Jordan Reflects on Dolphins Stint, New Job in Football

Former Miami Dolphins first-round pick Dion Jordan on his disappointing time with the team: "I own everything"

Dion Jordan (Oregon) is introduced by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell as the number three overall pick to the Miami Dolphins during the 2013 NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall. | Jerry Lai-Imagn Images

It’s been more than a decade since the Miami Dolphins made Dion Jordan one of the first picks of the 2013 draft and almost that long since his career with the team flamed out because of off-the-field issues.

The selection of Jordan third overall remains one of the most disappointing chapters in team history, and it’s only gotten worse because the player taken immediately after continues on what looks like a Hall of Fame trajectory.

And it most definitely makes it more painful to watch Lane Johnson help the Philadelphia Eagles win a second Super Bowl title in eight years.

Jordan has kept a relatively low profile in recent years, but he made an appearance on The Fish Tank this week and reflected on his ill-fated time in Miami.

Dion Jordan's struggles were well documented, but what did not receive nearly as much attention was the work he has done on himself and the people who helped him along the way. #DiveIn for this candid and thoughtful conversation with the @MiamiDolphins former first-round draft… pic.twitter.com/2PxLnKmtYC

— TheFishTank (@TheFishTank81) February 11, 2025

He is well aware he’s not the most popular former player.

" I understand,” he told hosts Seth Levit and former Dolphins wide receiver O.J. McDuffie. “Look, that's part of the game, you know? Those people, those fans, they support and they pay our bills, right? I'm a Lakers fan in basketball and I get it.But also I say I enjoyed my time in South Florida. I love South Florida. I love the people and that was my journey. I'm grateful that I had the chance to put the jersey on. I want to get back out there, be able to, in some form of fashion, support and be around but it's no hard feelings. I don't feel no way. Hey, man, I understand."

After the Dolphins traded up in the first round of the 2013 draft, from 12th to third by giving the Raiders a second-round pick, they selected the defensive end from the University of Oregon.

He ended up appearing in only 26 games with one start for the Dolphins and was suspended three times for violating the league’s substance abuse policy, the first coming in July 2014 as he headed into his second training camp.

After he was suspended for the 2015 season and spent all of 2016 on the Non-Football Injury list, the Dolphins finally gave up on him in March 2017.

“After that first year, that suspension, I had to realize what had happened,” Jordan said. “I had to realize what was happening. Like, (that was) my first time, actually, like, ever in trouble. My first thing was, like, once I got everything that I worked for, this is what happened. So that's what messed me up, like, emotionally, that messed me up mentally. I was, like, trying to figure out why, why me, I'm young, so I'm like, trying to find somebody else to put it on. It's just spiraling, not taking in the help that people were trying to give me. I know a lot of good people, and even helping me get to where I am, I wasn't smart enough to take the help, I was trying to figure it out on my own. So it was getting bad. It was getting bad to the point to where, like, for me, like I wasn't focused on ball and it sucked for my family. And when I say bad, I mean, those are people that, when I look back like they suffered the most.

“Look, I own everything.”

JORDAN BACK IN FOOTBALL

Jordan’s playing career ended after he appeared in 13 games for the San Francisco 49ers in 2020 following stints with the Seattle Seahawks and Oakland Raiders, with a couple more suspensions mixed in.

He's back in football now as assistant head coach at Eureka College in Illinois, where the head coach is former Dolphins teammate Randy Starks.

He also expressed his gratitude to Dolphins owner Stephen Ross for checking up on him through the years.

"He would always find a way to get to me, wherever I was,” Jordan said. “Dude would send me emails, like it was, I felt bad. And, I mean, at the end, like, when I had to say bye, he was the last person I had to say bye to. And then I had to think about the fact that he was still rooting for me the whole time, I feel bad, but it was a huge blessing to even think about it like now, like somebody in that position that was rooting for you, that had your back, that asked you to come on board and be a part of the what he has going on in that organization. It’s cool. It's really cool to think back that somebody like that supported me, for sure.

“Good dude. He’s got a lot of money, but he's still human. He cares. I can tell you that much, he cares. And just from my experience with the man, like he gives a (crap) about what he brings into his organization.”