Jordan Hicks

At 32 years old, Jordan Hicks has this physical status:

Jordan Hicks (born June 27, 1992) is an American football middle linebacker for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL).

He played college football at Texas.

Personal life

Hicks is a Christian. Hicks is married to Ivana Hicks. They have three children.

Source

High school career

Hicks spent his final three seasons for West Chester, Ohio, where he played for 216 tackles, 8.5 sacks, 36 tackles for loss, three forced fumbles, four pass breakups, and a touchdown. Parade, USA Today, and EA Sports selected him as an All-American selection. In 2009, Hicks received the High School Dick Butkus Award.

College career

From 2010 to 2014, the Hicks played college football at Texas under former head coach Mack Brown. He started the first three games of his junior season as a weakside linebacker, but then missed the remainder of the season due to a hip injury. He earned a medical redshirt to ensure a year of service, and the following season, he began the first four games at a weakside linebacker before suffering a season-ending injury, this time a ruptured left Achilles tendon. He returned from the injury to start all 13 games in the 2014 season.

Professional career

The announcement of Hicks has been confirmed on December 1, 2014, the 2015 Senior Bowl was announced. Hicks played in the Reese's Senior Bowl and totaled five tackles to assist Tennessee's head coach Ken Whisenhunt's North team over the South 34-13. He was one of 34 college linebackers to attend the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Indiana. Hicks completed all of the combine drills and ran the 11th fastest 40-yard dash among all linebackers. He also ended with the third best vertical jump and broad leap of his position group. Hicks, Bentley, Quandre Diggs, Jaxon Shipley, Geoff Swaim, Cedric Reed, Mykkele Thompson, and ten others attended Texas' pro day on March 24, 2015. Matt Patricia, the Patriots' defensive coordinator, decided against standouts and only do positional drills for NFL team representatives and scouts from all 32 NFL franchises, including New England Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia. According to NFL draft consultants and scouts, Hicks was expected to be a fourth or fifth round pick at the conclusion of the pre-draft process. He was rated by NFL analyst Charles Davis as the fourth best outside linebacker prospect in the draft and the ninth best outside linebacker prospect by NFLDraftScout.com.

In the third round (84th overall) of the 2015 NFL Draft, the Philadelphia Eagles selected Hicks. In 2015, he was the ninth linebacker chosen in the United States.

The Philadelphia Eagles agreed to a four-year, $2.99 million contract, which includes a signing bonus of $652,732.

He competed against Mychal Kendricks, Kiko Alonso, Demeco Ryans, and Najee Goode in a starting inside linebacker position in defensive coordinator Billy Davis' base 3-4 defense in his first training camp. Chip Kelly, the head coach, selected him as the backup inside linebacker behind starters Kendricks and Ryans to start the regular season.

In the Philadelphia Eagles' season-opening 26-24 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, he made his professional regular season debut. During a 20-ten loss to the Dallas Cowboys, Hicks made seven solo tackles, his first job sacking, and sparked a fumble. After being sacked for an eight-yard loss in the third quarter, Jason Witten made his first tackle of his career on Jason Witten in the second quarter, he was sacked for his first sack and compelled fumble of his career, while Fletcher Cox recovered from the fumble. Hicks cracked Romo's collarbone when being dismissed. Since linebackers Mychal Kendricks sustained a hamstring injury and Kiko Alonso injured his knee in the first half of the game, he gained more snaps on defense. Hicks made his first appearance in his career on September 27, 2015, after suffering with injuries to Kendricks and Alonso. During the Eagles' 24–17 victory over the New York Jets, he had a season-high ten combined tackles, deflected a pass, recovered a fumble, and made his first career interception off a pass attempt by Ryan Fitzpatrick.

In a 27–7 victory over the New York Giants, Hicks made his third appearance in his career as a replacement for Mychal Kendricks and scored a season-high ten solo tackles. During a 33–27 overtime victory over the Dallas Cowboys, he made seven combined tackles, deflected a pass, an intercept, and scored his first career touchdown. Matt Cassel intercepted quarterback Matt Cassel and returning it 67 yards in the fourth quarter, giving him his first career touchdown. He ended the game in the fourth quarter after suffering a suspected pectoral injury. After discovering that Hicks had sustained a torn pectoral injury, the Philadelphia Eagles put him on injured reserve on November 9, 2015. At the time of the injury, Hicks led the team in tackles. In eight games and five starts, Hicks led his rookie season with 50 combined tackles (43 solo), three pass interceptions, two interceptions, a dismissal, and a touchdown. The Philadelphia Eagles ended the season 7-9.9, and head coach Chip Kelly was fired after Week 16.

The Hicks had been slated to start as the starting middle linebacker in training camp, but veteran Stephen Tulloch was up for challenge. After DeMeco Ryans retired, the Philadelphia Eagles opted to upgrade to a base 4-3 defense and had Hicks take over middle linebacker. Doug Pederson, the head coach, named Hicks the starting middle linebacker for the regular season.

In their 29-10 win, Hicks opened the Philadelphia Eagles' season-opener against the Cleveland Browns with four solo tackles and deflected a pass. In the Eagles' 21-0 victory on October 23, 2016, he recorded a season-high 11 combined tackles, defended two runs, and fired Sam Bradford. Hicks made six combined tackles, deflected a pass, and made his first interception of the season on a pass attempt by Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott during a 29-23 loss. In Week 9, he finished with seven combined tackles, two pass deflections, and intercepted Giants quarterback Eli Manning to set up a potential game-winning touchdown. After picking off Mark Sanchez two times during a 27-13 victory over the Cowboys, Hicks made five solo tackles, deflected two passes, and played his first multi-interception game on January 1, 2017. He finished the season with 85 combined tackles (58 solo), 11 pass deflections, five interceptions, and one sack in 16 games and 16 starts.

After his stellar year in 2016, Hicks returned to his second season under defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz as the returning starting middle linebacker.

During a 30-17 victory, he started the Philadelphia Eagles' season-opener against the Washington Redskins, collecting seven combined tackles and recovering a fumble from quarterback Kirk Cousins. During the Eagles' 26–24 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers on October 1, 2017, he had a season-high seven combined tackles. Hicks sustained a season-ending achilles injury while playing for the Redskins against the Redskins on Week 7 and was placed on injured reserve on October 31, 2017. Without Hicks, the Eagles won 13 games and reached Super Bowl LII, where they defeated the New England Patriots 41-33.

In week one against the Atlanta Falcons, Hicks returned from injury. During the 18-12 victory, Hicks made a team-high 7 tackles and sacked Matt Ryan 1.5 times. During the 27-21 loss, Hicks produced a team high 9 tackles and recovered a fumble forced by teammate Malcolm Jenkins on wide receiver Mike Evans, which was returned 13 yards. During the 24–18 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars, Hicks scored a season-high 13 tackles and sacked Blake Bortles 1.5 times. In week 11 against the New Orleans Saints, Hicks had 7 tackles before straining his calf in the fourth quarter of the 48–7 loss. In week 16 against the Houston Texans, Hicks recovered from the calf strain. During the 32–30 victory, Hicks had 5 tackles during the game. With 91 tackles (61 solo), three sacks, one fumble recovery, and five pass deflections in 12 games, the Hicks finished the season on 91.

In the Wild Card Round against the Chicago Bears, Hicks made his playoff debut. In the 16–15 victory over Double Doink, Hicks scored three tackles in the game, which became known as Double Doink. During the 20–14 loss to the New Orleans Saints in the Divisional Round of the playoffs, Hicks had 9 tackles on the 20th.

On March 15, 2019, Hicks signed with the Arizona Cardinals on a four-year, $36 million deal, with $20 million as a guarantee and a $12 million signing bonus. In week 1 of the season against the Detroit Lions, Hicks made his Cardinal debut against the Detroit Lions. During the 27-27 tie game, Hicks recorded a season-high 14 tackles. Hicks was playing his first interception of the season in week 7 against the New York Giants after winning by 27–21. Hicks had a team high 9 tackles and intercepted a pass fired by Jameis Winston during week 10 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Hicks' first sacking of the season on Jimmy Garoppolo, as well as intercepting a pass intercepted by Garoppolo during the 36-26 loss. During Week 16, the Seattle Seahawks' 6 tackles and recovered a fumble call from teammate Chandler Jones on wide receiver David Moore during the 27-13 victory. The Hicks finished the season with 150 tackles (93 solo), 1.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, one tackle recovery, six pass deflections, and three interceptions in 16 games.

Hicks' first and only interception of the season came with a pass against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 17 of the 2020 season.

In a 33-22 victory over the Chicago Bears, Hicks had 13 tackles, two sacks, and two tackles for loss, earning NFC Defensive Player of the Week for Week 13. He played all 17 games, leading the defense in snaps, finishing second on the team with 116 tackles, four sacks, five passes defensed, and a forced fumble.

The Cardinals released Hicks on March 9, 2022, the Cardinals' second-generation Hicks.

Hicks signed a two-year deal with the Minnesota Vikings on March 15, 2022.

Source