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Lee Roy Jordan, whose ferocious play in the 1960s and \u201970s made him one of the most feared linebackers in college and the NFL and the dean of the Dallas Cowboys\u2019 fabled Doomsday Defense, died Saturday in a Dallas hospice of kidney failure, his son David said. He was 84.<\/p>\n
Over a career that included a key role in Bear Bryant\u2019s first national championship at Alabama and the Cowboys\u2019 first Super Bowl win, Jordan raised the standard with relentless effort and preparation and by demanding the best from his teammates.<\/p>\n
A five-time Pro Bowler, NFC Defensive Player of the Year and member of two all-time SEC teams as well as the Cowboys\u2019 Silver Anniversary team, he was the first player inducted into the Ring of Honor by Jerry Jones in 1989.<\/p>\n
In an era when middle linebackers such as Ray Nitschke, Willie Lanier and Dick Butkus ruled, Jordan held his own with anyone.<\/p>\n
\u201cLee Roy was as good as any linebacker in football,\u201d longtime broadcaster Verne Lundquist once said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeriod.\u201d<\/p>\n
Born the fourth of seven children on a farm in Excel, Ala., without electricity, Jordan was discovered by Jerry Claiborne, one of Bryant\u2019s assistants, while scouting another player. Because Jordan wasn\u2019t particularly big or fast, the staff considered him a marginal prospect. Once on campus, he quickly proved otherwise.<\/p>\n
Driven by Bryant, whom he considered a second father, he accelerated the Bear\u2019s timetable for restoring Alabama to the top of college football. He was the best player on the Crimson Tide\u2019s 1961 national title team and finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting as a senior.<\/p>\n
He carved a permanent place in Alabama lore with 31 tackles in the Tide\u2019s 17-0 win over Oklahoma in the 1963 Orange Bowl.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they stay in bounds,\u201d Bryant once said, \u201col\u2019 Lee Roy will tackle \u2019em.\u201d<\/p>\n
Friend or foe, it didn\u2019t matter to Jordan. Near the end of the Senior Bowl, a blow to the face cost him four front teeth. An athletic trainer stuffed gauze in his mouth to stop the bleeding, but Jordan spit it out.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s go!\u201d he shouted, returning to the field to lead a goal-line stand that preserved the South\u2019s win.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt may have been a meaningless game for some of them,\u201d Alabama teammate Bill Battle wrote, \u201cbut it wasn\u2019t for Lee Roy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jordan didn\u2019t let up at practice, either. After the Cowboys selected him with the sixth pick of the 1963 draft, he drew the ire of some veterans by demanding more effort from teammates. He knew no other way to play.<\/p>\n
Dan Reeves, then a rookie, learned that in a scrimmage. Running through what he thought was a hole, he met Jordan\u2019s famous forearm shiver, which shattered his facemask and split his lip.<\/p>\n
If that\u2019s what he does to his teammates, Reeves wondered, what does he do to opponents?<\/p>\n
\u201cDan,\u201d Jordan later told him, \u201cif my grandmother put on a helmet and ran the ball for the other team, I would have to tackle her.\u201d<\/p>\n
From 1963-76, including a 12-year stretch of 154 consecutive starts at middle linebacker, no Cowboy made more tackles than Jordan. He credited Tom Landry\u2019s Flex defense for maximizing his skills. At 6-1 and 220 pounds, one of the smallest players at the position, he relied on quick first steps and preparation.<\/p>\n
He also credited Jerry Tubbs, the player he replaced, with teaching him the nuances of Landry\u2019s system. Jordan studied so much film, he once asked for a projector during contract talks.<\/p>\n
His dedication and Christian faith led the Cowboys to assign him as Don Meredith\u2019s roommate on the road and before home games. Jordan\u2019s job was to make sure Dandy Don made it back before curfew. He called himself Meredith\u2019s \u201cbabysitter\u201d for six years until Meredith\u2019s retirement at 31.<\/p>\n
Often asked if his greatest feat was the 31-tackle game in the Orange Bowl, Jordan wrote in his memoir, \u201cI laugh and say my greatest accomplishment in football was being able to get Don Meredith back to the room in time for bed-check … most of the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though he cultivated a fierce reputation on the field, Jordan was a gentleman off it, a family man beloved by teammates.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the field, he was the best middle linebacker I\u2019ve ever seen,\u201d Reeves wrote. \u201cOff the field, he is one of the best people I\u2019ve ever known.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reeves once lived at the end of the same Lake Highlands street as the Jordans, along with the families of Chuck Howley, Tony Liscio and Dave Manders. David, the oldest of Lee Roy and Biddie\u2019s three sons, said growing up there it seemed like everyone\u2019s dad was a Cowboy.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was one of those guys. It took a lot to make him mad,\u201d David said. \u201cBut you didn\u2019t want to get him there. He was unwavering. Firm but fair.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe would give you three chances before he broke the belt out on you.\u201d<\/p>\n
He was also quick to hug and tell his boys he loved them, David\u2019s wife, Melanie, said, a practice that immediately endeared him to her.<\/p>\n
After his career ended in 1976, Jordan bought a couple of lumber yards and worked for decades. He remained in good health, David said, until a few years ago, when dementia believed to be caused by chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, made him more reserved.<\/p>\n
He continued to travel with his wife of 62 years back to Alabama to see friends and family. But after a recent trip this summer, his health declined sharply. In the last six weeks, he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma and renal failure. The family checked him into Faith Presbyterian Hospice, where he died early Saturday.<\/p>\n
Besides his wife, whom he met at Alabama, he is survived by three sons and eight grandchildren.<\/p>\n
Before his death, David said, one of his favorite teammates, Roger Staubach, visited with his wife, Marianne.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were my boss,\u201d the Hall of Fame quarterback told Jordan. \u201cYou were the baddest guy on the football field.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite what dementia took from him, Melanie said, he could always say, \u201cLove you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Services are pending.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lee Roy Jordan, whose ferocious play in the 1960s and \u201970s made him one of the most feared linebackers in college and the NFL and the dean of the Dallas<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":86109,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[138,3389,687,54,209,3386,204,3388,3387,207,50,211],"class_list":["post-86103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl","tag-american-football","tag-american-football-competitions","tag-american-football-teams","tag-dallas-cowboys","tag-gridiron-football-variants","tag-lee-roy-jordan","tag-national-football-league","tag-nfl-seasons","tag-nfl-teams","tag-seasons-in-american-football","tag-sports","tag-team-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n