Jordan Alan Gross (born July 20, 1980) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

for the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, where he was recognized as a consensus All-American. He spent his entire career with the Panthers, who drafted him eighth overall in the

2003 NFL Draft The 2003 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League (NFL) teams selected amateur college football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually since 1936 NF ...

, and is now their

sideline reporter Sideline(s) may refer to: * Extended side, the geometric line that contains the side of a polygon * Sidelines, the lines that mark the outer boundaries of a sports field * Sideline (app), a smartphone app * ''Sidelines'' (newspaper), the studen ...

. 2022 becomes head coach of his old high school in Fruitland ID.

Early years

Gross was born in

Nampa, Idaho Nampa () is the largest city in Canyon County, Idaho. Its population was 100,200 at the time of the 2020 Census. It is Idaho's third-most populous city. Nampa is about west of Boise along Interstate 84, and six miles (10 km) west of Meridian. ...

. He attended Fruitland High School in

Fruitland, Idaho Fruitland is a city along the Snake and Payette rivers in Payette County, Idaho, United States. It lies along U.S. Route 95 in the Treasure Valley of southwest Idaho, about west of Boise on the border with Oregon. It is part of the Ontari ...

, where he was a

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, and

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

. In football, he was a first-team all-state selection as both an offensive and defensive lineman as a senior, and helped lead his team win the conference championship as a sophomore. In basketball, he won all-conference honors. He was involved in tae kwon do since age 6, earning a black belt.

College career

While attending the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

, Gross played for the

Utah Utes football The Utah Utes football program is a Power 5 Conference college football team that competes in the Pac-12 Conference (Pac-12) of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of NCAA Division I and represents the University of Utah. The Utah college football ...

team from 1999 to 2002. After redshirting his freshman year, he started three games, and played in the

Las Vegas Bowl The Las Vegas Bowl is an NCAA Division I FBS annual post-season college football bowl game held in the Las Vegas area. First played in 1992, the bowl was originally held at the 40,000-seat Sam Boyd Stadium in Whitney, Nevada before moving to the ...

, where the

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations o ...

(MWC) champion Utes beat

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bachelo ...

by a score of 17–16. The following season, he received honorable mention All-MWC honors after starting all 11 games, switching between offensive tackle and

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

. His versatility increased as a junior, as he played left tackle, left guard, and right tackle, and finished the season once again as an honorable mention All-MWC selection. His offensive line allowed only five sacks all season, which tied the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

Hurricanes record for fewest allowed in the nation. Gross himself did not allow any sacks in his final two seasons at Utah. Following his 2002 senior season, he was a first-team All-MWC selection, and was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American. He was also a finalist for the

Outland Trophy The Outland Trophy is awarded to the best college football interior lineman in the United States as adjudged by the Football Writers Association of America. It is named after John H. Outland. One of only a few players ever to be named an All-Ame ...

, which is given to the best interior lineman in college football, after not allowing a sack all season at left tackle.

Awards and honors

* 2× Honorable mention All-

Mountain West The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations o ...

(2000, 2001) * First-team All-Mountain West (2002) * Consensus first-team All-American (2002) *

finalist (2002)

Professional career

Projected as an early first round selection, Gross was ranked as the No. 1 offensive tackle available in the

. He was taken in the first round (8th overall) of the

by Carolina. At the time, he was the highest selected Utah Utes player ever (until surpassed by

Alex Smith Alexander Douglas Smith (born May 7, 1984) is an American former quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons. He played college football at Utah, where he received first-team All-American honors and won the 20 ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

). Gross started every game for the Panthers that season at right tackle, and in fact did not miss a single offensive play, a rarity for many veterans, much less rookies. He allowed only three sacks all season, and was an anchor on the

offensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

that sent the Panthers to

Super Bowl XXXVIII Super Bowl XXXVIII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Carolina Panthers and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) c ...

. He made the ''

Pro Football Weekly ''Pro Football Weekly'' (sometimes shortened to ''PFW'') is an American sports magazine, founded in 1967, and website that covers the National Football League (NFL). It was owned by Pro Football Weekly LLC and headquartered in Riverwoods, Illinoi ...

'' All-Rookie and ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'' All-Pro teams that season. Due to retirements and personnel shifts, Gross moved from right tackle to left tackle for the

2004 NFL season The 2004 NFL season was the 85th regular season of the National Football League. With New England as the defending league champions, regular season play was held from September 9, 2004 to January 2, 2005. Hurricanes forced the rescheduling o ...

; he and center

Jeff Mitchell Jeffrey Clay Mitchell (born January 29, 1974) is an American former college and professional football player who was a center in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons during the 1990s and 2000s. Mitchell played college footbal ...

were the only two returning starters on the offensive line that season. The instability on the line was one of many problems for the Panthers, who were plagued with injuries, and they finished the season 7–9. The following year, he moved ''back'' to right tackle, and the Panthers' starters remained the same during the entire season. On February 19, 2008, the Panthers named Gross their franchise player and placed the franchise tag on him giving him a one-year $7.45 million deal. This later proved to be a good move, as he was voted to the

2009 Pro Bowl The 2009 Pro Bowl was the National Football League's all-star game for the 2008 season. It was played at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii on February 8, 2009. This was the most recent year that the game was held after the Super Bowl. The NFC de ...

. On February 19, 2009, the Panthers would sign Gross to a six-year contract, making him one of the highest-paid offensive lineman in the NFL. In a matchup against the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

on November 15, 2009, Gross broke his ankle, landing him on the

injured reserve list The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

and ending his participation in the

2009 NFL Season The 2009 NFL season was the 90th season in the history of the National Football League (NFL). The 50th anniversary of the original eight charter members of the American Football League was celebrated during this season. The preseason started ...

. On February 25, 2014, Gross announced his retirement from professional football. He now works for The Panthers Network as a sideline reporter and hosts his own Television broadcast with longtime offensive lineman

Travelle Wharton Glenn Travelle Wharton (born May 19, 1981) is an American football offensive line coach for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football as an offensive lineman at the University of South Carolina ...

entitled, "This is Gross," on Time Warner Cable Sports channel. On July 9, 2019, the Carolina Panthers announced that Gross would be inducted into the Panthers' Hall of Honor along with

Jake Delhomme Jake Christopher Delhomme (; born January 10, 1975) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL). Delhomme played college football at Louisiana, then known as the University of Southwestern Louisian ...

Wesley Walls Charles Wesley Walls (born March 26, 1966) is a former American football tight end who played 14 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Early career Walls played high school football in Pontotoc, Mississippi. He spent his first three ye ...

, and

Steve Smith Sr Stevonne Latrall Smith Sr. (born May 12, 1979) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for sixteen seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Carolina Panthers, also playing for the Ba ...

. On August 14, 2019, he was named to the Panthers' radio team as a

color analyst A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and the ...

References

External links

Carolina Panthers bio

This is Gross podcast
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gross, Jordan 1980 births Living people All-American college football players American football offensive tackles Carolina Panthers players National Conference Pro Bowl players People from Fruitland, Idaho Players of American football from Idaho Unconferenced Pro Bowl players Utah Utes football players People from Nampa, Idaho National Football League announcers Carolina Panthers announcers Ed Block Courage Award recipients