Michael Jenkins (CFL football player)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Michael Jenkins (born August 27, 1976 in Bethesda, Maryland, USA) was a running back in the Canadian Football League.

Jenkins attended the University of Wyoming in 1997, and the University of Arkansas between 1998-1999.

In 2000, Jenkins joined the Toronto Argonauts as a free agent. In his rookie year, he played all 18 games and amassed 1,050 rushing yards on 183 carries with two rushing touchdowns complemented with 400 yards receiving. Upon the season's completion, he was voted the team's rookie of the year. With his small size and his large rushing numbers, comparisons between Jenkins and his head coach Pinball Clemons (who was a star running back during his playing days) naturally emerged.

The hype over Jenkins continued in 2001. In 16 games, he set an Argonauts team record for most rushing yards in a season with 1484 rushing yards on 271 carries (a team record) with 8 rushing touchdowns alongside 361 receiving yards with 5 receiving touchdowns. Earlier in the season, there was great concern by the fans over whether Jenkins' running abilities would have been stifled because of the "pass-happy" philosophy of offensive co-ordinator John Jenkins. However, head coach Clemons put his coaching authority to use and called for a more balanced offensive attack combining the pass and running games to better utilise Michael Jenkins' game. His outstanding season had him voted the team's Most Outstanding Player.

With his momentum on the rise, Jenkins left the Argonauts in 2002 to sign with the Houston Texans of the NFL. However, he spent the entire season on their practice squad.

Jenkins returned to the Argonauts in 2003. Unfortunately, he was not able to regain the form that he had when he first joined the team. After coming back from the NFL, Jenkins' weight increased. That, combined with an abductor/groin injury in the pre-season, and recurring ankle injuries things factored into his decreased productivity. Despite those shortcomings throughout the season, Jenkins rushed for a team record 195 yards in a game vs. the Edmonton Eskimos on August 17, 2003 and earned the CFL offensive player of the week award for the achievement. By season's end, Jenkins rushed for only 814 yards on 156 carries with 6 rushing touchdowns, along with 316 yards receiving. Shortly thereafter, he had surgery on his injured ankles that have hampered him all season.

On May 17, 2004, Jenkins was released by the Argonauts, less than a month after the team signed free agent running back John Avery. Months later, Jenkins' agent, Danny Benjamin, alleged that his client would miss the entire 2004 CFL season because of the injured ankles and that the injury would not have been that serious had Jenkins not have gotten "bad advice from Toronto's female trainer (Erin Brooks). I have a problem with female trainers because they're female and they don't understand the male body. Their bodies are different."[1] Brooks laughed off the allegations by saying, "Injuries are injuries. Tissues are the same (in males and females)."[2]

On February 18, 2005, Jenkins signed with the Montreal Alouettes, but much of his time was split between the practice roster and the injured list. He was subsequently released by the Alouettes in July. On August 22, 2005, Jenkins signed with the Edmonton Eskimos, and only played in one game on September 9, 2005 vs. the Calgary Stampeders. In that game, he rushed for 30 yards on 8 carries, combined with 1 reception for 11 yards. Jenkins went on to win a Grey Cup championship with the Eskimos that year.