Gregory Jennings Jr. (born September 21, 1983) is a former
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 wi ...
wide receiver who played in the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...
(NFL) for ten seasons, primarily with the
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the t ...
. He played
college football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...
at
Western Michigan
West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for an arbitrary region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Most narrowly it refers to the Grand Rapids- Muskegon-Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region along the Lower Pen ...
and was selected by Green Bay in the second round of the
2006 NFL Draft
The 2006 National Football League Draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with add ...
. Jennings was named to two
Pro Bowls
The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players.
The format has changed thro ...
during his seven seasons with the Packers and was part of the team that won a
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the gam ...
title in
Super Bowl XLV
Super Bowl XLV was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Green Bay Packers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...
. In his final three seasons, he was a member of the
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...
and
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 p ...
. For his accomplishments in Green Bay, was inducted to the
Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame
Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...
in 2022.
Early years
Jennings was born in
Kalamazoo, Michigan
Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropoli ...
. He attended
Kalamazoo Central High School
Kalamazoo Central High School is a public high school in Kalamazoo, Michigan serving students from ninth through twelfth grades. It was the first public high school in Michigan. It began operating in 1858 and graduated its first class of five men a ...
where he was all conference in three sports—
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...
,
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
, and
track
Track or Tracks may refer to:
Routes or imprints
* Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity
* Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across
* Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...
. Jennings played wide receiver,
running back
A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball,
and block. Th ...
, outside
linebacker
Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...
and
defensive back
In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...
as a four-time
letterman for the football team. He was listed 11th on the "Fab 50" rankings of the ''
Detroit Free Press
The ''Detroit Free Press'' is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, US. The Sunday edition is titled the ''Sunday Free Press''. It is sometimes referred to as the Freep (reflected in the paper's web address, www.freep.com). It primar ...
'' as a senior.
[Greg Jennings Profile](_blank)
a
Greg Jennings official website
(retrieved December 7, 2010). Jennings finished seventh in voting for
Mr. Basketball of Michigan in 2000–01 and scored a school record 50 points in a losing effort against Benton Harbor as a senior.
In
track & field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...
, Jennings was one of the state's top performers in the long jump event. He captured the state title in the long jump at the 2001 MHSAA State LP-1 Championships, with a leap of 6.67 meters. He got a PR of 6.92 meters in the
long jump
The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...
. He was also a member of the
4 × 100m (42.20) and
4 × 200m (1:28.50) relay squads.
College career
Jennings attended
Western Michigan University
Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. Bliss for the training of teachers ...
and played for the Broncos. He finished his career there with 238 receptions for 3,539 yards and 39 touchdowns. When Jennings was a
redshirt freshman
Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...
, he missed 8 games due to a broken ankle bone. In the 8 games he did play, he caught 10 passes for 138 yards. In 2003, he was second on the Broncos with 56 catches for 1,050 yards and 14 touchdowns. He finished the 2003 season with 1,734 all-purpose yards. He was named to the All-Mid American 2nd team. In 2004, he led the Broncos with 74 catches for 1,092 yards and 11 touchdowns. He tallied 1,415 all-purpose yards. He was named to the All-MAC team. In 2005, he had 98 catches, and led the nation in catches per game, with 8.91. He had 1,259 yards with 14 touchdowns, and earned the
2005 MAC Offensive Player of the Year Award. His 5,093 all-purpose yards is a WMU record, and ranks 8th in MAC history. Jennings became only the 11th player to gain over 1,000 yards in at least three seasons of a college career. He also competed on their debate team, becoming President of the
American Parliamentary Debate Association
The American Parliamentary Debate Association (APDA) is the oldest intercollegiate parliamentary debating association in the United States. APDA sponsors over 50 tournaments a year, all in a parliamentary format, as well as a national champi ...
his junior year. Jennings graduated from WMU in 2010 after completing the 16 credits he needed through self-instructional classes.
Professional career
Green Bay Packers
The
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the t ...
drafted Jennings in the second round (52nd pick overall) of the
2006 NFL draft
The 2006 National Football League Draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with add ...
. On July 24, 2006, he signed a contract with the Packers.
Jennings was named the
starting wide receiver, along with
Donald Driver
Donald Jerome Driver (born February 2, 1975) is a former American football wide receiver. After playing college football for Alcorn State University, Driver was picked by the Green Bay Packers in the seventh round of the 1999 NFL Draft. He ...
