Steve Serby sits down for a Q&A with new Giants running back Rashad Jennings, who played for the Jaguars and Raiders, about the hardships he and his family faced before he made it to the NFL:
Q: Tell me why you transferred from Pittsburgh to Liberty.
A: Freshman year, got a chance to earn a starting job, I’m doing well, things looking great, my dad has diabetes, and he gets his leg amputated. I’m from Lynchburg, Va., and Liberty University is 10 minutes from my house. My family was there for me up until I was 19 years old at the time. And I thought to myself that, “If I can transfer to a school regardless of how big it is, if I can graduate with a degree and get just an opportunity to play ball for a shot at the next level, it’s worth it.” I’m a big believer if you do things the right way, everything will come back to you.
Q: How is your dad doing now?
A: He’s doing well. He definitely couldn’t come out to the West Coast (when Jennings played with the Raiders), so I bought the NFL Network for my whole family, and they all will get together on Sundays, and eat dinner and watch. It’s always special knowing that your family’s together somewhere watching you.
Q: Will he be able to come up to Jersey?
A: Yeah, we’re going to get him up to a few games.
Q: Has he seen you play in the pros?
A: He saw me play one time in Jacksonville.
Q: Did he play football?
A: He did. He got a full scholarship (defensive end) to Nebraska, and he turned it down to go the Air Force so he could provide for his child — he had just had his first kid at the time. I got two older brothers, they’re 10 and 13 years older than me. The first one, Butch Jennings, he actually played for the Giants for a year.
Q: Do you have a chip on your shoulder because you lasted until the seventh round (picked by the Jaguars) of the NFL Draft in 2009?
A: I always will have a chip on my shoulder, and, it’s understanding how to channel. But yeah, being a seventh-round draft pick, that will always get underneath my skin.
Q: How do you channel it?
A: It’s knowing when it’s time, and when it’s a free, safe space to let loose. And that free, safe space is on the field. So, mentally, I have reminders. I got little notes along the way, I got little comments along the way that really stuck with me. And, when it’s game time, I always remember, and it fuels you.
Q: Do you actually read them at your locker before games?
A: Yeah. I got a few I read, and the other ones are still mental. And I have a few pictures that I look at continually to always fuel me. I got a picture of my dad with no legs that fuels me. I got a picture of that little chubby fat kid of myself that everybody threw under the bus that fuels me. I got a lot of different motivations around me, that puts me in a zone, where nothing else matters at that moment. That’s channeling it before I get on the field.
Q: Kids teased you when you were in high school?
A: The thing about me, I’m such a dork anyway, I’m a nerd. People making fun of me never really bothered me as much. I got made of fun of, yes. But that didn’t affect me.
Q: But you use it as fuel now though?
A: What I use as fuel is the coaches that always said that I’d never be a running back.
Q: Your father had both of his legs amputated. How and why does that fuel you?
A: Every single person in my family has made a sacrifice for an opportunity for me. … And, when you see somebody with no legs that is endearing to you, that is part of a family, it drives you because 1) I’m blessed to have legs. And as a running back, that’s what we use. And so when I see a picture of my dad has none, it reminds me to keep mine moving.
Q: You’ve had that picture ever since you’ve been in the NFL?
A: Yeah.
Q: Have you told him that you have that picture?
A: Yeah, he knows.
Q: What was his reaction when you told him?
A: It touches him. He gets teary-eyed, even though he don’t like to cry. Our whole family is very close. We’re a laugh-family first. I’m an uncle nine times, me and my nephews get together and we’ll take my dad’s (prosthetic) leg and hide them from him, and watch him get pissed off. We laugh. We have a great time, but at the end of the day, family’s all you got. It does touch him to know that even in his mishap, that he’s still motivating his children.
Q: Your parents are down in Virginia?
A: Yes. My dad had diabetes, and I grew up with asthma. I had to outrun asthma. That was something I had to outgrow.
Q: How painful was that experience?
