Carl Eller, Steve Jordan to announce Vikings draft choices

One of the cooler things that’s taken root at the NFL Draft over the past few years is the league bringing back players from years past to announce some of the draft selections. This year will be no different, and the Minnesota Vikings will be represented by a couple of good ones.

Per Arif Hasan of The Athletic. . .well, and us, but he’s big time now. . .Hall of Fame defensive end Carl Eller will be announcing the Vikings’ second-round pick, while former tight end Steve Jordan will be announcing the team’s third-round selection. That means that, unless the Vikings trade out of either. . .or both. . .of those rounds, we will see both men on Friday of draft weekend.

Eller was drafted by the Vikings out of the University of Minnesota in the first round (#6 overall) of the 1964 NFL Draft. He played for the Vikings from 1964 to 1978, and is credited as being the team’s all-time sack leader with 130.5. He was a five-time First-Team All-Pro, and was named the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year in 1971. He’s also a member of the Vikings’ Ring of Honor, one of the 50 Greatest Vikings of All Time, and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2004.

Jordan, at least in this writer’s opinion, is the greatest tight end in Vikings’ history. A seventh-round pick out of Brown in 1982, Jordan is still the all-time leader for the franchise in both receptions by a tight end (498, which is third overall in team history behind Cris Carter and Randy Moss) and receiving yardage by a tight end (6,307 yards, which is sixth on the team’s all-time list). He made the Pro Bowl six consecutive times from 1986 to 1991, and and spent his entire career with the Vikings until he retired after the 1994 season. He was also named one of the 50 Greatest Vikings of All Time, and if the Vikings want to induct someone into their Ring of Honor again here sometime soon, his name probably needs to be on the short list.

I’m not sure what the plan is for either Eller or Jordan to announce selections if the Vikings don’t have a pick in their particular round. I think in past years they’ve had players hang around until Day 3 of the draft, but the third round has also had some different gimmicks in recent years as well, such as teams announcing their selections from various local landmarks. I guess we’ll have to wait three more weeks to find out.