, which put
Robert Ferguson in the slot, for his first professional regular-season game
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the t ...
by
head coach
A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in asso ...
Mike McCarthy
Michael John McCarthy (born November 10, 1963) is an American football coach who is the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). From 2006 to 2018, he was the head coach of the Green Bay Packers. In 2011, he led t ...
on September 2, 2006. Jennings led the NFL in receiving yardage during the 2006 preseason. He had 1 catch for 5 yards in his first game.
On September 24, 2006, he caught a 75-yard touchdown pass from
Brett Favre
Brett Lorenzo Favre ( ; born October 10, 1969) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons, primarily with the Green Bay Packers. Favre had 321 consecutive starts from 1992 to 201 ...
against the
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...
. It was Favre's 400th touchdown pass for his career, a milestone reached only by Favre,
Dan Marino,
Peyton Manning,
Tom Brady
Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. (born August 3, 1977) is an American football quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He spent his first 20 seasons with the New England Patriots organization, with which ...
,
Drew Brees
Drew Christopher Brees (; born January 15, 1979) is an American former American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. A member of the New Orleans Saints for most of his career, Brees i ...
,
Philip Rivers
Philip Michael Rivers (born December 8, 1981) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons, primarily with the Chargers franchise. He played college football at NC State and was se ...
and Aaron Rodgers. This was also Jennings's first 100-plus-yard game, as he finished with 3 catches, 101 yards and 1 touchdown. Jennings was voted NFL Rookie of the Week for games played September 24–25, 2006, the only time he received this honor. Jennings was also named to the NFL All Rookie team at the end of the season.
![Greg Jennings 2010](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/Greg_Jennings_2010.jpg)
On September 23, 2007, Jennings caught a game-winning 57-yard TD pass from Favre with less than two minutes to play to help beat the
San Diego Chargers 31–24 at
Lambeau Field
Lambeau Field is an outdoor athletic stadium in the north central United States, located in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The home field of the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL), it opened in 1957 as City Stadium, replacing ...
and improve the team's record to 3–0 in 2007. This was Jennings' first touchdown catch in 2007, as well as Favre's 420th career touchdown pass, tying him with Marino for the most TD passes in NFL history.
A week later on September 30, 2007, during a 23–16 victory over the
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...
, Jennings caught a 16-yard pass from Favre that opened the scoring ten minutes into the first quarter, and broke the all-time touchdown pass record Favre had shared with Dan Marino. On October 29, 2007, Jennings caught an 82-yard touchdown pass from Favre to defeat the
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...
19–13 in overtime, tying him for the second-longest overtime touchdown in NFL history. Then the following week, he caught the game-winning touchdown pass that went for 60 yards to beat the Chiefs in Kansas City. Against the Cowboys on November 29, 2007, in a game broadcast on the NFL Network, Jennings hauled in the first ever touchdown pass by quarterback
Aaron Rodgers.
Jennings and running back
Ryan Grant each had a touchdown during a 33–14 victory over the
St. Louis Rams
The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994.
The arr ...
on December 16, 2007, making it the first time two Packers players have each scored a touchdown in the same four consecutive games.
Jennings collected 80 receptions for 1292 yards and 9 touchdowns in the 2008 season.
On June 23, 2009, Jennings received a new three-year extension which paid him $26.35 million and included $16 million guaranteed. It also included a $11.25 million signing bonus. Jennings caught a game-winning pass on September 13, 2009, on a 3rd and two play, where the Packers ran a play action fake and rolled
Aaron Rodgers out to the left, who then threw a 50-yard pass to Jennings to defeat the
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...
in the season opener. In the Packers 2009 Wild Card game against the Arizona Cardinals, Jennings had 8 receptions for 130 yards, scoring 1 touchdown.
In the 2010–2011 season, Jennings helped the Packers go 10–6 in the regular season.
In
Super Bowl XLV
Super Bowl XLV was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Green Bay Packers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...
, on February 6, 2011, Jennings caught four passes for 64 yards and scored two touchdowns in the Packers' 31–25 victory over the
Pittsburgh Steelers.
