Rashad Jennings

Rashad Jennings grew up in Forest, Virginia as an overweight, chubby kid with glasses and asthma. Rashad had a .6 GPA and always struggled in school.

Rashad overcame a drastic amount of adversity during his younger years. Rashad had always loved playing football and dreamed to one day be a Running Back in the NFL. During Rashad’s Junior year of high school, he finally had his chance to shine during a game against his high school rivals. After the first four running backs had gotten hurt, Rashad was called into the game where he ended up scoring a total of four touchdowns, two on offense and two on defense. After the game, Rashad was asked about his grades by a Tennessee scout, who had actually come to watch the starting running back. Rashad had to tell the Tennessee scout that he had a .6 GPA, but this was the first time someone saw potential in Rashad aside from family and friends. Following that year, Rashad transferred to a private school, where he repeated his junior year and started to take full accountability for both his academics and athletics .

Rashad went on to play football at the University of Pittsburgh, but transferred during his Sophomore year to Liberty University to be closer to home to help care for his father who was suffering severely from diabetes related complications.

Against all odds, Rashad was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2011 as the 23rd pick. He played with the Jaguars from 2009-2012, the Oakland Raiders in 2013, the New York Giants from 2014-2016, and retired with the GIANTS in 2017. That same year, without missing a beat, Rashad joined the cast of ABC’s Dancing With The Stars Season 24, and went on to win the coveted Mirror Ball trophy.

Since then, Rashad has become a regular TV talk and sports show personality. And in 2018 he published his first book The IF In Life: How To Get Off Life’s Side Lines and Become Your Best Self, which quickly reached the New York Times Bestsellers list. Rashad has since also become a children’s author, with the release of a series of books about a boy named Arcade Livingston called The Coin Slot Chronicles .

Rashad is an entrepreneur who also continues to learn new skills, to study acting, and to involve himself in various charitable pursuits through the Rashad Jennings Foundation. He has recently entered the world of music producer, and has just launched his first album entitled NEVAH LOST Volume I. He is also host of the popular ESPN/IHeartRadio podcast The Bag.