MLB/NFL crossovers: Brian Jordan
No player who logged time in both the NFL and MLB had a more successful baseball career than Brian Jordan, a first-round pick from the University of Richmond by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1988 who hit 184 career home runs over the course of a 15-year big-league career.
A seventh-round draft pick by the Buffalo Bills in 1989, Jordan was cut and signed by the Atlanta Falcons in December 1989. He appeared in four games, handling the return duties in the season finale.
By the following season he was the starting strong safety in the same secondary as Deion Sanders. He had three interceptions in 1990 and two more in 1991, when he also tied an NFL record by registering two safeties in a single season.
Jordan signed with the Cardinals in 1988 and worked his way through the farm system until he made the opening day roster in 1992. In June of that year, he signed a new contract that included a $1.7 million signing bonus … with the caveat he would give up the NFL.
He became a full-time starter in right field in 1995, drove in 104 runs in 1996 and hit 25 homers in 1998 before becoming a free agent and signing with the Atlanta Braves.
In Jordan’s first season with the Braves, he was an All-Star, hitting .283 with an .811 OPS with 23 homers and 115 RBI as Atlanta reached the World Series.
In January 2002, he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers as part of the package that sent Gary Sheffield to the Braves. He signed with the Texas Rangers in 2004 and returned to the Braves in 2005, where he played his final two seasons.
For his career, he hit .282 with a .788 OPS in 1,456 games, driving in 821 runs and stealing 119 bases. Jordan also led the National League in Defensive WAR in 1996 and led the NL in Total Zone Runs and Range Factor per nine innings three different seasons each, but he never won a Gold Glove.