In a time when the National Football League protects offensive players the most, it's not easy being a headhunter.
But ever since he made it to the league, New Orleans Saints' star pass-rusher Cameron Jordan has made a name for himself as one of the sack leaders year in and year out.
There aren't many QBs who can brag about staying safe when Jordan is on the gridiron, as his durability, skill, and ability to break through blocks have made him virtually unstoppable.
But even a legend like Jordan has its white whale. For him, it was Peyton Manning, as he recently said on the 'Calm Down' Podcast with Erin Andrews and Charissa Thompson:
"Do you have a favorite sack? Or do you have a favorite quarterback you like to sack? Because I feel like you've got them all at this point in your life," Andrews asked.
"I never sacked Peyton Manning and I'm upset about it," Jordan replied.
"You never sacked Peyton Manning? It's not like he was fleet of foot, man, what happened?" Andrews jokingly said.
Jordan didn't get the chance to face Manning in their first career meeting due to an injury. Then, he struggled to make an impact due to the matchup and defensive scheme:
"I was young, so. My first year, I think, his neck was hurt," Jordan said. "But then we played in Denver and I like distinctly remember like 'Yo, I want to play in,' and I think I was playing 3 technique and us and one of ours like sliding front defenses that if they adjust to something like that, I have to go from 3 technique to nose and it happened a lot and they were kicking my a**."
Jordan clearly remembers every minor detail about his career and all the heads he's hunted throughout the years.
Back in 2019, he was able to recall every single one of the quarterbacks he had sacked since entering the league in 2011, citing that he had 79.5 sacks in the regular season and 84 sacks overall.
Now, that number has gone all the way to 103 sacks to go along with 13 forced fumbles, 10 fumble recoveries, 2 interceptions, and 1 defensive touchdown.
There should be no shame in never getting to sack a legendary gunslinger such as Peyton Manning.
While never mobile like Russell Wilson and certainly not the Michael Vick kind of player, Manning's quick release and top-notch perimeter vision made him one of the deadliest QBs of all time.
He was sacked 303 times through 266 career games played, but he was rarely caught off guard and was big, strong, and tough to knock down.
We're sorry, Cam, he'll forever be the one who got away.
