Better late than never: interview with Atlantan Jordan, winner of ‘The Amazing Race’

“The outcome was everything we had hoped,” he said. “This has been a wild ride.”

Through the first eight rounds, the pair was mostly in the middle of the pack and didn’t generate much controversy. Repeated constantly is how Jordan was a big fan of “Amazing Race” and that his 25-year-old brother Dan was helping him fulfill his dreams. They did finally win the ninth leg, thanks to getting the one “Fast Forward.” They were three hours-plus behind going into the final round but the flight to Los Angeles evened it out.

The pair played a clean race until they cut in front of Jet and Cord in line to get a ticket during the final episode. That dirty play didn’t ultimately matter in the scheme of things but Jet and Cord were still unhappy.

While Dan expressed some regret in other interviews, Jordan was more pragmatic. “We 100 percent cut them in line,” he acknowledged.”But it’s a game. At that point, we tried to make a move, put the pedal to the metal.”

“You have to realize at the end of the day, there were 11 legs Daniel and I did nothing to rub another team the wrong way. We were not going to [peeve] other teams off and run the risks. We stayed out of the drama and focused on our own game.”

Jordan doesn’t want that one move to show his entire character. “For 90 percent of the race until the final leg,” he said, “I showed my character.”

As for Jet and Cord, “We’re not going to be best friends,” he noted.

Instead, Dan and Jordan did make a fair strategic move mid-flight, convincing a flight attendant to place them in first class. This allowed them to get out of the plane and the airport with a 15-minute lead they’d never relinquish.

Jordan has been dreaming of participating in the show since he began watching at age 13. But he didn’t qualify until he was 21 and he had to convince his older brother Dan to join him. Dan had never bothered to watch the show until last fall.

While Dan worked out to be ready for more physical challenges, Jordan tracked every roadblock and detour through the first 15 seasons. They’d open up each clue and figure out what to do. “That type of thing really paid off,” Jordan said, “because we never spent more than half second making a decision. We tended to pick strategy over luck.” That did hurt them in France when they chose to pile up 680 champagne glasses instead of finding special grapes in a field. Dan and Jordan said it took them 3-plus hours to work the glasses while most teams who chose the grapes took 15 minutes. Fortunately, they still came in 5th that challenge out of seven teams.

The toughest challenge was taking joss sticks up a Malaysian temple. “It was over 100 degrees. It was humid and the sun was beating down on us,” he said. “It took us eight trips to carry 50-pound sticks. It was really really long.”

During the pitstops, Jordan would jot down every detail of the trip so far, in case they needed it for the final challenge. Indeed, they did need to place the teams in order of elimination, which was a relatively simple challenge. It took the pair less than a minute, thanks to their preparation.

Jordan works as a strategic consultant and creative consultancy firm Brighthouse near Georgia Tech. They were very supportive of him taking six weeks off for something he could not tell them about. “They encourage employees to pursue their dreams,” he said. He said the timing was good, between Thanksgiving and early January when business was slower anyway.

He said he now owes his brother a big favor. (Then again, his brother has $500,000, which isn’t a bad prize, either.). “If I ever had an opportunity to help my brother in achieving his biggest dream, I’d do it,” he said. Dan, for instance, is seeking a job in a Boston sports franchise. “I don’t have any connections but I’m trying every day to find some!”