Central Michigan University Athletics
NFL Veteran And Former Chippewa Pays A Visit
3/28/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - Keeping a positive attitude, staying healthy, focusing on goals.
Simple, basic, but not always easy. If it was, everybody would do it.
That was the message Cullen Jenkins delivered to members of the Central Michigan football team when he addressed the Chippewas after practice at the Indoor Athletic Complex.
"Just appreciate the whole process, don't have regrets," said Jenkins, who played at CMU from 1999-2002 and just completed his 13th season in the NFL. "I know what it's like to have to wake up every morning and go through spring, fall and winter conditioning and all that.
"Things like that you'll appreciate later on in life. Those are the values that you're taught -- to work hard and do things that others aren't willing to do. That will separate you from other people."
The soft-spoken Jenkins had a rapt audience comprising current CMU players, who gathered around him at the 50-yard line in the turf bay after a spring practice session.
A man with his pedigree commands a certain level of respect, particularly when one considers the long and winding path on which football has taken Jenkins, who was far from a blue chip prospect coming out of Belleville High School in suburban Detroit and signed with the Green Bay Packers as an undrafted free agent.
As a high school senior in 1998, Jenkins suffered an ankle injury that severely curtailed his playing time at Belleville. He had just one Division I scholarship offer, and that came from CMU and only after another potential signee walked away from the Chippewas at the 11th hour.
Like most freshmen, Jenkins started at the bottom, playing scout team and on special teams. By his sophomore year, he was starting at defensive end.
He signed with the Packers in 2002, but did not land a roster spot until two years later, after he was cut, joined an Arena League team, went back to Packers training, and was sent to play in Europe.
Jenkins spent seven years with the Packers, two with the Philadelphia Eagles, and just completed his third with the New York Giants. It was in Green Bay that Jenkins connected with current CMU coach John Bonamego, who at the time was a Packers assistant.
When Bonamego was named the Chippewas' coach 13 months ago, Jenkins took note.
"I hadn't been up here in about 13 years, since I left college," Jenkins said from the indoor practice facility. "When I was out in Green Bay and Bono was one of my coaches, he would always talk about being a former Chippewa and how he still loved this place.
"Bono is a great coach and a good friend. I have a lot of respect for him, so when I heard he got the head coaching job here I reached out to him and I wanted to come back."
Jenkins said he likes what he has seen out of the Bonamego-led Chippewas, and he added that there is a good vibe around the program.
"It's just the feel, the atmosphere, that he's brought back here," said Jenkins, 35. "He's starting to get more of a feeling in the community, and it's not just about being the football team at a university. He's bringing it back and making it something bigger than that. I think he's done a great job in his first year.
"I walk in here and see him leading the practice and watching how the players work and how he interacts with them. It's a great feeling."
Jenkins is an anomaly among professional football players. He is 35 and has logged 13 years in the NFL. He is well beyond the median age and his career has lasted more than three times the average.
Part of his message to the current crop of Chippewas was about taking steps to remain healthy and about constantly working to get better. And, being patient and waiting for the right opportunity, as he did in finally breaking in with Green Bay.
"Whenever the opportunity comes take advantage of that," said Jenkins, who has played in 332 NFL games, starting 229 of them, and has logged 47 ½ career sacks. "Constantly improving, constantly learning, being smart, because you can't get satisfied, you have to keep trying to improve yourself.
"You can't let the weight get too high. As you get older it gets harder to bring it back down. You need to keep your body in shape. The extra weight will kill you."
