Nakia Antwan Jenkins (born June 29, 1975) 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 and coach.

High school

Nakia attended

Glades Central High School Glades Central Community High School is a high school located in Belle Glade, Florida. In the 2014–15 school year its enrollment numbered 992 students. It is known for having one of the best high school football teams in the nation, with more foo ...

Belle Glade, Florida Belle Glade is a city in south-central Florida and it is the far western part of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States, on the southeastern shore of Lake Okeechobee. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 17,467. Bel ...

. He was a teammate of Fred Taylor and

Reidel Anthony Reidel Clarence Anthony (born October 20, 1976) is a former American football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) from 1997 to 2001. Anthony played college football for the University of Florida, and received consensus ...

. He played for the school band his freshman and sophomore year.

College career

He was named first-team All-Foothill Conference during the 1994 and 1995 season at

Chaffey Junior College Chaffey College is a public community college in Rancho Cucamonga, California. The college serves students in Chino, Chino Hills, Fontana, Montclair, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga and Upland. It is the oldest community college in California. History ...

. He transferred to

Utah State Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah's ...

where he played with quarterback

Matthew Sauk Matthew Sauk (born March 15, 1976) is an arena football coach and former quarterback. He played college football at Utah State, was an af2 quarterback from 2001 to 2005, and an AFL quarterback from 2002 to 2008. He has been a football coach si ...

under head coach John L. Smith.

Professional career

Jenkins went

undrafted In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in the

1998 NFL Draft The 1998 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 18–19, 1998, at the Theater at M ...

. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

. He was waived during training camp. In 1999 Nakia signed with the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

, he was again released during training camp. In 2000, Jenkins was drafted by the Las Vegas Outlaws of the defunct

XFL XFL may refer to: Sports * XFL (2001), a defunct American football league that played its only season in 2001 * XFL (2020), a professional American football league Vehicles * Bell XFL Airabonita, a 1940 U.S. Navy experimental interceptor aircra ...

.In 2002, Jenkins was signed by the

Toronto Phantoms The Toronto Phantoms were a professional arena football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The team was a member of the Eastern Division of the National Conference of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team also previously operated in New York Ci ...

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

. In 2004, he played for the

Grand Rapids Rampage The Grand Rapids Rampage was an arena football team based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The team began play in 1998 in the Arena Football League as an expansion team. They were last coached by Steve Thonn. Their home arena was the Van Andel Arena. ...

.http://www.arenafan.com/players/Nakia_Jenkins-3073/ In 2007, Jenkins was named head coach of

Miami Vice Squad The Miami Vice Squad was an indoor football team. They are a 2007 expansion member of the National Indoor Football League. They played their home games at the BankUnited Center in Coral Gables, Florida Coral Gables, officially City of Cor ...

of the

National Indoor Football League The National Indoor Football League (NIFL) was a professional indoor football league in the United States. For their first six years, the league had teams in markets not covered by either the Arena Football League or its developmental league, A ...

References

External links

*http://www.all-xfl.com/lasvegasoutlaws/team/roster/nakiajenkins.htm *http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/090199/jag_1c1cuts.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkins, Nakia Living people 1975 births People from Alta Loma, Rancho Cucamonga, California Players of American football from Florida Players of American football from San Bernardino County, California Utah State Aggies football players New York Jets players Jacksonville Jaguars players Las Vegas Outlaws (XFL) players Toronto Phantoms players Grand Rapids Rampage players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople