiver. The following week, he had seven catches for 105 yards in an 17–9 win over Utah to pass Bragg (193) as the Bruins career leader in receptions. The victory kept University of California, Los Angeles in contention to win the conference entering their regular season finale against University of Southern California, but the Bruins lost 40–21 to the Trojans for Payton"s lone loss in the crosstown rivalry.
