More Than A Few Words From Kris Jenkins
FLORHAM PARK–It’s hard to adequately explain Kris Jenkins’ personality. Even “Hard Knocks” is showing just the tip of the iceberg.
I went over to chat with Jenkins in the locker room the other day with the intention of doing a straightforward (hopefully entertaining) Q&A. Things went off the rails immediately as I pretty much lost all control of the conversation right out of the gate. But, since this is Jenkins, it was not necessarily a bad thing.
The first question, was not meant to be part of the Q&A, I was just randomly checking on him after seeing him limp around in pain for a few minutes during practice.
LZ: Are you OK? I saw you limping during practice.
KJ: Damien Woody stepped on my damn foot!!
LZ: Aw, poor baby.
KJ: Have you seen the cleats we wear?! (Picks up a shoe out of his locker and turns it over). Look – they have these seven spike things (unscrews one of them to show me the metal thing it’s attached to), it went right into my foot. Do you know how much he weighs?
LZ: Hmm. Yeah, that does look like it would hurt even more than being stepped on by a stiletto.
KJ: Hell yeah, I mean Nick Mangold, he has a concussion? Oh yeah, uh huh. It’s ‘I’ve just had a veteran day’ whatever.
LZ: Um…what?
KJ: I just had to vent out there, at some point my masculinity has to come back.
LZ: So, where did this personality of yours come from?
KJ: I’m just one of the Jenkins boys. We have charm.
LZ: Really? And who taught you this charm?
KJ: My father and my grandmother, my nana.
LZ: And..
KJ: Charm is honesty you have to make it sound good. That’s charm.
LZ: So did you use charm to get your wife to go out on your first date?
KJ: No! Her mother asked her for me.
LZ: Her mother?
KJ: I was at a graduation party and I was talking to her mother. I was a year into the league. I saw [my wife] at a party and was ‘who the heck is that?’
LZ: So, did you go over and talk to her?
KJ: No, I can be introverted some times.
LZ: No you can’t.
KJ: (Laughs) Yes I can. So, she’s from Maryland. We were in Maryland. I’m talking to her mother and and she tells me she has a daughter and I’m like, ‘oh no,’ and then she points and says ‘that’s my daughter’ and it was the girl I saw before. So, then her mother invited me to another graduation party. The way to a woman’s heart in Maryland is through blue crabs. So, I brought crabs to the graduation party. I came to the party and she was standing there and she smiled at me. Then everything went downhill from there but then we got married and it’s all good.
LZ: (Silence) Um…what?
KJ: Well, you know how it is. But I grew up and she waited it out.
LZ: Seriously, how did you get like this?
KJ: My father was a drama teacher.
LZ: Ah, the last piece of the puzzle!!!
29 Responses to More Than A Few Words From Kris Jenkins
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Haha… KJ is a funny dude!
Towards the end of ‘Hard Knocks’ when he is blowing kiss to the crowd, while waving his arms in gratitude… you hear a slight “Jets!” chant in the background..
I said to myself.. that’s one crazy dude! haha!
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I went to the Texans game last year in Houston and I saw him tauting a Texans fan at the end of the game. I couldn’t hear what he was saying but everyone around the area was cracking up including the police office standing right there. Good stuff.
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You’ve got a guy like Haynesworth who thinks his worth will go down if he plays nose. Then you’ve got Jenkins who plays the nose and is the most loved player on defense! The Jets can surely pick em!
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wow great quote from Jenkins – “Charm is honesty, you have to make it sound good”
love this guy even more now
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Lisa Zimmerman says:
No, he got banged in the head by Sione Pouha during a practice before the Giants game. (Actually his description was “the temple.” They held him out of a couple of practices. He’s fine.
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oh ok… it was just really random, and I don’t like seeing the word concussion and Mangold in the same sentence.
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I really like Jenkins. He seems like the ideal teammate, he plays hard, has a great attitude but still keeps it in perspective. I’m so happy he decided to come back instead of retiring.
That picture of him literally putting Pitoitua on his back after he got injured says it all.
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Lisa, you are a blessing to this Blog. Very funny stuff. Your ability to be present, listen and engage are rarities in today’s world of media personality “journalism.”
I hope as the season starts, you supplement your serious Jet articles with light ones like these. More than the canned bio pieces, we learn from you ability to connect with these guys and share things in a journalistic (i.e., unbiased) fashion.
Harlan
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“Then everything went downhill from there but then we got married and it’s all good.”
LMAO!!! I Literally Laughed Out Loud When I Read That.
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Jenkins is a man..if he plays 16 games..the jets will be historically dominant.
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I love how psyched KJ is this year…he is ready to explode this year…alot of pent up football in him….
ill never forget a play last year, where on the snap.. he stood straight up… took his left arm and straight clubbed the guy across the shoulder…and knocked a grown man down to the floor…BEAST
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lol..i forget who it was…lol but either way…pure BEAST thatshould be well respected…i think it may have been buff.
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Kris Jenkins will be doing an Autograph Signing on Tuesday, September 21st at Sports Express at the Livingston Mall in New Jersey from 6 – 8pm. Tickets are $35 and you can bring your own item to get signed or purchase something there. Call Sports Express at (973) 535-6477 for tickets – here is the link to the event: http://www.facebook.com/Jets#!/event.php?eid=129263407096237
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Jenking fireman carry was one of the coolest things i have seen a team mate in the 300 bills + category ever do ……….both of them.
If Shakespeare ever needed a nose tackle…