Jennings played the first 13 games of the 2011 season before going down with a sprained MCL in week 13 against the
Oakland Raiders. During the season, he collected 69 receptions for 949 yards, including a season-high 149 yards on 7 receptions, and a touchdown in a week 7 game at the
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...
. He returned for the Packers' divisional round playoff game against the
New York Giants and recorded 4 receptions for 40 yards in a Packers' loss.
In 2012, Jennings sat out most of the early season due to a groin injury, and was scheduled to have surgery in Philadelphia, but it was postponed due to
Hurricane Sandy
Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as ''Superstorm Sandy'') was an extremely destructive and strong Atlantic hurricane, as well as the largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds spann ...
.
Minnesota Vikings
![Greg Jennings Vikings crop](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Greg_Jennings_Vikings_crop.jpg)
On March 15, 2013, Jennings signed a 5-year, $47.5 million ($18 million guaranteed) contract with the
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...
. Jennings got his first two touchdowns as a member of the Vikings against the
Pittsburgh Steelers in a 34–27 win. Jennings made his first return to
Lambeau Field
Lambeau Field is an outdoor athletic stadium in the north central United States, located in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The home field of the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL), it opened in 1957 as City Stadium, replacing ...
on November 24, 2013 in a 26–26 tie between the Packers and Vikings.
He was released by the Vikings on March 14, 2015.
Miami Dolphins
On April 22, 2015, Jennings signed a two-year, $8 million contract with the
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 p ...
.
On March 5, 2016, the Dolphins released Jennings to free up cap space.
Retirement
On July 25, 2016, Jennings retired from professional football after 10 seasons at the age of 32.
NFL career statistics
;Regular season
;Playoffs
''Source'
Pro-Football-Reference.com
Personal life
Jennings is a
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
. Jennings is married to Nicole Jennings, also of Kalamazoo, and they have three daughters named Amya, Alea and Ayva. On October 5, 2012, they welcomed their son Aice Gregory.
On May 5, 2010, Jennings made an appearance on the CBS prime time hit show ''
Criminal Minds
''Criminal Minds'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created and produced by Jeff Davis (writer), Jeff Davis. The series premiered on CBS on September 22, 2005, and originally concluded on February 19, 2020; it was r ...
''. He portrayed a lab technician working at a crime scene. Jennings is also in discussions to appear on BET's
''The Game''.
Greg Jennings in prime time Wednesday
ESPN, May 5, 2010 He appeared as himself on the July 6, 2011, episode of ''Royal Pains
''Royal Pains'' (stylized ℞oyalPains) is an American comedy-drama television series that ran on the USA Network from 2009 to 2016. The series was based in part on actual concierge medicine practices of independent doctors and companies. The ca ...
'' and the 2013 ''The League
''The League'' is an American sitcom that aired on FX and later FXX from October 29, 2009, to December 9, 2015, for a total of seven seasons. The series, set in Chicago, Illinois, is a semi-improvised comedy show about a fantasy football league ...
'' episode, "The Near Death Flex-perience". He is also the main actor and star of ''Old Spice
Old Spice is an American brand of male grooming products encompassing aftershaves, deodorants and antiperspirants, shampoos, body washes, and soaps. It is manufactured by Procter & Gamble.
Old Spice was launched as Early American Old Spice by W ...
'' 'Smelf' ad campaign.
The Greg Jennings Foundation was started by Jennings to attempt to benefit underprivileged children and youth organizations. The entire charity organization raises money through organizational events, donations, and fund raisers. The organization allows people, groups, and organizations from either Michigan or Wisconsin to apply for grant money. The headquarters of the foundation are in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
See also
* List of NCAA major college football yearly receiving leaders
The list of college football yearly receiving leaders identifies the major college receiving leaders for each season from 1937 to the present. It includes yearly leaders in three statistical categories: (1) receptions, (2) receiving yardage; (3) y ...
References
External links
*
Green Bay Packers biography
The Greg Jennings Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jennings, Greg
1983 births
African-American players of American football
American football wide receivers
Fox Sports 1 people
Green Bay Packers players
Living people
Miami Dolphins players
Minnesota Vikings players
National Football League announcers
People from De Pere, Wisconsin
Players of American football from Michigan
Sportspeople from Kalamazoo, Michigan
Western Michigan Broncos football players
21st-century African-American sportspeople
20th-century African-American people
National Conference Pro Bowl players
Ed Block Courage Award recipients