Not long after his arrival at the University of Miami, Brevin Jordan established the foundation for his reputation, the kid comparing himself to Michael Irvin.

The legendary Irvin, Jordan explained, was “the original ‘Playmaker.’ (But) I think I’m ‘Playmaker Jr.”

Jordan, taken by the Houston Texans in Round 5 of the NFL Draft, never quite lived up to that. The 6-3, 247-pounder - the No. 1 high school tight end in the nation before joining the Hurricanes - was, however, a perennial John Mackey (best college tight end) finalist. And he was productive.

And he's ready to make waves again, this time in the NFL, starting with his Monday jersey number declaration.

So he's bring his No. 9 with him, as allowed by the new NFL rule.

And he's bringing his cockiness, though his slide to Round 5 indicates that another boast - “Any offensive coordinator that has the chance to meet me in the NFL, they’re going to love me.” - didn’t quite come true.

Jordan probably got a rude awakening from his weekend of wait, and did humbly concede that when he finally got the phone call from the Texans, he “freaked out.”

“It was such a crazy feeling,” he said. “I’ve been waiting. I was just so scared and to finally get the call, it was beautiful. I saw that Houston number and just freaked out.”

More humility could be coming up for Jordan as he joins a Houston squad as one of his load of tight ends. … by the way, GM Nick Caserio said the addition of Jordan (who caught 38 passes for 576 yards and seven touchdowns in his eight games with the Hurricanes) has an easy explanation.

“You can’t just look at it from a sheer numbers standpoint sometimes,” Caserio said. “I think we all kind of get caught up in that, well, you have X number here.”

Last year, Jordan Akins caught 37 passes for 403 yards and a touchdown, and Pharaoh Brown has 14 catches for 163 yards and two touchdowns.

Jordan joins that group … and stands out in a way, besides his jersey number, as he does possess notable talents and he does possess notable confidence.

“Wherever you want me in the lineup,” insisted Jordan, “I’ll make plays for you.”

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