Stanford Jennings facts for kids

Stanford Jamison Jennings, born on March 12, 1962, is a former American football player. He was a talented running back in the National Football League (NFL). Stanford played college football for the Furman Paladins. He was chosen in the third round of the 1984 NFL draft. Jennings played for the Cincinnati Bengals for seven seasons (1984–1990). He also played one season each for the New Orleans Saints (1991) and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1992). A memorable moment in his career was returning a kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown in Super Bowl XXIII.

Early Life and High School Football

Stanford Jennings was born to Walter and Fannie Jennings. His parents worked on a dairy farm. He grew up in Summerville, South Carolina. Stanford went to Summerville High School there.

He played as a tailback for the Summerville Green Wave football team. During his three seasons, the team lost only two games. They had no losses during his junior and senior years. Stanford helped lead the Green Wave to win two Class 4A state titles. These wins happened in 1978 and 1979. Even though he was a great player, many colleges did not try hard to recruit him. In the end, he chose between The Citadel and Furman University.

College Football Career

Jennings decided to play for Furman. He helped the Paladins win the Southern Conference championship every year he was there. This was for all four seasons. During his time at Furman, the team had a great record of 36 wins, 9 losses, and 2 ties. They even had surprising wins against big teams like the South Carolina Gamecocks and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.

Stanford was a star player at Furman. In his four seasons, he ran for 3,868 yards. He carried the ball 650 times, averaging 6.0 yards per carry. He also scored 39 rushing touchdowns. Besides running, he caught 76 passes for 865 yards. This was an average of 11.4 yards per catch. He scored four receiving touchdowns too. In 1981, he was named the Southern Conference Player of the Year.

Professional Football Career

The Cincinnati Bengals picked Stanford Jennings in the third round of the 1984 NFL draft. In the NFL, he mostly returned kickoffs. He also played as a backup running back. His best season for running and catching the ball was his rookie year in 1984. He played in 15 games and started four of them. He ran for 379 yards on 79 attempts, averaging 4.8 yards per carry. He scored two rushing touchdowns. He also caught 35 passes for 346 yards and two receiving touchdowns. These were all his career bests.

His best year for returning kickoffs was 1988. That year, he had 32 returns for 684 yards. He even had a 98-yard touchdown return against the Kansas City Chiefs. This was the longest kickoff return in the NFL that season. A very famous moment was his 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in Super Bowl XXIII. This was against the San Francisco 49ers.

Stanford Jennings played nine seasons in the NFL. He finished his career with 1,250 rushing yards. He also had 116 catches for 1,098 receiving yards. He gained 2,965 yards returning kickoffs. In total, he scored 20 touchdowns. His 2,752 kickoff return yards with the Cincinnati Bengals was a team record. This record stood until Tremain Mack broke it in 2000.

Personal Life

Stanford Jennings and his wife, Kathy, live in a suburb north of Atlanta, Georgia. They have two children, Jamie and Kelsey Amanda. Stanford works as a regional sales manager for New Balance shoes. His younger brother, Keith Jennings, also played tight end in the NFL.