Rashad Jennings

Born: March 26, 1985

Birthplace: Forest, VA

Zodiac Sign: Aries

Rashad Andre Jennings is a former American football running back. He was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the seventh round of the 2009 NFL Draft. He also played for the Oakland Raiders and the New York Giants. Jennings played college football at Liberty.

Jennings began his high school career at Jefferson Forest High School in his hometown, Forest, Virginia. As a fifth string running back, he didn't play in a game until the last game of his junior year. As a self-described "270 lb. chubby kid with asthma and glasses", Jennings finally played after the first four running backs ahead of him on the depth chart went down with injuries. Even before putting in Jennings, his coach attempted to play a wide receiver at running back. On his first handoff he ran the ball in for a 30-yard touchdown. After a 40-yard rushing touchdown and scoring 2 more touchdowns on defense, Jennings was approached by a scout from the University of Tennessee who had come to see the starting running back. After inquiring about his grades and discovering Jennings had a 0.6 GPA, the scout said "Son, you have potential... Get your grades right!"

After the encouragement, Rashad transferred to Lynchburg Christian Academy. His older brothers offered to coach the football team since Rashad could not afford the tuition. At LCA, he would begin to shed some weight and take to learning after having to repeat his junior year. In his junior and senior year, he was a two-time All-VISAA Division II selection while totaling 3,287 yards and 56 touchdowns, including 1,978 rushing yards and 28 touchdowns as a senior, while also lettering twice in basketball.

Jennings began his college career at Pittsburgh in 2005, only the fourth true freshman running back to start there. However, Jennings transferred to Division I-FCS Liberty, in spring 2006, to be closer to his family. Though Jennings was suspended for the first two games of the 2007 season due to an internal violation, he set a Big South Conference record with 3,633 yards, 42 touchdowns, and averaged 5.7 yards per carry.

After being coached by the Jacksonville Jaguars' staff during the 2009 Senior Bowl, Jennings was drafted by Jacksonville in the seventh round (250th overall) of the 2009 NFL Draft. He scored his first career touchdown in Week 9 against the Kansas City Chiefs, rushing for 28 yards. After a promising rookie season, Jennings's 2011 season was cut short by injuries after suffering a concussion in the Jaguars' first preseason game, and his knee injury two weeks later, Jennings was placed in injured reserve before the regular season began.

Jennings was signed by the Oakland Raiders on April 11, 2013.

On March 12, 2014, Jennings signed a four-year, $14 million contract including $3 million guaranteed with the New York Giants. Jennings quickly took over as starter, starting 9 games out of the 11 that he played. Jennings rushed for 639 yards on 167 carries and scored 4 rushing touchdowns.

On December 8, 2017, Jennings announced his retirement from the NFL.

On March 1, 2017, Jennings was revealed as one of the contestants who would compete on Season 24 of Dancing with the Stars and was paired with professional dancer Emma Slater. Jennings and Slater went on to win the competition on May 23, 2017. It was Slater's first win on the competition show and Jennings is the fourth NFL player to win the show. Source.