Cameron Jordan thanks Matt Ryan for all his help in winning Saints’ sack record

Cameron Jordan made time to thank Matt Ryan for all his help in winning the Saints’ sack record. He didn’t forget his longtime rival while celebrating a career milestone:

Cameron Jordan made NFL history with the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, with his third sack on the afternoon raising his career total to 115.5. That’s half a sack ahead of Pro Football Hall of Famer Rickey Jackson, famed leader of the Saints’ old “Dome Patrol” defense. This big game also put Jordan’s season total to 8.5 sacks, landing him in rare company. Hall of Fame inductees Reggie White and John Randle are the only other players to have bagged at least 7.5 sacks in as many consecutive seasons as Jordan (11).

Jordan turned retrospective in celebrating his accomplishment after the game, thanking dozens of teammates and coaches by name who helped him get to this point — as well as the many opposing quarterbacks he brought down over the years.

“There was some Josh Freemans in there, there was like a myriad of Tampa Bay quarterbacks. Lots of Matt Ryan,” Jordan joked. “He’s been good to me. Happy New Year, Matt Ryan, if you see it.”

Ryan certainly has been good to him: Jordan sacked the former Atlanta Falcons quarterback 23 times in 11 seasons, setting an NFL record for the most sacks of an opposing passer by a single defender in their career. It’s quite a unique NFL record they put together.

When asked how much longer he sees himself playing, Jordan quipped: “I don’t know, Tom Brady is like 75. So half that? I’ll take 37.”

Jordan turns 34 this summer, and it sure doesn’t seem like he’s slowing down that much. He could very likely play three more years at this level. If he can remain healthy and productive, he could put the sacks record so far out of reach that it endures as long for him as it did for Jackson (28-plus years, or 10,591 days). We’ll see how the defensive line changes around him in the offseason, but Jordan should continue to be a fixture for New Orleans. When he’s ready to hang up his cleats, he’ll have quite a case to maybe join Jackson, White, and Randle in the Hall of Fame himself someday.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbyahgz6p2j3xp7 player_id=01eqbvhghtkmz2182d image=]

[listicle id=120337]