New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan was one of four NFL players to join a USO Tour to South Korea, where he met with American service members and visited military facilities. Jordan has been active in sharing updates on his experience through social media, and when looking back on it he took the opportunity to encourage his teammates to consider joining future tours.
“I urge my (Saints and NFL family) to look into (the USO Tours opportunity) to not only learn (and) gain a new perspective about all our military does,” Jordan wrote on his official Twitter account, “but how much they are under-appreciated in terms of the circumstances they face (and) are so readily prepared for, in serving our Country. #SaluteToService”
The Saints’ defensive captain has had a blast on this experience, judging from his comments and a few antics shared on his social media feed. Like former teammate Mark Ingram, he armored up and took on a military police dog during a K9 training exercise. However, the dog had a tougher time bringing the 287-pound Jordan to ground than when the 215-pound Ingram was tackled last year:
Jordan credited a former teammate, defensive tackle Akiem Hicks (now with the Chicago Bears), with getting him involved with the USO Tour in the first place: “As many times as I’ve been able to have the ability to show appreciation to our military back in college (and) now in the NFL. (Akiem Hicks) sold me on the USO Tour a few (years) back and I absolutely love every opportunity to meet and show my gratitude to the servicemen overseas…”
Jordan wrapped up his visit to South Korea by getting to ride around in some armored troop transports, as well as a giant tank:
Overall Jordan’s trip appears to have been a success. He connected with dozens of Saints fans stationed overseas, and was able to meet new people and take in some new sights. From how he’s talked about it, this may not be the last time Jordan joins such a mission.
“It’s been a phenomenal (three) weeks to end my traveling into South Korea for this USO Tour,” Jordan said, “to have the last bit of traveling equate to seeing a couple soldiers (and) vets’ smile really was the ultimate finish to an amazing tour. This tour was a huge eye opener. Thank you for this possibility.”
