When New Orleans Saints defensive end Cam Jordan takes the field this Sunday afternoon in Seattle, he’ll be breaking Drew Brees’ franchise record for the most games played in team history. Thus far in what can only be considered a Hall of Fame career, Jordan has suited up for 228 regular season games, made eight Pro Bowls, been named an All-Pro three times, and has logged 123 career sacks (good for 20th all-time).
But recently, I was given the opportunity to talk to Cam Jordan not because of his stellar play on the field over the last decade and a half. Instead, it’s because of his apparent smell on the field, and what he — and his mother Anita — are doing to combat it.
Although he claims that Saints teammate Carl Granderson must’ve gotten a whiff of somebody else — or his own upper lip — on his way up the sideline, Cam Jordan has taken the hot dog water claim in stride and partnered up with Downy to ensure that this very particular odor is no longer a factor on gameday.
“Ain’t no way I smell like hot dog water at any given time,” Cam Jordan told me. “He had walked up to me and was like ‘I smell hot dog water.’ But he had come from four bodies over, so it wasn’t me he was smelling. It was clearly his upper lip.”
The next step was getting Cam Jordan’s mother involved in the Rinse It Out campaign to make sure her son wasn’t smelling “funkalicious” anymore.
“They sent it to my mom, and so of course she starts going in on me. I hadn’t seen her all training camp, but she comes into training camp for the shoot and she doesn’t say anything to me. She’s like ‘I know my son doesn’t smell like hot dog water,’ and I say, Hello to you too, Mom!”
Cam Jordan Discusses What Makes New Orleans So Special
Even if you have limited experience with Cam Jordan off the field, surely you’ve seen enough to know that he’s a man who has a way with words. His charisma and charm is utterly infectious, and in only a 20 minute conversation, I came away feeling like I had just gotten done talking to someone I had known for years. Or perhaps more accurately, I came away wishing I could’ve spent even more time getting to know him.
The people of New Orleans have gotten the opportunity to get to know Cam Jordan ever since he arrived as a 22-year old kid who spent his life up to that point on the west coast. Now, the 36-year-old man whose last name thousands of fans wear on their backs every Sunday continues to embrace this ‘familial’ city at every turn.
In addition to his extensive work with various charities, organizations and schools around the city — for which he’s been named the New Orleans Saints‘ nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year three times — it also sounds like he’s eaten at every single restaurant in the area over the last 14 years, giving the general public even more opportunities to meet one of the greatest athletes to ever call the Big Easy home.
“You gotta go Tacos Del Cartel. You gotta go to Morrow’s, Monday’s. You gotta go down to Desi Vega’s Steakhouse, where they have some of the best steaks in the city. You go down to Doris Metropolitan, because they got these Wagyu skewers that are amazing. Or you gotta go to GW Fins because their wine list is phenomenal,” Jordan recommended. “Southern hospitality is built off of smiles, happiness and let me feed you.”
And the good news for Cam Jordan… if he spills anything on his shirt or pants as he’s out eating at any of these establishments, he’s got the Downy Rinse to get it out no problem as soon as he returns home.
Cam Jordan Has Faith in Kellen Moore’s Approach, Saints’ 2025 Outlook
After playing under head coach Sean Payton and alongside quarterback Drew Brees for the first decade of his career, Cam Jordan now finds himself in an unfamiliar position as he enters the twilight of his playing career. The Saints aren’t considered a consensus Super Bowl contender, as they so often were during the Payton-Brees era. Instead, the thought around the league heading into the season was that the Saints would likely finish among the worst teams in the NFL.
Meanwhile, Jordan is playing for a first-time head coach, Kellen Moore, who is not even a full year older than Cam himself. However, the youth and inexperience of this coaching staff combined with the lack of expectations around the NFL hasn’t put a damper on the often-upbeat defensive end. He spoke just as fondly of Kellen Moore as he did any of the restaurants he shouted out during his mid-interview virtual food tour.
“Kellen comes in with this calm head, but he also has a determination about him. And he’s got this factual-based ideology. Like, ‘Hey, these are the points of how we win. This is what a successful team is,'” Jordan explained. Unfortunately, over the first two weeks of the 2025 season, penalties and a few other minor issues have kept the Saints from walking out victorious in two very winnable games versus the Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers.
Despite an 0-2 start, there’s still a belief in Kellen Moore and his coaching staff — including defensive coordinator Brandon Staley, who Jordan complimented by saying he had “weird, psychotic, brain-child energy” — and a belief in the guys on the roster that this group could get it together and make some noise in the NFC South.
“The worst thing in the world on Sundays is that we don’t win. And sometimes the light in that tunnel is that we’re so close to winning, but that’s why they call it a game of inches. There’s no excuses being made, but you see the potential there,” Jordan said. “If we patch ourselves up, how much further will we go?”
Hopefully far enough to surprise all of the people who wrote the Saints off heading into 2025.
To check out the entire interview with Cam Jordan, where we discuss his father’s influence, the 2011 draft class, his plans once his playing career is over, and why the heck his alma mater (the California Golden Bears) is playing in the ACC, listen below:
EXCLUSIVE: Cam Jordan Talks Downy, Saints Outlook, City of New Orleans and More