Janoris Jenkins' Ascent to Stardom Isn't Your Typical Redemption Narrative

Janoris Jenkins' Ascent to Stardom Isn't Your Typical Redemption Narrative
[bleacherreport.com]
NEW YORK — It's a Thursday afternoon in late December, days before the New York Giants' Week 17 matchup in Washington, and Janoris Jenkins—excuse us, "Jackrabbit"—is standing in front of his locker at the team's training center, fielding questions.

There's one about the bruised back that sidelined him the previous week, another on preparing for the upcoming playoff run. A host of other football cliches are lobbed before, finally, a reporter asks him something more pertinent:

Where did you get the hat?

"I made it," Jenkins says. It's a bucket hat, Giants blue, with a lowercase white "ny" stitched to the front. It looks like the kind you might see people wearing around a pool on the Upper West Side, only the top has been cut out so Jenkins can thread his black dreadlocks up and over the rim.

"So don't steal it now," he adds.

The questions then move back to football. Jenkins says he's excited for the playoffs—that one of the reasons he signed with the Giants last spring was to become a champion. That they offered him a five-year, $62.5 million contract in the offseason, a deal that included $28.8 million in guaranteed money and a $10 million signing bonus, certainly played a role as well. Still, the quote is perfect filler for a weekday tabloid practice write-up.

It's not crazy to think the Giants could be embarking on another one of their dazzling winter runs. Or that Jenkins could be the one to propel them there. He's been a one-man wrecking crew all season, the team's antidote to both the myriad prolific aerial assaults that populate today's league and to the Giants' bumbling offensive attack (No. 22 according to Football Outsiders).

How good has Jenkins been in his first year in New York? He allowed completions on half of the passes thrown his way during the regular season—fourth-best among cornerbacks, according to Pro Football Focus, which also rated him as the seventh-best corner in the NFL. If not for Jenkins, it's unlikely the Giants leap from 30th last year to No. 2 this year in Football Outsiders defense rankings, and near-improbable they finish the year 11-5.

"I play this game as if anything can happen at any time," Jenkins says at one point during the scrum. "You just have to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

"I got the best out of my situation."

It's a telling answer, one begging for a follow-up.

Afterward, a reporter tries to ask one. He approaches Jenkins. He tells him he's profiling him. He asks if he'd be willing to speak for a few minutes one-on-one.

"Man, I don't want no story done on me," Jenkins says. He then walks through the double doors that separate the locker room from the team showers and treatment areas before turning around to share one last thought:

"You can write the truth, but ain't nobody want to hear it."

The truth?

Well, the first thing you should know is that he isn't kidding about the whole "Jackrabbit" thing.

Take this story, courtesy of Giants offensive lineman Adam Gettis.

"One of the first days I was here I was like, 'Jackrabbit, what's up?'" Gettis says. "And he got all excited and was like, 'Man, you know my name? And I was like, 'Of course I know your name, Janoris.' And he goes, 'It's Jackrabbit. It's Jackrabbit.'"

Gettis is far from the only Giants employee to be scolded this season for addressing Jenkins by the name printed on his birth certificate. Staffers, teammates, even coaches during team meetings have felt the Jackrabbit's wrath.

Then there was his postgame interview with NBC following the Giants' 10-7 Week 14 win over the Dallas Cowboys. Jenkins had played perhaps the best game of his career. He'd held Dallas star receiver Dez Bryant to one catch for 10 yards. He also picked off a Dak Prescott pass and forced a fumble (on the one ball Bryant did hold on to), all on national TV. After the win, it was his turn to receive some much-deserved shine.

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Best,
Laram