It had been approaching three full calendar years since defensive end Dion Jordan last played in a regular season football prior to his season debut for the Seattle Seahawks last Thursday night in Arizona.
Jordan hadn’t played in a game since the final week of the 2014 season with the Miami Dolphins. Knee injuries and performance-enhancing drug suspensions wiped out his last two seasons with Miami before being released in March. Jordan played 33 snaps for the Seahawks in his first game last week, recording a sack and three quarterback hits on Cardinals quarterback Drew Stanton.
“I felt good physically,” Jordan said. “I feel like a lot of the work I’ve done to get out there was a lot tougher than the actual game, but I felt pretty good.”
But more than that, Jordan feels like he’s gotten his football career back on track. The four years in Miami were a disappointment after being the No. 3 overall pick in the 2013 draft. Jordan started just one game in two seasons and only recorded three sacks in 26 career games with the Dolphins.
“It’s tough man,” Jordan said of his tenure in Miami. “I think my issue was I didn’t prepare myself, I didn’t game plan on what I was going to do once I became a professional, how I was going to deal with everything. I kind of just jumped right in and I just let everything happen to me instead of taking the reins and taking control of everything. It was tough on myself. I can’t lie. My mistakes showed.
“I didn’t prepare myself for that next step (after the draft). I didn’t game plan for that next step. I just got there and just kind of let everything just play out instead of just working to be everything that I wanted to be as a football player and control my life outside of the football.”
More knee issues led to another knee surgery this offseason after signing with Seattle in April. Jordan missed Seattle’s entire offseason program, training camp and the first nine weeks of the season on the non-football injury list. But with his knee healthy and a game under his belt, Jordan believes he’s finally equipped to channel his abilities effectively to the football field for the Seahawks.
“Of course, man. I really do,” Jordan said. “The hunger to get out here, to just get my life back with football and everything was huge for me. This is just the first step and I just feel really excited to be in a position that I am right now as a young man and as a football player. To come to a team like this and just be able to be embraced and embrace everything that this culture was built on.”