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Episode Recap: Jordan Gross on The Hall

He protected the blind side of Carolina quarterbacks from 2003 to 2013. He started more games than any player in Panthers history. He was the best tackle in franchise history and anchored an offensive line that took Carolina to four playoff appearances in his career.

In the second episode of the "The Hall," we travel to Fruitland, Idaho where Jordan Gross works on his farm, Little Buddy Farm, where he and his wife, Dana, grow chemical-free produce.

"The thing I like about doing this stuff is at the end of the day, you've got something to show for what you did," Gross said. "Whether it's something planted or something grown. It's good for the psyche."

Gross grew up in Idaho and moved back to the area full-time in 2017 after several years working with the Panthers broadcast television and radio team.

The bulk of the episode centers around the relationship that Gross had and maintains with fellow Hall of Honor inductee Steve Smith Sr., who played with Gross at Utah before coming to the Panthers.

"14 years of my 18 years of football, from college to the pros, I've always had number 69 to look to the left of in the huddle," Smith said. "That's my guy. I have a unique relationship with Jordan. We have so much unspoken...he's one of those guys where if I needed something, I'd call him up. And I believe and I hope that he knows if he needed something from me, I would drop everything and go do it."

Gross echoes the same sentiment about Smith.

"One of the best things that I'm most proud of in my NFL career," Gross said. "Is that I have the respect of Steve. He's an outstanding friend. If I called Steve right now and said, 'Steve, doggone it, I'm behind on my tomato clipping, I need you up here,' he'd come! No second thought, he'd be here."

Since his playing days when Gross was listed at 6-7, 305, he has lost over 70 pounds thanks to a vegetable-rich diet and the hard work of farming. His transformation leads to a funny moment later in the episode:

"When we were getting sized for the busts, I was like, 'Are we doing what we looked like when we were playing? Or are we doing now?' Please pick a picture that looks decent when you do the bust of me, because there were some highs and some lows."

Favorite little moment from the episode?

Not many fans remember Gross' penchant for pranks in the locker room. As general manager Marty Hurney points out, "He was one of the funniest guys in the locker room. If you went in the locker room and said, 'Who's the biggest prankster in this locker room?,' you would have pointed to Ryan Kalil, but you wouldn't have pointed at Jordan Gross. He did everything behind the scenes, he was the puppet master so to speak."

Each year, Gross and Kalil would devise an elaborate video shoot prank with the team's rookies. Oftentimes, some sort of food was also involved.

View photos of Jordan Gross during his photoshoot for the Hall of Honor.

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