Stanford Jennings facts for kids
| No. 36, 28 | |||||||||||
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| Position: | Running back | ||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||
| Born: | March 12, 1962 Summerville, South Carolina, U.S. |
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| Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||||
| Weight: | 205 lb (93 kg) | ||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||
| High school: | Summerville | ||||||||||
| College: | Furman | ||||||||||
| NFL Draft: | 1984 / Round: 3 / Pick: 65 | ||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||
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| Player stats at PFR | |||||||||||
Stanford Jamison Jennings (born March 12, 1962) is a former American football player. He was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). Stanford Jennings 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 from 1984 to 1990. He also played for the New Orleans Saints in 1991 and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1992. A famous moment was when he returned a kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown in Super Bowl XXIII.
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Early Life and High School Football
Stanford Jennings was born in Summerville, South Carolina. His parents, Walter and Fannie Jennings, worked on a dairy farm. He went to Summerville High School.
During his three years playing tailback for Summerville, his team lost only two games. They did not lose any games in his junior and senior years. He helped the Green Wave team win two state championships in 1978 and 1979.
College Football Career
After high school, Jennings chose to play college football at Furman University. He helped the Furman Paladins win the Southern Conference championship every year he was there.
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 South Carolina and Georgia Tech.
Jennings was a star player at Furman. He ran for 3,868 yards and scored 39 touchdowns. He also caught 76 passes for 865 yards and four touchdowns. 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. He mostly played as a kick returner and a backup running back.
His best year for running and catching the ball was his first year, 1984. He played in 15 games and ran for 379 yards. He also caught 35 passes for 346 yards and scored two touchdowns.
In 1988, he had his best year returning kickoffs. He returned 32 kicks for 684 yards. One of these was a 98-yard touchdown return against the Kansas City Chiefs, which was the longest in the NFL that season.
A very memorable play was in Super Bowl XXIII. Jennings returned a kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown against the San Francisco 49ers.
By the end of his nine-season NFL career, Jennings had run for 1,250 yards. He also caught 116 passes for 1,098 yards. He gained 2,965 yards returning kickoffs and scored a total of 20 touchdowns. His 2,752 kickoff return yards with the Cincinnati Bengals was a team record for many years.
Life After Football
Stanford Jennings and his wife, Kathy, live in a northern suburb of Atlanta, Georgia. They have two children, Jamie and Kelsey Amanda.
Today, Stanford Jennings works as a regional sales manager for New Balance shoes. His younger brother, Keith Jennings, also played tight end in the NFL.
