Henry Jordan was the fifth player to be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame from the outstanding Green Bay defensive unit that helped to make the Packers the scourge of the National Football League during the 1960s. Jordan's defensive linemate Willie Davis, linebacker Ray Nitschke, cornerback Herb Adderley and safety Willie Wood are the defensive stalwarts who preceded the 6-2, 248-pound defensive tackle into the Hall.
A three-sport star at the University of Virginia where he captained the football team as a senior and was a runner-up in the heavyweight class of the 1957 NCAA wrestling championships, Jordan began his pro football career as a fifth-round draft pick of the 1957 Cleveland Browns.
Henry quickly assured himself a spot on the roster as a hard-hitting defensive tackle for a team that grabbed the 1957 NFL Eastern division title and tied for the division crown a year later. But before the 1959 season, Cleveland sent him to the Packers for a fourth-round draft choice.
Jordan's acquisition proved to be a key element in coach Vince Lombardi's ambitious building program. For the next decade, Jordan, who was born in Emporia, Virginia, on January 26, 1935, was a fixture at defensive right tackle as Green Bay won six divisional titles, five NFL championships and the first two Super Bowls. Jordan, known as a quick, smart defender, specialized in pressuring the passer.
He won All-NFL acclaim five times in 1960, 1961,1962, 1963, and 1964, and also played in four Pro Bowls, seven NFL title games and Super Bowls I and II. He was named the Outstanding Lineman in the 1962 Pro Bowl classic. Extremely durable, he missed only two games in his first 12 seasons before his final 1969 campaign, when injuries limited his playing time to just five games.