Remembering The Seniors: Cameron Jordan

TwistNHook:  Let's get this party started.  My memory of Cameron Jordan has always started and ended with his wackiness.  He is a beast on the field, but in my experiences off the field with him, at Spring Games or FanFests, he always seems incredibly personable and funny.  Not like the standard dumb jock, Jordan has always seemed witty.

But for many quarterbacks, there is nothing funny about Cameron Jordan!

NorCalNick:  I loved many things about Cameron Jordan.  For one thing, he went to more Cal games than I did.  Cal vs. Stanford rugby at Witter field?  Cam was there.  Cal women's basketball versus, well, a bunch of teams?  Cam was there.  And he always showed up pretty noticeably at football games too.  College fans have this ideal that the players they root for love their university as much as they do, and it's not a realistic or fair ideal most of the time.  I'm pretty sure that it describes Cameron Jordan.

Solarise:  I think Cam was an ideal teammate.  You can tell from his easy smile that he just enjoys playing football.  Coaches asked Cam to bring more intensity his senior year and he delivered.  Cam was dynamic crashing through the line pursuing QBs, even earning a LIFE photo for his heroic harassment of Nick Foles in a bitter loss. 

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Cam's signature swim move commanded double-teams constantly.  Along w/ Tyson Alualu they were one of the most formidable defensive lineman tandems Cal has ever produced.  I'm going to miss Cam's presence on and off the field.

LeonPowe:  I think everyone could see from an early stage just how talented Cam was, however he was also a perfect illustration of how these guys are just 18-22 year old young men, and based on reports out of practice, Jordan DID require some maturation time.

Kodiak:  My perception of Cam was probably unfairly skewed early on by his physical talent.  How can a guy that big move so fast?  I kept expecting him to break out and dominate.  But to be fair, he had the benefit of playing with King Tyce and Zack Follett as a soph.  Without those guys, he saw a steady diet of double and triple teams as junior that caused an understandable lack of production.  I suppose you can't knock a guy for enjoying life and wanting to have fun - why else go to college?  Without question, he put it together as a senior.  More than the sacks and pressures, I was most impressed when I'd see him charge upfield, disengage, and then pursue like crazy to make the play.  When I saw him run down ucla's tailback from behind - that was the "whoa" moment where I knew he was a special player.

Avinash:  Tyson was a senior last year, so he Cam was seeing mostly one-on-one action in 09.

Kodiak:  Perhaps.  I didn't want to get into the whole rush 3, drop 8 deal again...But it sure seemed like our 3 guys, Cam included, spent a lot of time running into superior numbers.

TwistNHook:  From my Spring Game post in 2010:

Cameron Jordan loves to play for the camera.  When he came off the field, I was right by him.  I was all "Hey, good luck next year."  Then, seeing him with a big beard, I was all "Hey, Cameron, you gonna grow out your beard?"  He's all "Yeah, I think I'll grow it down." 

I told him "I think the Moses look would look good on you.  But I'm not sure you could pass as a Hebrew."  I'm not entirely sure how conversational he is regarding Beta Israel, the Ethiopian Jewry, so I decided not to continue down that path too much.  He told me that he called it his thinking beard.  I said "I say, less thinking, more sacking!"  He seemed to like that and introduced himself to me.  I took his hand for a quick shake and in that moment could have perhaps introduced him to CGB, tried to get an interview, or segued into even more embarrassing Jewish jokes.  My segue ways are terrible and I feel weird pimping CGB to real, honest to god Cal athletes, so I just left it at that.  I am not the CGB whore you all take me for.

But I do think Cameron should go for the Moses look.  It's so hot right now!

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Where do you see the next phase of Cameron Jordan's career taking him?  What team do you think will draft him and where?  

LeonPowe:  I see him feasting on the bones of quarterbacks across the league. Except for Aaron Rodgers.

OhioBear:  I see Cam becoming a solid pro.  He has the physical tools to succeed in the league and, on top of that, he seems to be a very intelligent guy who will be able to adapt well and learn the pro game.  Plus, he has a idea of what it takes to be a player in the league, considering that his dad was in the NFL for a long time.

As far as where he will go in the draft, I don't see him going in the top 10 like Tyson Alualu last year.  New England with the 17th pick seems like a logical landing spot, but it wouldn't shock me if Houston took Cam with the 11th pick.  The Texans are switching to a 3-4 and if they have Cam as the # 1 DE on their board, it wouldn't be a stretch to take him there.

TwistNHook:  Wouldn't it be awesome if he was drafted by the Jaguards????  King Tyson and Cameron Jordan back together!