If football doesn’t pan out, the Giants’ new running back always can become a preacher.
Rashad Jennings met the media Thursday and rather than a question-and-answer session, it felt more like a sermon.
Jennings, who enjoyed a breakout season last year with the Raiders, spent a great deal of time detailing his struggles as a “little, fat, overweight, dorky kid with glasses,” which gave him an edge that remains with him to this day. The 29-year-old Virginian seemed to take particular pride in telling reporters he’s never had a drink or a smoke.
Most importantly to the Giants, he talked at length about his desire to be a multi-dimensional running back, a workhorse who can be relied upon as a blocker; a home-run threat that is able to catch the ball out of the backfield and punch it on the goal line. Basically, he never wants to come off the field.
“That’s something, entering the league, that I’ve always wanted to put my name on,” Jennings said. “I’ve shown spurts of them all, but I have not done enough to satisfy where I want to be.”
Jennings is a success story, a University of Liberty product who was a draft afterthought as a seventh-round selection of the Jaguars in 2009. His dad, Albert, is a diabetic who had his right leg amputated. Injuries limited him until last season, when he racked up 733 yards and six touchdowns while averaging 4.5 yards per carry, scoring him a four-year, $14 million deal with the Giants.
Falling to the seventh round wasn’t his first motivational tool, though. His inspiration began far earlier, back in high school when he was made fun of for his weight, had a subpar GPA and rode the bench because coaches felt he was too slow. One day, Jennings recalled, “enough was enough.”
“I woke up one day and started running, literally,” he said. “I had asthma. Doctors said, ‘You wouldn’t be able to participate in sports,’ and I outran asthma. Teachers said, ‘You won’t be able to get your grades up and go to college,’ and I ended up getting them right. Coaches said, ‘You were too fat and slow.’ I worked on my speed. Anything that was against me, I found an answer.”
Jennings doesn’t feel like he has anything to prove to anyone anymore, although this is his first training camp where he resides atop the depth chart. His big season with the Raiders last year didn’t serve as a boost of confidence, he said. And entering training camp as a starter is no different from his previous five seasons, when he came in as a backup.
“I always approached the game like I was a starter,” he said.