When you have future Hall of Famer Curtis Martin on the team, picking up another running back wouldn't seem to be a top priority.
But when LaMont Jordan – who had just finished his collegiate career as the University of Maryland's all-time leading rusher with 4,147 yards – was available in the 2001 NFL Draft, the Jets knew they weren't going to let him get away.
"I remember I took my visit with the Jets and they told me that they didn't need a running back, Curtis was there," Jordan said. "But they really liked me, and if teams allowed me to drop to the second round and I'm there, that they would most likely take me. So I was really, really happy. I got a chance to stay on the East Coast."
After being the top Terp at Maryland, Jordan had to adapt to being Martin's backup. And while the veteran would earn his fourth of five trips to the Pro Bowl in Jordan's rookie season, Jordan's adjustment was made easier when Martin proved to be an all-star off the field, as well.
"I'll never forget coming into the locker room and meeting him for the first time," Jordan said. "He came up and introduced himself and made himself available for me. He told me he's going to do everything he can to help me, but he's not going to chase me. That he was just there.
"I think one of the hardest adjustments for me was warming up and then just standing on the sideline. And so I had to try to manage my warm up. I think the good thing for me was that I was also on a kickoff return team, so I did get some early action."
Jordan also got an early education from his new teammate.
"Curtis is like one of the best human beings I've ever met. And he was a mentor," Jordan said. "So between just his everyday work habits, just the man of God that he was, and learning how to run the flat route, how to stair step a guy to create space and separation, that was huge for me.
"And watching him, I also understood the importance of the cold tub. The night before our first preseason game, I came into the training room and I saw him in a cold tub. So I went and got in a cold tub. I'm like, 'Hey, Curtis is in there.' And I think I was ready to get out like three minutes into it, but I was just like, 'I can't let him see. I've got to stay.'"
At the same time 2001 was Jordan's first year with the Jets, it was head coach Herm Edwards' first year with them, too. And both began their time in New York by making the playoffs three of the first four seasons.
"First of all, I loved playing for Herm," Jordan said. "I think it started with Herm as a coach. And then having guys like Curtis Martin and Kevin Mawae, defensive coordinator Teddy Cottrell, Marvin Jones, Mo Lewis, James Farrior, and I believe my rookie year, Aaron Glenn was there.
"We just had some really, really good vets on that team. I loved being there. I loved my teammates. I just feel like we worked well together. I think that the vets did a great job of leading, and the younger guys like myself and Jamie (Henderson) and Kareem (McKenzie), I think that we did a great job of just following their leadership."
In his second season, Jordan did a good job as the game-high leading rusher with 102 yards and two touchdowns in the Wild Card Playoff game against Indianapolis. The Jets and their fans won, 41-0.
"I had fun. It was cold, just great playoff weather," Jordan said. "I just remember the feeling of being in the stadium, seeing the fans, just how happy they were and how excited they were. And then to go out there and just dominate the Colts the way we dominated them.
"I loved the Jets fans. They always supported us. Although the Giants were I guess you could say "New York's" team or whatever, Jets fans, they just had fun.
"And I remember playing the Cincinnati Bengals in a (2003) preseason game. It was just raining hard as heck out there. And for a preseason game, to see that the fans would stay, and afterwards, when you left the stadium, they were out there wanting to get an autograph. Just to see the commitment that they had to stand out there in that rain cheering us on, that's something that really stuck out to me.
"And I tell you what, it gets loud in that stadium, too. I mean, when we gave them reasons to cheer and be loud… The J-E-T-S, Jets!, Jets!, Jets! Oh, man, I just absolutely loved it."
Following four seasons with the Jets, Jordan went on to play three years with the then-Oakland Raiders and one each with the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos. He then moved from the field to the sideline.
"When I came home in 2010, I started coaching in the GYFL [Grassroots Youth Football League in Baltimore County, MD]. Mike Anderson, who's a former University of Maryland standout running back, started the GYFL and we had a number of pros come through that. (Dallas Cowboys cornerback) Trevon Diggs, I had an opportunity to coach him," Jordan said.
"Then I traveled with Football University, FBU, and had a chance to work with some former NFL players teaching young kids the things that we'd learned. And I had a chance to coach in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl twice.
"I was a high school head coach for a year and then helped Pep Hamilton coach the running backs when he was the head coach for the (XFL's) DC Defenders. That was right before the pandemic. And after the pandemic, I started back with my training and reached out to a women's team [DC Divas] to let them know that, 'Hey, if your ladies want to get some training, I'm available for that.' And I coached with them for a year."
Jordan is now in his first season as the head coach of the Washington Prodigy, which plays in the Women's National Football Conference [WNFC].
"A few of the players that I coached in my year with the Divas ended up going over and playing for the Prodigy. They were doing their own workouts and called and asked if I could help them," Jordan said. "The head coach for the Prodigy at the time, I guess he had already said that this would be his last year. And a few of the ladies asked, 'Hey, would you be interested in coming and being our head coach?'
"And so once the season ended and it became official that he wasn't coming back, I did an interview with Tiffany Matthews, the owner of the Prodigy, along with a couple of the players. And about a week or two later, they called and said they're bringing me on."
Overlooking an offseason training program with the players since he was hired in August, what adjustments has Jordan had to make going from coaching men to women?
"Nothing," he said. "The good thing about these ladies with the Prodigy is they want to be coached up. They don't want to be treated differently because they're women. So I don't. And the ladies that I have with the Prodigy, they absolutely love it. They responded well, so I really didn't have to make any adjustments.
"I believe that they can play football. I believe that they can learn an NFL offense, because that's what I'm running, same terminology and everything. I'm looking forward to my first game as their head coach coming up on March 29 (against Atlanta)."
The women who suit up for the Prodigy as well as the other teams in the league truly do so for the love of the game. They literally pay to play.
"The WNFC is a nonprofit, and so they have fees," Jordan said. "This is part of the whole journey to, first of all, get people to know that women's tackle football is around. We have teams all over the United States. That just shows you how serious these women are about football. For a number of them, it starts with flag football. Those who come over and put on a helmet, they're paying money to play.
"I've been paid to play this sport, I love the sport, and I'm very passionate about it. But when you have a group of women who pay to play this game, I give them all that I have because they should be respected.
"I think that anybody who gets an opportunity to watch the Washington Prodigy play, they're going to see an NFL-style team. They're going to see a group of women who just love playing the game of football."
Jordan, who has two sons: Omari and LaMont Jr., makes his home in Maryland, where besides coaching the Prodigy, he's also the sideline reporter for the University of Maryland football radio broadcasts.
"Myself and Steve Suter, we're on the broadcast with Johnny Holliday, and it's an absolute pleasure to be on the sideline and call games with them," Jordan said. "I love giving the fans who listen in, a breakdown of what's going on. I've been told that I educate a lot of people in the broadcast. They love me being on there and I love doing it."