A: That was tough. I had asthma attacks. I was hospitalized a few times for it. Doctor said that you’ll never be able to play football because of how bad it is. … But when you got faith, anything can happen. And then when you realize how much food makes a difference in your performance of anything that you do, then you got a chance. That’s another big reason why I’m a health nut. I haven’t had fast food in 10 years, I haven’t had a soda in 10 years, I never drank alcohol a day in my life, I’ve never smoked one day in my life.
Q: So if you go to a restaurant, what would you eat?
A: I would always ask for the gluten-free menu first. If it’s not there, I’m a salad guy. I like steaks, love all your meats, as long as it’s clean. Pasta, if it’s gluten-free. But I eat in the house — I got a chef that cooks for me year-round. When I was in Jacksonville, when I was in Oakland, I got in touch with a great chef here and they dropped the meals off yesterday, so we’re going to give a test run.
Q: Your on-field mentality. Describe the transformation.
A: Playing football is … you’re allowed to be different. I had this conversation similar a while back, and I think the title of it was Rashad, he’s a gladiator on Sundays and a gentleman by day.
Q: Describe the gladiator on the football field.
A: It’s organized chaos. It’s a purposeful recklessness. It’s a borderline between crazy and in control, especially playing running back. It’s never about getting to the hole quick or getting through the hole quick, so it’s always that element of give-and-take, that balance. And on the left side, there’s “Just attack everything,” and them on the other side of my shoulder, there’s Let’s be efficient.” You can’t do either one too much, or else you’re going to burn out, or you’re not going to be successful. [It’s about] finding that balance, and knowing when to let go, and knowing when to reel it back in.
Q: Do you enjoy delivering punishment?
A: Of course. I look for it.
Q: Who have some of your most violent collisions been with?
A: I think he retired because too many concussions, but Clint Sessions, we had some serious contacts in the hole when he played for the Colts and I was in Jacksonville.
Q: How many concussions have you had?
A: I had two in my career?
Q: That’s something you can’t think about as a player, correct?
A: You can’t ever think about getting hurt. This is not a timid game. This is a contact sport. This is only man can play. It’s brutal, it’s physical, it’s rough. As far as concussions go, I don’t think anybody thinks about it.
Q: If you had a son, would you let him play football?
A: If I had a son, I definitely would let him play football if he wanted to. Actually I want him to play every single sport — golf, tennis, hockey, I want him to play everything if that’s what he loves.
Q: What’s your definition of a complete back?
A: Never having to come off the field for any situation.
Q: What’s your style of running?
A: My style of running is a one-cut, downhill. I’m not overly quick, not overly fast — I’m very sudden.
Q: Motivational sayings?
A: It’s something that I’ve always lived by, and it’s, “When opportunity presents itself, it’s too late to prepare.” But a quote that I actually got from somebody else, it was anonymous, but it’s rather lengthy too — “The master in the art of living shows little distinction between his work and his play. His love and his religion, his labor and his leisure. He simply pursues excellence in everything he does, leaving others to decide whether he’s working or he’s playing. But to him, he’s always doing both.
Q: Are you aware that coach Tom Coughlin is very big on inspirational or motivational sayings?
A: Yes, yes. And I love it. A buddy of mine sent me his book to read, and I’m going to take the time to read it this offseason to get a little bit more insight on his mind, and how he looks at the world. I respect him so much from a distance as a coach. I’m super excited for him to pull the best out of me and learn. I’m definitely going to pick his brain as much as I can.
Q: You have a hyperbaric chamber?
A: I wanted to make an investment that I can control a majority of the outcome, and so I made an investment in myself, I bought a hyperbaric oxygen chamber my first (NFL) year. … It’s known for concussions, it’s known to help that process, it’s known to help break down any recovery half speed. I think you know about Terrell Owens when he was getting ready for the Super Bowl, how quickly he got back from his surgery, and he was sleeping in a hyperbaric every single night.
Q: How often do you sleep in it?
A: During camp, I sleep in it every single night.
