The path to the National Football League is not always an easy one. Just ask Gary Jennings, a former West Virginia standout who was recently playing for the St. Louis Battlehawks of the XFL. He was originally drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft. Since then, he’s bounced around to six more different NFL teams (Dolphins, Ravens, Bills, Raiders, Colts, and the Chiefs). He couldn’t stick with either of those teams for very long. But he’s getting another shot and still following his dream. On Wednesday evening, the XFL announced that Jennings, who played with the St. Louis Battlehawks this spring, had been invited to camp with the Carolina Panthers.
Check out the post below from the XFL.
Even if he doesn’t stick around in the NFL, Jennings still has to be thankful for another opportunity. He’ll have some competition from some of the undrafted free agents for the Panthers.
It’s never easy to keep pursuing one of your lifelong dreams and the former WVU star is still keeping at it. That’s admirable in any profession in life. Considering the amount of rejection he’s dealt with, it’s even more impressive. Plenty of other players would have given up or stopped playing the game entirely if they were in Jennings’ shoes. He’s a remarkable example of perseverance.
This season with the Battlehawks, Jennings hauled in 11 catches for 149 receiving yards and three touchdowns. On a fake punt pass against the Vegas Vipers, he hauled in the catch and turned on the burners, clocking a 22.5 mph max speed, according to Reel Analytics. It was the fastest max speed recorded by any player in the XFL this spring.
During his college days with West Virginia, he established himself as one of the best receivers in Mountaineer football history. He hauled in 2,294 receiving yards during his time there–ranking him sixth in program history. The best game of his career came against the Oklahoma Sooners, when he hauled in seven passes for a career-high 225 receiving yards and two touchdowns. The 225 receiving yards in a single game tied him for second all-time in school history.
Jennings made one of the more clutch catches in Mountaineer football history in November of 2018 against the Texas Longhorns. He hauled in a 33-yard touchdown catch against Texas in the fourth quarter with just 16 seconds left on the clock. It was a perfect pass from Mountaineer quarterback Will Grier and it cut the WVU deficit to 41-40. Then Grier scampered to the left side of the end zone for the two-point conversion, lifting West Virginia to a stunning 42-41 victory and silencing the Longhorn fans in Austin.
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