Steve Jordan ranks in the all-time elite tier for tight ends — a career that places Jordan in the top 1% of all players at the position. The Knox value model assigns Jordan a career score of 91, reflecting sustained impact that most players at the position never approach.

TEMIN#0ACT

Steve Jordan

6× Pro BowlTop 1% all-time TEsIron Legend

Height6'3"

Weight242 lb

BornJan 10, 1961

Age65

CollegeBrown See College Stats

Rookie yr1982

Draft1982 · Rd 7, Pick 179 · MIN

All-Time Rank & Honors

career ranks, postseason ranks, awards, title context

Regular-season all-time ranks

21stReceptions·996 27thReceiving Yards·12,614 yds

Postseason all-time ranks

41stPlayoff Receiving Yards·686 yds 48thPlayoff Receptions·52

Pro Bowls

Archetype Intelligence

Iron LegendExplore archetypes →

An all-time caliber tight end (top 1% all-time) who combined elite production with excellent availability over their career. Iron Legends define eras — they show up, every game, for years on end.

Career Value · VORP

VORP 394 · #45 · All-Time

Worth 394 points of value above a freely-available replacement tight end — top 2% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 12 of 13 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +32.8 on average.See board →

Seasons above replacement

12 cleared

Beat replacement (adds to VORP) Below it — adds 0, never a debit

Replacement

the KC-H bar

→

Seasons over

cleared the bar

+32.8

Avg surplus

peak +46

12 seasons × ~32.8 surplus ≈ VORP 394

Combined Season Grid

The full season-by-season grids, joined on one timeline. Every selected stat family stays visible at once—no tab hopping.

1 grid split in one view

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Receiving
Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tgt	Rec	Yds	TD	Ctch%	Y/R	Y/Tgt	AirYd/T	1D
1982	—	MIN	9	—	—	3	42	0	—	14.0	—	—	—
1983	—	MIN	13	—	—	15	212	2	—	14.1	—	—	—
1984	—	MIN	14	—	—	38	414	2	—	10.9	—	—	—
1985	—	MIN	16	—	—	68	795	0	—	11.7	—	—	—
1986	—	MIN	16	—	—	58	859	6	—	14.8	—	—	—
1987	—	MIN	12	—	—	35	490	2	—	14.0	—	—	—
1988	—	MIN	16	—	—	57	756	5	—	13.3	—	—	—
1989	—	MIN	16	—	—	35	506	3	—	14.5	—	—	—
1990	—	MIN	16	—	—	45	636	3	—	14.1	—	—	—
1991	—	MIN	16	—	—	57	638	2	—	11.2	—	—	—
1992	—	MIN	14	—	—	28	394	2	—	14.1	—	—	—
1993	—	MIN	14	—	—	56	542	1	—	9.7	—	—	—
1994	—	MIN	4	—	—	3	23	0	—	7.7	—	—	—
Career		—	176	—	0	996	12,614	56	—	12.7	—	—	—

Receiving

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tgt	Rec	Yds	TD	Ctch%	Y/R	Y/Tgt	AirYd/T	1D	VAL
1982	21	MIN	9	—	—	3	42	0	—	14.0	—	—	—	2.8
1983	22	MIN	13	—	—	15	212	2	—	14.1	—	—	—	10.2
1984	23	MIN	14	—	—	38	414	2	—	10.9	—	—	—	12.7
1985	24	MIN	16	—	—	68	795	0	—	11.7	—	—	—	14.7
1986	25	MIN	16	—	—	58	859	6	—	14.8	—	—	—	25.9
1987	26	MIN	12	—	—	35	490	2	—	14.0	—	—	—	11.7
1988	27	MIN	16	—	—	57	756	5	—	13.3	—	—	—	19
1989	28	MIN	16	—	—	35	506	3	—	14.5	—	—	—	17
1990	29	MIN	16	—	—	45	636	3	—	14.1	—	—	—	16.3
1991	30	MIN	16	—	—	57	638	2	—	11.2	—	—	—	19.8
1992	31	MIN	14	—	—	28	394	2	—	14.1	—	—	—	12.2
1993	32	MIN	14	—	—	56	542	1	—	9.7	—	—	—	14.2
1994	33	MIN	4	—	—	3	23	0	—	7.7	—	—	—	1.6
Career			176		0	996	12,614	56	—	12.7	—	—	—	178.1

KV-H Anatomy

KV-H 91 · All-Time Great

A all-time great career by KV-H: a peak-driven profile that scores 91 of 100, era-normalized against rec yds/g peers across 13 scored seasons.

Sustained

career value

×.6

Peak

best 3 seasons

×.4

×1

Longevity

career length

Blend 84.2 × longevity 1 = KV-H 91· confidence 96%

What builds the career mark of 79

On-field 60.5

Availability 18.5

On-field production Staying available

Season-by-season quality (era-relative rec yds/g)

1982bestavg 74elite 701994

All-Time Standing

how this career measures against the all-time greats at the position

Strong

of 100

Reached 64% of the all-time Receptions leader — a strong all-time profile at the position.

