0:02

During his eleven seasons, Panther offensive

0:05

lineman Jordan Gross was known for his intelligence,

0:07

toughness, and dedication to his craft.

0:10

It's interesting Gross stood out by

0:12

trying to blend in. I always said

0:14

that I felt like I was kind of norm from Shears

0:17

in Charlotte and in the building. I just want

0:19

to be one of the normal employees that

0:21

happened to be decent at blocking people.

0:24

Today we celebrate twenty five seasons of Panther

0:27

football with offensive lineman Jordan

0:29

Gross. Five

0:32

seasons of Panthers Football, a

0:34

celebration of the players, coaches, and

0:36

other people who have contributed to the organizational

0:39

success. Now to mcmixon,

0:43

our guest on the podcast, the famous number

0:45

sixty nine, the Great Jordan Gross

0:47

back for Hall of Honor ceremonies.

0:49

Where were you, Jordan's when you got the call

0:52

and what emotions did it bring up for you to hear

0:54

from David Tepper. I was in

0:56

my barn at the farm and he

0:58

interrupted. I was did some really good

1:00

tomato starts, and I was

1:03

halfway through. My hands were all dirty

1:05

and potting soil, and the darn

1:07

owner called me, so then I to stop

1:10

everything, and if those tomatoes don't turn out

1:12

I'm blaming it all on him, but it

1:14

was. It was awesome. I was very very

1:16

excited. Um,

1:18

I don't ever feel like I've tried

1:20

to be a me guy as

1:22

a you know, as a player and in this building, but

1:25

I'll be honest, it felt awesome to get some

1:28

recognition. And the coolest

1:30

thing is that I think as

1:32

a player and I was in this building for a long

1:34

time and afterwards working with all you

1:36

guys and just loving it, and then the decision

1:38

to move back home, the fear is kind

1:41

of just losing connection with

1:43

all the people and the team

1:45

and the stadium, and this

1:48

just makes me feel so good about kind

1:51

of solidifying that relationship, you

1:54

know, kind of forever essentially and

1:56

for my family, you know, now coming back

1:58

to games and being able to say

2:01

that I left an impact here. It's really

2:03

really awesome. And I you know, I there's

2:05

been accolades in football over the years, but this one's

2:08

the best. It's just really it means

2:10

a lot because I care so much about the people

2:12

here and to think that everybody thinks good

2:14

enough of me to include me. Man, it's awesome.

2:17

Well learned on your part, and it's fantastic.

2:19

So there'll be a bust, there'll be a blazer.

2:21

You're now a permanent part of the history of this franchise.

2:24

When you hung up with David Tepper, who was the first

2:26

person that you called her, talked to, well, I finished

2:28

my tomatoes because you know,

2:31

you gotta handle your business man, And

2:33

then I called my wife. She was I mean, she was just

2:35

she was on on the farm, but she wasn't where

2:37

I was, and so she was so supportive

2:39

and excited. And you know, Dana has been We

2:42

started dating when I was on my

2:44

first year on varsity football in high school,

2:47

so she's experienced all of

2:49

it. And I feel like

2:51

at some point she's gonna get tired of like

2:53

congratulating me on a football

2:55

achievement. But I'm about out of him now, so this

2:57

was her last one. But she

3:00

was pumped up. And then telling my kids was cool

3:02

because you know, they they teddy. My

3:04

oldest was, uh, let's

3:06

see when I got in playing, he was

3:08

eight and Rainy my daughter was five,

3:10

so they remember it. But it's

3:13

neat to have some more action happening, you

3:15

know, And and they're probably like I told

3:17

him, and you can't tell anybody yet

3:19

because it's not out and there. You know, it's

3:22

killing my daughter to not tell people

3:25

that that their dad's gonna

3:27

be in the Hall of Honor for the Panthers.

3:29

So a lot of fun. Generally,

3:31

a bust will take your most defining

3:34

physical features and emphasize them

3:36

greatly. Does this concern you at all? Well, I was

3:38

at dinner last night with Jake and

3:41

Ryan Khalil, and they told

3:43

me to ask the sculptor if there

3:45

was gonna be an up charge for my ears because

3:48

of the material cost too. And

3:50

here's the other channel. I was asking, like there's

3:52

been a lot of change to my look over

3:55

the years, and they were measuring me

3:58

currently just now and then

4:00

dots all over my face, you know, do

4:02

with sizing everything. But then they said they wanted to sculpture

4:05

to look like me when I was playing. And

4:07

that's dangerous, Like that can be dangerous. Make if

4:09

they go with the wrong year, it

4:12

can be I can be immortalized. It's just

4:14

an ugly, fat man,

4:16

you know, And that's not what you're looking for anything.

4:19

But I'll be ugly or fat, but ugly

4:22

and fat. You know, that's tough to deal with.

4:24

So well, I don't know what they're gonna do.

