Cameron Jordan

BIOGRAPHY

Cameron Tyler Jordan was born July 10, 1989, in Chandler, Arizona. He is a defensive end in the NFL. 

Jordan played college football at California and was drafted by the Saints in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft. Jordan was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the son of former Minnesota Vikings tight end Steve Jordan. He attended Chandler High School in Chandler, Arizona, where he was a two-sport star in football and track for the Chandler Wolves. In football, he earned All-State honors his senior year after registering 85 tackles and 17.5 quarterback sacks. Regarded as a three-star recruit by Rivals.com, Jordan was listed as the #37 strongside defensive end of the class of 2007.

Also an outstanding track & field athlete, Jordan was one of the state's top performers in the discus throw. He captured the state title in the discus at the 2007 5A I State Meet, recording a top-throw of 53.54 meters (175 ft 7 in), while also placing 10th in the shot put event, with a throw of 14.01 meters (45 ft, 11 in).

Jordan primarily played defensive end for the University of California at Berkeley. He was coached by head coach Jeff Tedford and defensive coordinator Bob Gregory. He played in 50 of 51 possible games and made 32 starts at Cal from 2007-10. Jordan achieved honorable mention All-American (Pro Football Weekly) and first-team All-Pac-10 choice as a senior in 2010 after two consecutive honorable mention All-Pac-10 campaigns in 2008 and 2009.

He finished his collegiate career with 175 tackles while adding 34.0 tackles for loss (-122 yards) and 16.5 sacks (-89 yards) to rank just outside the school's all-time top 10 in each of the latter two categories. He also had one interception that he returned for three yards, five pass breakups, four forced fumbles, and five fumble recoveries that he returned for a total of 41 yards and two touchdowns.

The New Orleans Saints selected Jordan in the first round (24th overall) of the 2011 NFL Draft.

On September 11, 2017, Jordan made four combined tackles, a pass deflection, and a sack in the Saints' 29–19 loss at the Minnesota Vikings. His sack brought his career total to 47.5 sacks, which was enough to surpass Charles Grant as eighth in franchise history. On October 15, 2017, Jordan made four combined tackles, two sacks, and made an interception for his first career touchdown during a 52–38 win against the Detroit Lions in Week 6. Jordan intercepted a pass by quarterback Matthew Stafford, that was originally intended for tight end Eric Ebron, and scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter. His performance against the Lions earned him NFC Defensive Player of the Week. On November 5, 2017, he collected a season-high seven combined tackles and 1.5 sacks during a 30–10 win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. On December 19, 2017, Jordan was selected to the 2018 Pro Bowl, marking the third selection of his career. He started all 16 games and made 62 combined tackles (48 solo), a career-high 13 sacks, 11 pass deflections, two forced fumbles, an interception, and a touchdown. Jordan earned an overall grade of 96.2 from Pro Football Focus, which was the highest grade among all qualifying edge rushers in 2017. The Saints finished with a 11-5 record and won the NFC South. In the Wild Card Round against the Carolina Panthers, he had three combined tackles and two passes defensed in the 31–26 victory. He was ranked 26th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2018.

In Week 17 of the 2022 season, Jordan had three sacks, along with a forced fumble and five tackles, becoming the Saints' all-time sack leader, surpassing Rickey Jackson, in a 20-10 win over the Eagles, earning NFC Defensive Player of the Week.