Mixed feelings for Saints’ Jordan
Ex-Vikings star’s son focuses on making his own reputation.
As much as Saints METAIRIE, LA. —
All-Pro Cam Jordan admires his father, Steve, and effusively praises the former Vikings tight end, he hasn’t been able to resist the urge to be his own man.
Cam Jordan never wanted to play tight end and acknowledged Thursday he doesn’t always follow his father’s advice, either, particularly when it comes to his playful antics and comments when engaging the media.
When Jordan consistently gets the better of an offensive lineman, he’ll refer to him as “Speed Bump Magee.” After last Sunday’s playoff victory over Carolina, Jordan conspicuously positioned a bottle of Jordan cabernet (not a family business) at the top of his locker and pledged to send his namesake wine to his namesake star quarterback, Cam Newton.
Jordan said his father “always tries to tone me b ack. He’s always like, ‘Hey, dude, have you thought about the ramifications?’”
“No, I haven’t. I shot my shot and said what I said and had to back it up,” the younger Jordan continued. “At 28, I’m in my physical prime, so at this point I feel like I can back it up.”
Indeed, Jordan was named first-team Associated Press AllPro for the first time in his career this season — his seventh since being New Orleans’ first of two first-round draft choices in 2011 out of California. The 6-foot-4, 287-pound edge rusher had 13 sacks, 17 tackles for losses, 28 QB hits, 11 passes defended (mostly batted passes), an interception and two forced fumbles.
In last weekend’s triumph over the Panthers, Jordan not only had a sack, a tackle for loss, a QB hit and two batted passes, but he also forced Cam Newton into a pivotal intentional-grounding penalty. That turned a second-and-10 at the Saints 21-yard line with 41 seconds left into third-and-23 at the New Orleans 34 — with just 19 seconds to go after a 10-second runoff for an offensive penalty in the final minute. The Panthers could not recover in a 31-26 loss.
Now Jordan returns to Minnesota, where he spent his early childhood while his father was being named to Pro Bowls — six in all — for the Vikings.
Cam Jordan said he expects his father to be at the game, along with old family friends from the area. Whether he brings along another bottle of his namesake wine is to be determined, he said.
Steve Jordan’s career ended in 1994, when Cam was 5. Soon after, they moved to Arizona. The younger Jordan considers the Phoenix area his home and doesn’t get nostalgic about Minneapolis.
But he also fondly remembers meeting a number of “my dad’s co-workers, and they turned out to be legends. You talk about (defensive end) Chris Doleman, you talk about (safety) Joey Browner, (running back) Darrin Nelsons of the game. I won’t talk about Herschel Walker, because he ruined (that) franchise.”
Jordan added, “You grow up and you get drafted by the Saints. This is my team. This is my family. This is who I’m playing for.”