It’s been a while since Nikki Jordan had those conversations with her husband, but she remembers them well.
“Babe, what do you want to do when you’re done playing football?” she would ask.
Cam Jordan’s answer?
P.E. teacher.
“He would always say that,” Nikki Jordan said. “He loves kids, and that’s always been his thing. Going to help kids and inspiring people.”
But for her husband, life after football hasn’t arrived yet. Cam Jordan, in his 15th season playing defensive end for the New Orleans Saints, is still going.
On Sunday in a locker room at Lumen Field in Seattle, Jordan will put on his Saints jersey and play in his 229th regular-season game.
In the process, he will become the Saints’ all-time leader in regular-season games played, surpassing the great Drew Brees.
“To play 229 games is one more than Drew plays, and that’s awesome,” Jordan said. “But at the same time, it’s a combination of being blessed and highly favored as well as the luck of the draw of being able to play this many games. They always say your best ability is availability, and I’ve been able to be available for now 229 games.”
Man, has he been available.
Playing 229 games is a feat in itself. Only 12 other defensive ends in NFL history have played in more games than that.
Even more impressive is that he’s missed just two games since the Saints drafted him in the first round out of Cal in 2011. He didn’t miss his first game until his 10th season when he tested positive for COVID. The only game he missed with an injury was in 2022 when he suffered an orbital fracture. Other than those two hiccups, the No. 94 jersey has been as much of a fixture for the Saints as the fleur-de-lis on the side of their helmets.
“In my mind, I’m playing every game of my existence,” Jordan said. “Unless they hide my bags, I’m playing.”
When Jordan plays his 229th game against the Seattle Seahawks and moves to the top of the franchise list, it’ll be his latest bullet point on a stacked résumé.
He’s already the team’s all-time leader in sacks (123 and counting). In the season opener, he moved into the top 20 of the NFL’s all-time sacks list. His name will be in the rafters of the Superdome in the Ring of Honor someday. And based on what he’s done and how long he’s done it, he’s earned a spot on the Saints’ Mount Rushmore, along with Brees and Rickey Jackson. (You can make arguments for Willie Roaf and Morten Andersen for that fourth spot.) A gold jacket in Canton, Ohio, isn’t out the question.
Jordan turned 36 in July. His teammates, both present and past, have been in awe of what they’ve seen. Third-year defensive lineman Bryan Bresee was about to turn 10 when Jordan got drafted.
“It’s crazy,” Bresee said. “Especially to be playing defensive end at that level for such a long time. But he puts in the work and treats his body the right way, and he’s done everything he can to make himself elite for such a long time. Nothing but respect for him.”
Former offensive lineman Terron Armstead was drafted by the Saints two years after Jordan. Armstead played 12 seasons before retiring this year. Armstead, like Bresee, has the utmost respect for what Jordan has been able to keep doing.
“It’s insane,” Armstead said. “But then again, it’s not because it is Cam. As you get older, those weeks become longer to prepare for and longer to recover between games. So Cam going into Year 15 is not surprising, because it’s him. He has little kid energy.”
Nobody knows that more than Nikki Jordan. They have four kids.
“But people always tell me I have five kids when you include Cam,” she said. “For the life of him, he can’t sleep in. He has a natural alarm clock and will be up at 6 or 6:30 every morning. He always has to do something.”
Even on his off days. Just ask Elicia Broussard Sheridan, who handles community relations for the Saints.
“Once the season starts, you can just put it on your calendar that something is going to be happening with him every Tuesday,” Sheridan said. “He’s going to be at somebody’s school. He understands the impact he has as a role model. He knows what his presence in this community means. From the moment he got to New Orleans, it was game on.”
While Jordan’s love for kids will never go away, those P.E. teacher aspirations are likely gone. Jordan’s future after football is likely to be on TV. His personality makes him a natural for it. He’s been a frequent guest on various networks, setting things up for life after football.
Well, that’s if life after football ever comes.
“Cam is built to play until Mrs. Benson locks the door or moves the facility,” Armstead said. “If you can hide the facility, then Cam will retire. Other than that, he’s coming.”
It’s been 14 years and 14 days since Jordan played in his first game against the Green Bay Packers. That game was an indication of what was to come. The rookie played with a brace on his knee that day after a minor injury two weeks before in a preseason game.
“I’ve never been one for butterflies,” Jordan said about that day. “But I was definitely determined and highly focused just in terms of being zoned in.”
He’s been at it ever since.
How many more games will he add to the record he will set Sunday?
He’ll think about that at the end of this season.
“I’ve always said that I want to play every play like it’s my last down,” Jordan said. “And I hold myself to that standard.”