Rashad Jennings: A Father and Son Save Each Other’s Lives

A Father and Son Save Each Other’s Lives

by Rashad Jennings

Rashad Jennings is a former NFL running back who played with the Jacksonville

Jaguars, the Oakland Raiders, and the New York Giants. In 2017, he appeared on

Dancing With the Stars—and was crowned the winner of his season. Rashad overcame

several obstacles that might have halted his dream of becoming an NFL player, including

a difficult relationship with his father. Rashad shares how their stormy relationship

transformed as father and son became each other’s fiercest supporters.

I GREW UP IN FOREST, VIRGINIA—I’M A SMALL-TOWN GUY. I was a chubby kid with glasses, a 0.6 GPA, and a dream to play in the NFL. I struggled in a major way academically. I asked too many questions, which was a major issue, but they were legitimate questions. Looking back, I can see how it looked like I was the class clown—I just wasn’t trying to be funny. So when my hand went up to ask a genuine question, kids already were like, “He’s about to ask another question, watch this!” I’d ask a

question, they’d die laughing, and the teacher would think I was playing. So that was a big part of why I was frustrated with schools.

I was into sports. I have two older brothers, who are ten and thirteen years older than me. Watching my older brothers play sports, I wanted to emulate them, but I was nowhere close to being athletic like they were. And so that was a battle, trying to carry the Jennings last name and be like my brothers.

I had asthma. That was a struggle. One time, I was hospitalized because of an asthma attack. At that time in my life, I was fighting for my next breath, let alone thinking about, Will I accomplish my NFL dream? And when I was in a hospital for a week, hooked up to tubes, the doctors came in the room. My mom was in there, my dad was in there. And the doctors let my parents know how severe my asthma was, and told them that I couldn’t be around cigarette smoke. We’d have to change a lot of things in our home, and basically rehab the whole entire house to make it conducive for me to live.

So when I got back home, the doctor said my dad couldn’t smoke around the house anymore. My dad started smoking outside. A week later, he started smoking inside again.

From my room, I could smell the smoke seeping through the vent. I started to choke up, and I put a pillow over my face. I went upstairs and knocked on my dad’s door. He didn’t answer. I opened it, and he’s sitting in the corner of his room in his chair like he always does, smoking and drinking.

“My dad and I didn’t have a great relationship, and we never talked about anything.

I looked at him and I said “Dad, I want to play running back in the NFL.”

And he took a puff of a smoke, another swig of his drink and said, “Do you think you’ll be able to make it to the NFL without drinking or smoking yourself?” And with tears in my eyes, I looked at him in the face and I said, “Dad, just to prove you wrong, I’m never going to do it.”

I’m 34 years old, and I’ve never smoked or taken a drink in my life, and it was literally just to prove him wrong. He watched his little knucklehead kid never drink, never smoke, and make it to the League just to prove him wrong—and I watched my dad change his life. I watched him quit drinking and smoking and get more invested in the Word.

And so, in a very strange way, my dad and I feel like we saved each other’s lives in that little moment. Now we have a great relationship, but it’s our unconditional love and a lot of stories that bridge the gap from where we were to the place where we are today.

Adapted for print from Rashad’s interview on the Jesus Calling Podcast.

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I asked my dad—and this is the chubby kid in red-rimmed glasses, with asthma, the 0.6 GPA, and a child’s dream to go do something in his life—I looked at my dad and said, “Dad, can you stop smoking and drinking and be there for me?”

He took a puff of a smoke, blew it in the air, and took a swig of his drink. He said “Rashad, what do you want to do when you get older?”

My dad and I didn’t have a great relationship, and we never talked about anything. So part of me looked at this as an opportunity like, My dad actually asked me what I want to do!

Rashad’s memoir, The IF In Life, is available wherever books are sold. And check out his hilarious and inspiring series for kids ages 8–12, The Coin Slot Chronicles!