4:27

I'm hoping it's later Panthers. Look, that

4:30

was probably my best I would

4:32

say, but if they go early, like my

4:34

draft day, that's I almost would

4:36

rather not be in the Hall of Honor then have that

4:38

bust made. You know, right,

4:41

your modesty is appreciated, but but unnecessary.

4:44

So Jordan's you go in, Well, let's talk about

4:46

the guys you go in with, because you played with three

4:48

of them, or let's see Jake and Smidia core So

4:50

what's it mean to you to be in that same Hall of

4:52

Honor class as Jake Delone, your quarterback? That's

4:55

that's awesome and he's a great friend. I feel

4:58

so privileged and played with Honest

5:02

to god, probably my I don't I

5:04

don't have I've never made an official list, but he'd be my

5:06

top three teammates of all time. Just

5:09

so fun, so responsible,

5:11

such a competitor. So to

5:13

get in with him and enjoy this day or

5:15

this trip. You know he did dinner last night, is

5:18

is great. Um, Steve and I

5:20

were Utah together and then

5:22

eleven years here, so thirteen years of teammates

5:24

and Stephen I actually got into the our college

5:26

Hall of Fame last year together, and

5:30

it means a ton to me. And then the neat thing is

5:32

it means so much to Steve to to share

5:34

that, uh, and then Wesley. I

5:36

think I think doing the Hall of Honor is great

5:39

for the organization. For the fans, Wesley

5:41

Walls was an amazing tight

5:43

end and that's overlooked a lot now, but new

5:45

fans or new players that don't know him because

5:47

he was from you know, predominantly the nineties,

5:50

So to have him get recognition for that

5:52

and be able to let everybody

5:55

know how good he was, that's just awesome, you know. And

5:57

I've got to know Wesley really well. So great

5:59

group and there was definitely some fun group text

6:01

going when we all found out, And of course me

6:03

and Steve just started making fun of Jake right

6:06

off the bat about what he had to do to get

6:08

into this and the athletic requirements

6:10

and stuff like that. So it's gonna be fun. Two

6:12

last questions for Jordan Gross on the

6:14

podcast. Are there any parallels

6:16

between farming and football? Well,

6:20

it's hard work and

6:23

preparation is key, so

6:25

you can't, yeah, I guess, uh,

6:28

yeah, you can't just throw some seeds

6:30

out on some unworked dirt

6:33

and do nothing and expect you're gonna have delicious

6:35

carrots in fifty six days.

6:38

Right. And the same thing with football. You know, this

6:40

time of year, the team's in here and working

6:42

out and they're prepping their soil

6:45

for a productive season. So planning

6:47

and hard work, um and

6:49

being You know what what I love about it is just being

6:52

outside. You know. I got

6:54

to work with you guys, and it was a lot of fun. But too many

6:56

inside sessions would drive me nuts.

6:58

So um, getting to be outside and be

7:00

physically challenged every day is a lot of fun. All

7:03

of us hate you, by the way, for leaving us inside

7:06

and going outside in the way that you did. Very

7:08

insensitive to this interview. Outside we're

7:10

in like a there's not even a window in this room.

7:12

What are we doing to ourselves? Artificial

7:15

light? This is what's This

7:17

is what's causing the eventual evolution

7:19

of us to look like aliens. Just no

7:21

pigmentation needed in our skin, big

7:24

brains because we're sitting inside all the

7:26

time. Right, we developed thumbs too from

7:28

the younger generation. Okay, on a serious

7:30

no last question for the podcast, Jordan grows with

7:32

us. How do you want to be remembered

7:34

here, Well,

7:37

hopefully I'll still be it

7:40

remembered for a lot of years because I'm still

7:42

around. You know that that question

7:44

sounded like it was my final call, Mick,

7:46

But no, I

7:49

I just you know what I

7:51

I always said that I felt like I was kind of norm

7:54

from cheers in Charlotte

7:56

and in the building, and that was awesome. That

7:59

was I mean that you just just want to be one of the

8:01

normal employees that happened to be

8:03

decent at blocking people, you

8:05

know, I, I know, I never felt comfortable

8:08

being anything elevated

8:10

above just

8:12

a just a guy, one of the

8:14

guys, whether it was in the old line room or

8:16

with you guys later. I just I'd love being

8:18

a part of the whole organization

8:23

and uh kind of

8:25

everyman's hero I get, you know, just like if

8:27

he can do it, man, I can do it, because I

8:29

just uh never thought of myself

8:32

as anything other than just another

8:34

part of the Machine. Hall of Honor

8:36

inductee Jordan Gross. Pure class in every

8:38

way. Congratulations Jordan, thanks for

8:40

your time, Thank you many good talking to you. So

8:44

far, we've heard from Steve Smith, Jake Delane,

8:47

and now Jordan Gross. On the podcast. Next

8:49

time, we'll touch another Hall of Honor base

8:51

with tight end Wesley Walls