Alfred Joseph Jenkins (born July 15, 1946) is a former professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player who played

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

for three seasons for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

, and

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 as ...

. The Browns drafted Jenkins in the third round hoping he could bring youth to an aging offensive line which included Paul Brown holdovers

Dick Schafrath Richard Philip Schafrath (March 21, 1937 – August 15, 2021) was an American offensive lineman for the Cleveland Browns, former Ohio State Senator, and author. During his tenure as an athlete, he won a national football championship with the ...

, Monte Clark and

Gene Hickerson Robert Gene Hickerson (February 15, 1935 – October 20, 2008) was an American Football offensive guard who played for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) in a fifteen-year career from 1958 to 1960 and 1962 to 1973. Hickerso ...

. However, injuries limited Jenkins to five games in 1970, allowing Joe Taffoni to win the starting right tackle spot that season following Clark's retirement, while at left tackle, 1971 draftee

Doug Dieken Douglas Heye Dieken (born February 12, 1949) is a retired left tackle and radio color analyst for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). From 1971-2022, he had 51 years of association with the Browns in various capacities - ...

eventually replaced Schafrath and held the starting spot through 1984. Hickerson remained in the lineup at guard through 1973, by which time Jenkins was long gone from Cleveland. Jenkins was a backup lineman on Miami's undefeated 1972 Super Bowl championship team. He was one of the players who carried coach

Don Shula Donald Francis Shula (January 4, 1930 – May 4, 2020) was an American football defensive back and coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) from 1963 to 1995. The head coach of the Miami Dolphins for most of his ca ...

off the field on their shoulders after the team's victory in

Super Bowl VII Super Bowl VII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Miami Dolphins and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Washington Redskins to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for ...

and as a result his image is included in the bronze statue outside Sun Life Stadium commemorating the event. During the highlight film of Super Bowl VII produced by NFL Films, Jenkins is shown exclaiming "damn!" after the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

scored their lone touchdown on Mike Bass' 49-yard return of Garo Yepremian's infamous pass. When the film shows Redskin quarterback

Billy Kilmer William Orland Kilmer Jr. (born September 5, 1939) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the San Francisco 49ers, New Orleans Saints, and Washington Redskins. He w ...

throwing a pass into the Washington bench on his team's final possession, Jenkins exclaims "Hey Kilmer! Atta boy Kilmer!".

References

1946 births Living people St. Augustine High School (New Orleans) alumni American football offensive guards American football centers Cleveland Browns players Miami Dolphins players Players of American football from New Orleans Houston Oilers players Southern Illinois Salukis football players Tulsa Golden Hurricane football players {{offensive-lineman-1940s-stub