Q: During the season?
A: During the season, I sleep in it after every game. I’m a nap guy, so after every practice, I come home and take a nap in it.
Q: You weighed 268 pounds in high school.
A: I did a little self-experiment with food. I took a hamburger, I put it out on the counter. I took a soda, I put it out on the counter, I took a glass of milk, I put it out on the counter, I took some cheese, put it out on the counter, I took some fries — I put a bunch of foods that I typically would eat, breads, everything, put it out in the counter. And then on the other side, I unpeeled a banana, put it out on the counter, lettuce, put it on the counter, a glass of water, put it on the counter, a glass of water, put it on the counter, some chicken, put it out on the counter. And I just started putting some whole foods on the counter.
I left it there for a couple of days, my Mom’s a neat freak, so she’s kind of, “Rashad, what are you doing?” I’m like, “Ma, just leave it alone for a couple of days, don’t touch it.” And I came back to it, and obviously the bread got extremely hard, the milk got really thick and hard, the cheese got really hard, the hamburger looked just the same, the fries looked just the same, and they got harder. And on the other side, the lettuce started to deteriorate, the banana started to deteriorate, the water was still very liquidy, and everything on the opposite side either was deteriorating or just the same. So I said to myself, “Well, if I’m putting all this bread, cheese, milk that’s getting thick, bloated — if I’m putting this stuff in my body, I wonder what’s going on inside. And on the other side, I asked myself the same question. So I changed the way I was eating from that little experiment.
I started running. I would run four miles to the YMCA, worked out, run four miles back home. And I would do that twice a week. And I got with a trainer, I got with my two older brothers, they trained my butt ridiculously, and I got myself in shape.
Q: Who are your favorite running backs growing up and now?
A: Growing up, I used to watch Eddie George a lot. I used to watch Jerome Bettis a lot. I used to love watching Marshall Faulk run. … Curtis Martin run … Ricky Watters a little bit .. obviously the big names, Emmitt Smith. I actually got a chance to meet Jerome Bettis, it was funny, when I went to Pitt my first year as a freshman, he was with the Steelers, and he took me under his wing there and taught me a lot, and still keep in touch with him today.
But now, I always watch my man from Seattle (Marshawn Lynch), everybody watches him. He’s just a beast. I like Arian Foster, he’s a strider, he’s a slasher. … Matt Forte, he’s a complete back. I watch all the backs across the league, and I go back in history and watch all the backs. I take as much as I can from everybody’s game, to perfect and mold my craft. Earnest Byner was my coach in Jacksonville for a year, and we used to watch tape on Marcus Allen. … We used to watch Walter Payton. … We used to watch all the great backs.
Q: You played with Jacoby Ford — what kind of player are the Jets getting?
A: They’re getting an explosive guy, fast, smart, somebody who always has a chance to take it to the house every time he touches the ball.
Q: You play guitar?
A: I love it. Every semester, I would pick up a new craft. After a couple of weeks of locking down this playbook, I’m going to be running around learning all kind of randomness. In college one semester, I taught myself how to write with my opposite hand. The next semester, I taught myself every card trick humanly possible, that I know. I love magic, it’s something about it.
Q: What else do you think you will try?
A: I love the sky, so I’m always into learning the stars, the theories behind the other worlds. … Piano, that’s going to be something before the year’s over with.
Q: Three dinner guests?
A: Jesus; Robert E. Lee — anybody that was in war back in the day, where they decided it was best, to line up in one straight line, and run directly at people with a sword in their hand. I would have hid, and I would have done some type of attack on somebody.
Q: Favorite movies?
A: Coming to America; Thor.
Q: Favorite actors?
A: Denzel Washington; Vince Vaughn.
Q: Favorite actress?
A: Sandra Bullock.
Q: Favorite meal?
A: A good lasagna.
Q: Any favorite New York City things?
A: Not yet. I just got gas today, and I forgot that in New Jersey, you don’t pump your own gas, that was the weirdest thing to me.