Shelby Lewis Jordan (January 23, 1952 – September 9, 2022) was an American professional

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 ...

player who was an

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 ...

in 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) for the

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 the

Los Angeles Raiders The Los Angeles Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 before relocating back to Oakland, California, where the team played from its inaugural 1960 season to the 1981 season and then agai ...

from 1975 to 1986. He was a member of the 1983 Raiders team that won

Super Bowl XVIII Super Bowl XVIII was an American football game played on January 22, 1984, at Tampa Stadium between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion and defending Super Bowl XVII champion Washington Redskins and the American Football Conference ( ...

. Jordan 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 ...

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

. In 2013, he was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

Early life

Jordan was born on January 23, 1952, in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

. He attended

East St. Louis Senior High School East Saint Louis Senior High School is the only high school located in East St. Louis, Illinois. The school serves about 1,438 students in grades 9 to 12 in the East Saint Louis Public Schools district. It was featured in the Jonathan Kozol book ' ...

East St. Louis, Illinois East St. Louis is a city in St. Clair County, Illinois. It is directly across the Mississippi River from Downtown St. Louis, Missouri and the Gateway Arch National Park. East St. Louis is in the Metro-East region of Southern Illinois. Once a b ...

College career

As part of a career scholarship program, Jordan took night classes at

. He was convinced by coaches to join the football team. He played football with the

Washington University Bears The Washington University Bears are the athletic teams of Washington University in St. Louis, located in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Washington University is currently a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the NCAA Di ...

as a linebacker from 1969 to 1972 and led the team in tackles for three consecutive seasons. In 1974, he graduated from the university with a degree in psychology. He was inducted into the

in 2013 and has been considered Washington University's greatest defensive player of all time.

Professional career

The

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 as ...

selected Jordan in the seventh round, with the 157th overall selection, of the 1973 NFL Draft. The Oilers cut Jordan during training camp. He went to work for

Service Merchandise Service Merchandise was a retail chain of catalog showrooms carrying jewelry, toys, sporting goods, and electronics. The company, which first began in 1934 as a five-and-dime store, was in existence for 68 years before ceasing operations in 2002. ...

. In 1974, Jordan signed with the

after a try-out. He went on the

injured reserve 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 ...

list before the season due to a knee injury, ruling him out for the 1974 season. Jordan debuted with the Patriots in 1975. In August 1975, Jordan was arrested for the possession and sale of

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...

. He was sentenced to two years in prison in May 1976. Jordan missed the 1976 season. He was released after serving over a year and was reinstated to the Patriots roster in July 1977. Jordan played for the Patriots for seven seasons and started in 87 games. In 1983, he signed a four-year contract with the

worth $1.6 million. The Raiders won

later that season. During his four seasons with the Raiders, Jordan played in 56 games, five of which he started. The Raiders placed Jordan on the injured reserve list before the 1987 season, and he crossed the picket line during the

1987 NFL strike The National Football League Players Association, or NFLPA, is a labor union representing National Football League (NFL) players. The NFLPA, which has headquarters in Washington, D.C., is led by president J. C. Tretter and executive director DeM ...

Personal life

Together with his wife, Donzella, Jordan funded and directed a

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

-based nonprofit corporation that provided affordable urban housing. Jordan died on September 9, 2022.

References

External links

Profile at NFL.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jordan, Shelby 1952 births 2022 deaths American football offensive linemen Washington University Bears football players New England Patriots players Los Angeles Raiders players College Football Hall of Fame inductees Players of American football from St. Louis Players of American football from Missouri