carry a[the] torch for

いずれ私がお世話になると思われるオレゴン州でのニュースから英語表現を拾います。身体の４０％にも及ぶ大やけどから回復し、オレゴン大学で活躍をしている選手の記事です。OregonLive.comからの記事です。
Linebacker Dion Jordan carries the torch for Oregon’s NFL hopefuls

A little more than four months away from realizing his pro football dreams, Jordan could also reignite a dormant trend for the Oregon football program.

Not since Jonathan Stewart in 2008 has Oregon had a player selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. Scouts and NFL analysts project that will change on April 25, when Jordan is expected to be selected in the first round.

"It would be wonderful. It would be a blessing," Jordan said Friday. "It would let me know that all the things I've been through and all I've worked toward is starting to come (true)."

Jordan said his mother had no clue about her son's NFL prospects before this season started. He had to tell her.

"Mom," he said, "there's a shot out there for me to make it big."

Jordan arrived at Oregon in 2008 as a wide receiver, less than a year after a near-tragic accident in a friend's garage outside Phoenix, where the teenagers had used a vacuum clear to siphon gas from one car to another. A spark shot from the vacuum and engulfed Jordan, who suffered third-degree burns on 40 percent of his body. He spent three weeks in the hospital and gained a new perspective on life during his recovery.

Now, he's excited about the next chapter in his life.

Jordan was one of five college players pictured on the front page of ESPN.com earlier this week for a story on the strong crop of defenders for the 2013 draft. One NFL scout has Jordan listed as the No. 5 overall prospect in this draft class; most mock drafts have him being selected in the latter part of the first round.

"I realized awhile ago that it was no longer a dream," he said of the NFL. "It's a reality now."

http://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/index.ssf/2012/12/linebacker_dion_jordan_carries.html

記事中にもいくつか気になる表現がありましたが、今回はタイトルの一部であるcarry the torch forという表現に注目したいと思います。(『ジーニアス英和辞典　第４版』)には、carry a torch for O「<人>に（片思いの）恋の炎を燃やす」という意味がのっています。また、torch song「トーチソング<失恋や片思いの感傷的な歌>」という言葉もあります。
一方、(『ウィズダム英和辞典　第２版』)にも、carry a torch for A 「《やや古》 A<人>にひそかに恋焦がれる[あこがれる]」という意味がありますが、carry the torch of A「<思想・運動など>がなくならないようがんばる、Aのために熱心に活動する」という意味も乗っています。
記事を読むと、Dion Jordan選手の場合はNFLに行ける確率は相当高そう（片思いではない、失恋する事はない）に思えるので、記事のタイトルではcarry a[the] torch for「<人>に（片思いの）恋の炎を燃やす」という形ですが、意味的には「オレゴン大出身のNFL行きが期待される選手であるために熱心に活動する」という意味になると思います。(Astroriver)