James Henry "J. J." Jennings (born August 16, 1952) 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 with ...

tailback and

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

. Jennings was born in

Holyoke, Massachusetts Holyoke is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, that lies between the western bank of the Connecticut River and the Mount Tom Range. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 38,238. Located north of Springfield ...

, in 1952. He attended

Holyoke High School Holyoke High School is a public high school in western Massachusetts, United States that serves the City of Holyoke. Since 2015, the school, along with the district, has been in state receivership and through a series of changes in practices, such ...

and played college football as a tailback for

Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was a ...

from 1971 to 1973. During the 1973 season, he scored 20 touchdowns and two extra points and led the country in scoring. He totaled 2,935 rushing yards in three years at Rutgers, including 1,262 yards in 1972 and 1,353 yards in 1973. He was drafted by the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

in the ninth round (222nd overall pick) of the

1974 NFL Draft The 1974 NFL draft took place at the Americana Hotel in New York City, New York, on January 29–30, 1974. Each of the 26 NFL teams were granted 17 selections for a total of 442 picks. Many experts consider the 1974 Pittsburgh Steelers to have h ...

, but opted to play in the newly formed

World Football League The World Football League (WFL) was an American football league that played one full season in 1974 and most of its second in 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a worldwide stage, the farthest t ...

(WFL). In 1974, he appeared in 20 games for the

Memphis Southmen The Memphis Southmen, also known as the Memphis Grizzlies, were an American football team based in Memphis, Tennessee. They played in the World Football League (WFL), which operated in 1974 and 1975. They played their home games at Liberty Bowl M ...

and became the first WFL player to reach 1,000 rushing yards. He finished the 1974 season with 1,524 rushing yards on 322 carries, 431 receiving yards, on 46 catches, and 94 points scored :). He was named to the official 1974 All-WFL team. His total of 1,524 rushing yards was second in the WFL during the 1974 season, 52 yards behind Florida's

Tommy Reamon Tommy Reamon (born March 12, 1952) is a retired African-American professional football player, who has worked as an actor, and is currently an educator in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia. As a high school football coach, Reamon has had som ...

. With

Larry Csonka Larry Richard Csonka (; born December 25, 1946) is a former professional American football fullback who played for the Miami Dolphins for the majority of his career, along with the New York Giants for three years, and a short stint with the Mem ...

signing to play for Memphis in 1975, Jennings played the 1975 season with the

Philadelphia Bell The Philadelphia Bell was a franchise in the World Football League, which operated in 1974 and a portion of a season in 1975. The Bell played their home games in 1974 at JFK Stadium in South Philadelphia. The team logo was a representation of th ...

. He appeared in 10 games for the Bell, rushing for 345 yards on 82 carries.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jennings, J. J. 1952 births Living people American football running backs Memphis Southmen players Philadelphia Bell players Players of American football from Holyoke, Massachusetts Rutgers Scarlet Knights football players