Cal Football: Cameron Jordan Named to the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame

New Orleans Saints' Defensive End is the First Golden Bears to Earn This Honor

Cameron Jordan has been feted with plenty of honors during his football career.

The former Cal star is a six-time Pro Bowl selection, was named first-team All-Pro in 2017 and was chosen to the NFL’s 2010 All-Decade Team.

And now . . . the New Orleans Saints’ defensive end has been named to the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame.

To which we had two immediate reactions:

1) Congratulations, Cam

2) The Senior Bowl has a Hall of Fame?

Yep, apparently this has been a thing since 1988, and the inductees over those three-plus decades include the likes of Joe Namath, Mean Joe Green, Walter Payton, Bo Jackson and Brett Favre.

Doak Walker, who won the Heisman Trophy as a junior at SMU in the fall of 1948, played in the inaugural Senior Bowl in 1950, and also is a member of event’s Hall of Fame.

Courtesy of Cal Athletics

Although he is among 40 former Cal players who have participated in the Senior Bowl, Jordan is the first Golden Bear chosen to the Hall. The Senior Bowl is the oldest and most prestigious of the post-collegiate all-star games.

Jordan, 31, expressed his appreciation for being honored and thanked others who served as inspiration for him during his career at Cal.

"I had teammates that were older than me at Cal like Tyson Alualu and Alex Mack go to the Senior Bowl and watching those guys ahead of me become first-rounders was proof of how important the Senior Bowl really was," Jordan said after his selection on Thursday.

"Getting the invite to the Senior Bowl was checking off the list of being acknowledged as one of the nation's best. When I got to the Senior Bowl, it allowed me to prove myself and eliminate any self-doubt versus the nation's best players. Playing in the Senior Bowl reinforced what I should've already known — that I was fully prepared to go to the NFL.”

Also named to the 2021 Senior Bowl Hall of Fame are former Miami Dolphins' and Kansas City Chiefs' cornerback Patrick Surtain, former San Francisco 49ers' offensive tackle Joe Staley, former Jacksonville Jaguars' running back Fred Taylor and former Indianapolis Colts' wide receiver Reggie Wayne.

The five will be inducted into the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame during a ceremony at The Grand Hotel Golf Club & Spa in Point Clear, Alabama, on June 23.

Jordan, who played at Cal from 2007 through ’10, played in the 2011 Senior Bowl and had five tackles, including one tackle for loss.

He ranks second among active NFL players with a streak of 145 consecutive starts and has played in 160 straight games. His 94.5 career sacks are eighth-most among active NFL players and his 124 tackles for loss rank ninth.

At Cal, Jordan played in 50 of 51 possible games with 32 starts. A first-team All-Pac-10 pick as a senior, he had 175 career tackles, 34 tackles for loss and 16.5 sacks at Cal.

Cover photo of Cameron Jordan by Derick Hingle, USA Today

 Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo