Cam Jordan on the Saints’ rivalry with the Atlanta ‘Fal-can’ts | Ekeler’s Edge

Los Angeles Chargers running back Austin Ekeler and Yahoo Sports’ Fantasy Analyst Matt Harmon welcome the Saints’ perennial pro-bowler to the show. Unlike the media, Jordan does not believe the Saints are in a transitional year, and expects big things from his squad. The New Orleans’ captain shares his philosophy on being a leader. Plus, Jordan loves the animosity that exists between the fanbases of his Saints and the rival Falcons, whom they open the season against this week, and goes so far as to use some of his favorite nicknames for his NFC South rival. Cam Jordan joins Yahoo Sports thanks to BodyArmor. BodyArmor is a premium sports drink that provides superior hydration. Catch fresh episodes of Ekeler’s Edge every Wednesday on Yahoo Sports and your favorite social media platforms. Listen to Ekeler’s Edge on the Yahoo Fantasy Football Forecast wherever you get podcasts.

Video transcript

[CHEERING]

- I follow a good bit of Saints fans, a good bit of Falcons fans. And those folks hate each other. Like, they love to hate each other.

- Yeah. It's beautiful, isn't it? I mean, they're the Fail-cons. The Fal-can'ts. There's a lot of names you can throw out there that just sort of stick, and it sounds great.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

[ELECTRICITY ZAPPING]

- You guys are definitely undergoing a lot of transition here in your 12th season, man. So talk to us a little bit about the Saints and what's the vibe around the team right now?

- See, the beautiful thing about it is the world perceives us they're going through a lot of transition. Like, oh, new head coach. Actually, he's just my defensive coordinator I've been with for the last seven years. Like, hey, who's going to be your DC? We've had the D-line coach and the DB coach sort of take up that helm. So we're still sort of running the same things. We've got the same foundation.

In terms of players, you have Marcus Williams leave which you sort of can't replace him. He goes off to the Ravens. But then you bring in guys like Marcus Maye and Honey Badger. You have guys that you can always rely on our defense. We get a healthy Mike Thomas back. You're right, the transition is real for our team getting healthier. I mean, Mike Thomas comes back healthy and he's a dog, absolutely animal. You draft Chris Olave. And then you bring in Jarvis Landry. We go from our wide receiver room being one of the weaker units that we had on the team to now being one of his strengths. Transition is things got nice.

[LAUGHTER]

- You know, you're a captain on your team, right? Just how would you describe like your leadership and how you lead with the Saints?

- As you know, I feel like in the league it's weird to say like, yeah, that's my captain, you know what I'm saying? You can't really lead grown men, you know what I'm saying? Like, I'm headed to the front of the line anyway towards this battle. It's like as a grown man, captains is a title.

I think that who we are as people speaks leaps and bounds way, way beyond just a title that is given by your peers, which is a phenomenal nod by teammates thinking that I'm a leader of some sort. Me, I'm going to be the same person, regardless. I mean, I'm in there charging the group up, I'm trying to play hands on offensive linemen, I'm trying to get real filthy in the backfield, which may not be good for you, but you know what I'm saying, as a defense we love to see it. Because what defense really has to play on is fear.

Like, we don't want you to be like, oh, we're just going to run around him. Like, my boy Cam on that edge, what we're going to do is try to run through these guards and tackles before we get to this edge. And that's what we love to do. So as a leader, it's literally just that. I come to work with two hands every day and I'm trying to bless somebody, you know what I'm saying?

Like, my guys know I'm never trying to get off the field. I'm like a little kid, man. When it comes down to, hey man, we're going to do this rotation, I ain't come here for all that. You remember high school, we were playing offense, defense, we were still on special teams. College, there was no such thing as coming off the field. Man, if there's 100 snaps, I need 100 snaps. So I take that same mentality to the league. I mean, whatever's there I need it.

- One thing we wanted to ask you about was the Saints-Falcons rivalry. I mean, even on social media and stuff on Twitter, I mean, I follow a good bit of Saints fans, good bit of Falcons fans. And those folks hate each other, like they legit hate each other.

- Yeah. It's beautiful, isn't it? I mean, they're the Fail-cons, the Fal-can'ts, there's a lot of names you throw out there that just sort of stick and it sounds great. They had the whole moniker one year talking about rise up, and they fell short, you know? And not even fell short in like a, oh man, we could have, but like was up 28-3 and then blew it all. You love to see it.

- Never got to live it down.

- Like, you can't live it down. It's on billboards, whatever happened. And they can try to do what they want, but at the end of the day they know they got to see us. And I don't even know if it's a rivalry if we talk about my era Saints-Falcons, I think I'm like 2 to 1. I don't know if that's a rivalry, but it's a great time to see them.

- All right, Cam. You're here on behalf of Body Armor Super Drink. Tell us a little bit about what you got going on with Body Armor.

- I put my three favorite flavors in the back. I've got the peach mango, I've got the gold berry, and then I've got that Mamba Forever, that strawberry grape that hits different when it's ice cold. I mean, just seriously, knowing that there's no additives, right? Knowing that all the ingredients in there is sort of just what it's going to be. And the fact that you hit a light and now you got some coconut water in there, I'm going for the superior hydration. Body Armor does that for me in an elite way.

- Down there in Louisiana too, there's some real heat. There's some real heat down there too.

- Oh. Oh. Just bring a straw with you, drink your water through the air. It's hot and sticky out here.

- Yeah, no kidding. Hey, Cam, really appreciate you joining the show here on "Ekeler's Edge." This was awesome. We could talk to you for an hour, but we really appreciate it. Good luck this season, man. I'm excited to watch that defense this year.

- Hey, man. I appreciate y'all having me on. Y'all stay blessed.