Michael Jenkins (born August 27, 1976) is a former

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

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. Ther ...

from Bethesda,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

. Jenkins attended the

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a public land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, and opened in September 1887. The University of Wyoming ...

in 1997 and

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

from 1998 to 1999.

Amateur career

Jenkins played at Monta Vista High School in Cupertino, California. The head coach during that time was Danny Benjamin, who later became Jenkins' agent. Jenkins went on to play two seasons at Coffeyville Junior College.

University of Wyoming

Michael Jenkins lettered at the University of Wyoming in 1997,"Cowboy Traditions: Cowboy Lettermen."
''www.graphics.fansonly.com.'' Retrieved June 17, 2014. rushing for 605 yards and a team-high 10 touchdowns. He finished second on the team in rushing yards and was also second on the team in receiving yards, catching 25 passes for 341 yards and two touchdowns.
''www.sports-reference.com.'' Retrieved July 14, 2014.

University of Arkansas

Jenkins transferred from Wyoming to the University of Arkansas,

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after ...

ing the 1998 season."JC receiver decides to pass up spring."

Log Cabin Democrat The ''Log Cabin Democrat'' is a daily newspaper in Conway, Arkansas, United States, serving Conway and Faulkner County and some surrounding areas. It was founded in July 1879 as ''The Log Cabin''. Its publisher is David Meadows, who also serves ...

, January 12, 1999. ''www.thecabin.net.'' Retrieved June 24, 2014.Thompson, Carlton
"Undersized Jenkins setting sights high for Texans."
''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With i ...

'', June 4, 2002. Retrieved April 15, 2019. Jenkins played in the 1999 season under Coach

Houston Nutt Houston Dale Nutt Jr. (born October 14, 1957) is a former American football player and coach. He currently works for CBS Sports as a college football studio analyst. Previously, he served as the head football coach at Murray State University (19 ...

. During his one season with the Razorbacks he finished third on the team in rushing with 224 yards and three touchdowns. Jenkins had a 42-yard touchdown run in the

2000 Cotton Bowl Classic The 2000 SBC Cotton Bowl Classic game was a post-season college football bowl game that took place on Jan. 1, 2000 in Dallas, Texas. The Arkansas Razorbacks defeated the Texas Longhorns 27–6. The Texas Longhorns finished their regular season 9 ...

, helping Arkansas defeat the Texas Longhorns, 27–6."1999 Arkansas Razorbacks Stats."
''www.sports-reference.com.'' Retrieved June 16, 2014.

Professional career

Toronto Argonauts

In 2000, Jenkins joined the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

as a free agent. In his

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

year, Jenkins played all 18 games and rushed for 1,050 rushing yards with two touchdowns and had 400 yards receiving. Upon the season's completion, he was voted the team's rookie of the year. With his small size and his large rushing numbers, comparisons between Jenkins and his

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 assoc ...

Pinball Clemons Michael Lutrell "Pinball" Clemons (born January 15, 1965) is an American-Canadian sports executive and former running back and return specialist who serves as general manager for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He i ...

(who was a star running back during his playing days) naturally emerged. During the 2001 season, Jenkins set an Argonauts team record for most rushing yards in a season with 1484 rushing yards on 271 carries and 8 touchdowns as well as 361 receiving yards and 5 touchdowns. Earlier in the season, there was great concern by the fans over whether Jenkins' running abilities would have been stifled because of the "pass-happy" philosophy of offensive co-ordinator John Jenkins. However, head coach Clemons put his coaching authority to use and called for a more balanced offensive attack combining the pass and running games to better utilize Michael Jenkins' game. The Football Reporters of Canada selected Jenkins as the winner of the 2001 John Candy Memorial Award, which is given to the Toronto Argonauts player of the year."John Candy Memorial Award Winners."
''www.argonauts.ca.'' Retrieved December 16, 2014. Jenkins left the Argonauts in 2002 to sign with the Houston Texans, where he spent the season as a member of the team's practice squad, and he returned to the Argonauts in 2003. However, he was not able to regain the form that he had when he first joined the team. After coming back from the NFL, Jenkins' weight increased. That, combined with an abductor/groin injury in the

pre-season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...

, and recurring ankle injuries factored into his decreased productivity. Despite those shortcomings throughout the season, Jenkins rushed for 195 yards in a game vs. the Edmonton Eskimos on August 17, 2003, and earned the CFL Offensive Player of the Week Award for the achievement. For the season, Jenkins rushed for 814 yards on 156 carries with 6 rushing touchdowns, along with 316 yards receiving. Shortly thereafter, he had surgery on his injured ankles, which had hampered him during the season.

Injury and return to football

On May 17, 2004, Jenkins was released by the Argonauts, less than a month after the team signed free agent running back John Avery. Months later, Jenkins'

agent Agent may refer to: Espionage, investigation, and law *, spies or intelligence officers * Law of agency, laws involving a person authorized to act on behalf of another ** Agent of record, a person with a contractual agreement with an insuranc ...

, Danny Benjamin, alleged that his client would miss the entire 2004 CFL season because of the injured ankles and that the injury would not have been that serious had Jenkins not have gotten bad advice from Toronto's female trainer, Erin Brooks. Benjamin said "I have a problem with female trainers because they're female and they don't understand the male body. Their bodies are different."Westhead, Rick
"Athletic therapist claimed she was fired by Toronto Argos because she’s a woman."
''www.thestar.com'', January 21, 2012. Retrieved June 16, 2014. Brooks laughed off the allegations by saying, "Injuries are injuries. Tissues are the same (in males and females)." Brooks was fired from the Argonauts in 2010, and won a

settlement Settlement may refer to: *Human settlement, a community where people live *Settlement (structural), the distortion or disruption of parts of a building * Closing (real estate), the final step in executing a real estate transaction *Settlement (fin ...

of $975,000 in 2012 after alleging in a lawsuit that she was terminated only because she was a woman.

Montreal Alouettes

On February 18, 2005, Jenkins signed with the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the East Division of the Canad ...

, but much of his time was split between the practice roster and the injured list. He was subsequently released by the Alouettes in July."Michael Jenkins."
''www.cflapedia.com.'' Retrieved December 16, 2014.

Edmonton Eskimos

On August 22, 2005, Jenkins signed with the Edmonton Eskimos, and only played in one game on September 9, 2005, vs. the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third-o ...

. In that game he rushed for 30 yards on 8 carries, and caught one pass for 11 yards. Jenkins went on to win a Grey Cup championship with the Eskimos that year."93rd Grey Cup, November 27, 2005."
''www.cfl.ca.'' Retrieved December 16, 2014. He finished his CFL career with 3378 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns, and 1077 yards receiving.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkins, Michael 1976 births Living people American football running backs American players of Canadian football African-American players of Canadian football Arkansas Razorbacks football players Canadian football running backs Edmonton Elks players Hartford Colonials coaches Sportspeople from Bethesda, Maryland Toronto Argonauts players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople