LaMont Damon Jordan (born November 11, 1978) is an

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 ...

coach and former

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

. He was drafted by the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

in the second round of the

2001 NFL Draft The 2001 NFL Draft was the 66th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft, which is officially referred to as the "NFL Player Selection Meeting," was held at the ...

. 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 ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. Jordan also played for the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

and

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

. As a coach, he was the

running backs coach In American football, a position coach is a team official in charge of coaching a specific position group. Position coaches have more specialized duties than the head coach, assistant coach, and the offensive and defensive coordinators. Common ...

for the

San Diego Fleet The San Diego Fleet was a professional American football franchise based in San Diego, California, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF). The league began play in February 2019, with the team playing its home game ...

of the

Alliance of American Football The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan are ...

(AAF) in 2019.

Early years

Jordan graduated from Suitland High School in 1997. A highly sought-after area prospect, he won many awards in high school, and played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

, and was a member of the school's

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

and track teams.

College career

He attended the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of Mary ...

, and as a freshman, gained notice as a first-string player, and finished as runner-up for Rookie of the Year in the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

. As a sophomore, he was named to the second-team All-ACC, and was named by Maryland as the team's most outstanding offensive player. As a junior, he began to gain national notice, and was a semifinalist for the

Doak Walker Award Since 1990 the Doak Walker Award honors the top running back in college football in the United States. It is named in honor of Doak Walker, a former running back who played for the SMU Mustangs from 1945 to 1949 and in the National Football Le ...

. In the same year, he was named to the All-ACC first-team, and surpassed Maryland's single-season rushing record. That season, he gained over six yards per carry, one of only four

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

players to do so. He was the NCAA rushing leader over the last six games of his junior season. He sat out the drills preceding the 2000 season due to fears of academic ineligibility, and, having a somewhat lackluster senior year, was named to the ACC second-team.

Professional career

New York Jets

Jordan was drafted in the second round of the

by the New York Jets. Jordan spent his first four years as a backup to

Curtis Martin Curtis James Martin Jr. (born May 1, 1973) is a former American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons, primarily with the New York Jets. He spent his first three seasons with the New England Patrio ...

before becoming a free agent.

Oakland Raiders

After the 2004 season, Jordan signed a five-year, $27.5 million contract with the

. He wore No. 34. Jordan rushed for a career-high 1,025 yards in 2005 while leading all NFL running backs in receptions with 70. On November 19, 2006, Jordan tore his

medial collateral ligament The medial collateral ligament (MCL), or tibial collateral ligament (TCL), is one of the four major ligaments of the knee. It is on the medial (inner) side of the knee joint in humans and other primates. Its primary function is to resist out ...

in a game against the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

and missed the rest of the season. Jordan started the 2007 season with 350 yards rushing and two touchdowns in the first three games. He injured his back against the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

and was replaced by

Justin Fargas Justin Alejandro Fargas (born January 25, 1980) is a former American football running back. He played college football at Michigan and Southern California and was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the third round of the 2003 NFL Draft. Colleg ...

. Fargas was productive and was named the starter for the next four games. On July 25, 2008 Jordan was released by the Raiders.

New England Patriots

On July 26, 2008, Jordan signed a one-year contract with the

Denver Broncos

On March 4, 2009, Jordan signed a two-year, $2.5 million contract with the Denver Broncos. The deal included a $500,000 signing bonus. The move reunited him with Broncos head coach

Josh McDaniels Joshua Thomas McDaniels (born April 22, 1976) is an American football head coach for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He began his NFL career in 2001 with the New England Patriots, where he served as the offensive coo ...

, who was the Patriots' offensive coordinator in 2008. Jordan was released on February 23, 2010.

Coaching career

On December 19, 2018, Jordan was named running backs coach for the

of the

Personal life

Jordan is a supporter of the

Maryland Terrapins The Maryland Terrapins, commonly referred to as the Terps, consist of 19 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Maryland, College Park in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divis ...

women's basketball team. He has traveled to several ACC tournament games as well as the 2006 National Championship Game. He has also donated $25,000 to the women's basketball team. Jordan also owns his own restaurant, which was featured on an episode of ''

Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives ''Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives'' (often nicknamed ''Triple D'' and stylized as ''Diners, Drive-Ins, Dives'') is an American food reality television series that premiered on April 23, 2007, on the Food Network. It is hosted by Guy Fieri. The show o ...

''.

References

External links

Denver Broncos bioNew England Patriots bioNew York Jets bioOakland Raiders bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jordan, Lamont 1978 births Living people People from Forestville, Maryland American football running backs Players of American football from Maryland Maryland Terrapins football players New York Jets players Oakland Raiders players New England Patriots players Denver Broncos players San Diego Fleet coaches