We’re counting down the days until the Panthers kick off the 2022 season.
We’re 73 days away from the Panthers 2022 season opener, so that means today’s countdown piece is devoted to No. 73 on the roster — guard Michael Jordan.
Jordan is a former fourth-round pick in 2019 out of Ohio State. He started nine games at left guard as a rookie for the Cincinnati Bengals, then 10 games in 2020. However, the Bengals parted ways with Jordan shortly before the 2021 season.
Carolina came in and claimed him, then placed him on the practice squad, and ultimately called him up to dress in mid-October.
And yes, he sure does share the same name with that other Michael Jordan, but he wasn’t named after him.
“I was named after my father,’’ Jordan told ESPN in 2021. “I’m actually pretty terrible at basketball. You can ask the guys in the locker room. They already know that. I’ve been terrible since I’ve been a kid. I’ve got to look at the ball when I dribble.”
When he was a freshman at Ohio State he tried to order a pizza at Papa John’s, and it didn’t go so well.
“All of a sudden, it says it will be here in 20 minutes. So I called the place and said I placed an order for Michael Jordan. He started cussing me out. He said, ‘It’s Super Bowl Sunday. You can’t be playing around with fake names like that.’ Then I went in and showed him my ID, and I got free pizza for a week,’’ he told ESPN.
Jordan ended up playing in every offensive snap in nine games last season, and played most of the snaps during two other matches. In fact, he played the sixth most snaps on offense in 2021, with 703 total snaps.
Given the trust they put in Jordan, I think it’s safe to say he’ll at least enter training camp battling for a starting guard spot. We’re definitely going to be seeing Mike Jordan this season.