64% of the all-time Receptions leader64

3 categories ≥25% of the all-time leader100

A 0–100 scale where 100 = matched the all-time leaderat this position. Built only from visible encyclopedia data — career production vs. the all-time leader, plus efficiency (EPA) and comparable-player confidence — so it's a transparent context score, not a subjective rating. Tiers: Elite ≥ 85 · Strong ≥ 65 · Solid ≥ 45 · Depth < 45. Comparable-player confidence: 94%.

Career Aging Trajectory

vs. position group average · KV-H basis

Amber = this player (normalized to own peak). Indigo = average tight ends aging curve. Group peak age: 25. Source: StatVault KV-H era (1999+).

Playoff vs Regular Season

📊 Consistent

Yards / Reception: 12.7 regular season → 13.2 playoffs (7 playoff seasons)

+4%

vs reg season

Postseason Career

Receiving

Rec52Yds686TD2Y/R13.2

College Stats

BrownCollege listed; stat table pending import

College stats are not imported for this profile yet.

StatVault has the verified college attribution (Brown), but no parsed college box-score table is present in this profile artifact. The section stays here so every profile has a consistent college-stats landing point without fabricating unavailable rows.

Reference Graph

Career teammates and draft class, derived from year-by-year rosters — every name is linked.

1982 Draft Class· this player went #179

#136Rich DianaRB #137Phil PozderacOT #139Newton WilliamsRB #140Pat BeachTE #148Gary AllenRB #158Andre TylerWR #170Dan JohnsonTE #171Gary AndersonK #191Tom CoombsTE #192Larry CowanRB #202A.J. JonesRB #215Maury BufordP #216George PeoplesRB #235Mike HoranP #244Tony WoodruffWR #247Rocky KleverRB

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

Steve opened the Minnesota Vikings TE lineage the corpus knows, and handed it to Mike Mularkey (1983–1988).

Steve Jordan 1982–1994Mike Mularkey 1983–1988Andrew Jordan 1994–2001Greg DeLong 1995–1998Hunter Goodwin 1996–2003Andrew Glover 1997–1999

Similar Players

Statistical + physical similarity across every player in the database, position-relevant (0–100%).

Movementderived from season history

1994final season
Last recorded season with MIN
1982draft
Drafted by MIN — Round 7, Pick 179

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

6'3" / 242 lb

Frame

Knox

StatVault's proprietary player intelligence, informed by full career data. How Knox works →

Historical Knox · KV-H

Era-normalized career quality — z-scored against 13-season peers. See all →

peak 92

Season Report Cards· KV-H era-normalized per season

C+1982

B1983

B+1984

A+1985

A+1986

A1987

A+1988

B+1989

A1990

A1991

B+1992

A1993

F1994

Era Translator

Rec Yds translated to the 2025NFL — each season's standing among its own-era peers, projected onto 2025's scoring environment. Modern-era (1999+) coverage.

Season	Actual Rec Yds	Rec Yds/G	→ 2025 Rec Yds	→ 2025 /G
1982	42	4.7	270+228	15.9
1983	212	16.3	531+319	31.2
1984	414	29.6	770+356	45.3
1985	795	49.7	1,153+358	67.8
1986	859	53.7	1,174+315	69
1987	490	40.8	981+491	57.7
1988	756	47.3	1,128+372	66.3
1989	506	31.6	834+328	49.1
1990	636	39.8	1,038+402	61
1991	638	39.9	1,063+425	62.5
1992	394	28.1	778+384	45.8
1993	542	38.7	1,007+465	59.3
1994	23	5.8	289+266	17

Data: nflverse:draft_picks, nflverse:players, wikipedia:season-stats (CC-BY-SA, facts-only), espn.com:stats-api (games-played, facts-only reference) · multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle · updated 6/18/2026

Career Value · VORP

394 career value over replacement — #45 all-time of 4,642. 30.3/season above a replacement-level TE.

Draft OutcomeSteal ↑

Pick #179 (Rd 7) · MIN · 1982 · +64.1 vs expected KV-H

91actual

26.9 expected · Δ+64.1

💔+48.8 stolen VORP·1.56 szns lost

Fan Rating

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Compare Steve Jordan vs Player Report data error

Steve Jordan

All-Time Rank & Honors

Archetype Intelligence

Career Value · VORP

Combined Season Grid

Receiving

KV-H Anatomy

All-Time Standing

Career Aging Trajectory

Postseason Career

Receiving

College Stats

Reference Graph

Top Teammates

1982 Draft Class· this player went #179

Franchise Succession

Similar Players

Movementderived from season history

Athletic & Unique Profile

Knox

Era Translator

Career Geography