Jordan Magee tells Rooster & Nell he's ready to hit hard and make an immediate impact for Commanders
Jordan Magee was born in Towson and went to Temple, and as this #TempleMade digital writer will tell ya, ain’t none tougher than the boys from North Broad – so Dan Quinn may have a good one in his linebacker room after the fifth round of this year’s NFL Draft.
He’s certainly got an energetic, charismatic leader who will be where his feet are, and wherever they need to be thanks to his speed.
“I take pride in how I carry myself. I look at myself as a high character guy who treats people how I would wanna be treated,” Magee said. “I put my faith in God and everything happens for a reason, everything happened how it's supposed to happen. I always play with a chip on my shoulder, and being from Delaware (he lived in Dover), a small state, we get overlooked a lot as football players. So, just having that chip on my shoulder since I was a kid is just a big thing. When I got that call my heart was pounding fast, like my heart dropped, and I answered the phone and it was Adam Peters, and it was crazy.”
Magee may have been overlooked again due to Temple’s struggles in The American and an arm injury that kept him from any postseason showcases, but once again, he’ll just prove the doubters wrong.
“I’m 100 percent healthy, and that torn bicep, that was definitely hard coming back from it, but I suppose scouts and GMs wanted to see me go against higher competition at these All-Star games; maybe would have helped my draft stop, but everything happens for a reason, I'm with the Commanders, and we gotta #RaiseHail.”
He’s got two all-time greats, though, to show him the ropes in the LB room: starting MLB Bobby Wagner, and coach Ken Norton Jr., one of the best to ever do it.
“It’s blessing; Bobby is a Hall of Famer, and coach Norton, he was a great one and one of the best linebacker coaches in today's game,” Magee said. “Just getting knowledge from those two guys, it’s gonna be a great opportunity. I’ve actually had Zoom meetings with coach Norton, just doing some basic install of the defense.”
That’s good, and so is the fact that Magee admits he loves to hit the ball carrier.
“Defense was my first side of the ball playing football and I just fell in love with it,” Magee said. “Ever since, just being able to run around and hit people and not getting in trouble for it. But especially with the new rules about the hip-drop tackle, you have to change your ways a little bit. It's definitely challenging in today's game, but we get paid for it and have to be adaptable and adjust to certain situations. We can fix that and play off of those type of rule changes.”
And he’s ready to do it, because he understands that DC loves hard-nosed players and the fans want a winning product, and he’s willing to do whatever it takes, even if his immediate impact is special teams.
“The fans wanna see winning football, and the new regime, we plan to bring that to the city,” Magee said. “Their personality matches mine very well; Dan Quinn is well-respected and brings a good energy and charisma, and I take pride in defense and special teams. Ever since I was a freshman, all the special teams coordinators I had really harped on being a core four guy, a guy that plays every special teams, and I feel like my ability as a football player allows me to play special teams at a high level.”
Take a listen to Magee’s entire visit with Rooster and Lynnell above!
