Yesterday, free agent wide receiver and two-time Pro Bowler Greg Jennings spent April Fools' trolling his 328,000+ Twitter followers. After originally posting tweets about a "Done deal" and telling social media that he was going to break the news of where he's signing at 10 p.m. PST, the former Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings star instead ended up tweeting a video of his kids saying "April Fools'!"
Gotcha, Internet.
Although at this point it's almost certain Greg wishes news of him signing with a team wasn't a joke, the veteran wideout seems to be taking his current unemployment in stride. He's a family man through and through, and with four young kids it's safe to say none of his time these days is free time.
Where he will eventually end up none of us knows, but we recently chopped it up with Mr. Put The Team On His Back to talk about free agency along with everything from guaranteed contracts to Kendrick Lamar.
Interview by Maurice Peebles (@tallmaurice)
You're a devout Christian, happily married father of four who enjoys golf, charity functions, and achieving goals through consistency and hard work. For this interview, can I make you, like, a gang member? Give you drug ties of some kind?
[Laughs.]
As a clean-cut NFL player, have you found that to work to your advantage or something you’ve had to overcome in a certain way to gain publicity?
No, it’s definitely worked to my advantage because I think when you look at your—I don’t want to say typical but I’m going to use that for lack of a better word—your typical NFL player, people can generally just categorize them. Because most come, look the same, have the same things to offer, etc. Myself I try to differentiate from that because I bring certain levels of integrity to the table that—not that some don’t—but it’s just really hard to find the genuine & integrative young men in this game.
I’m sure that helps you a lot since teams are looking for someone in the locker room that could be that model for the younger players.
For sure, it definitely helps with teams because they’re looking for high character guys. Those guys can become leaders and influence the young guys [and] can kind of leave that stamp in the locker room. If you don’t have those kind of guys in your locker room then you’ll never know who’s going to be that voice—that coach in the locker room trying to preach the [head] coach’s point and getting guys to buy in.
The media circuit in NYC today has been awesome! On to the next interview! pic.twitter.com/ZYeYak1gUV
— Greg Jennings (@GregJennings) March 17, 2015I've heard that a lot—in NBA locker rooms, too. Someone said recently that the reason the Spurs are successful isn’t because of Greg Pop, but because of the players that are the core in the locker room, that guys like you have to be that messenger. Is it true that players checking the other players trumps the coach barking from afar?
It definitely trumps the coach. If you have a coach who is going to be straightforward and is a no-nonsense guy, he’s much more respected than that guy that is going to give into [players] and give this treatment to this guy and that treatment to that guy. Now everybody has to be treated differently but with the same type of rules and regulations but its definitely the players with the most influence. If I’m working with you and I’m your boss and I tell you to do something but you really don’t want to do it, its your peers, your colleagues that you have to sit down at a desk with everyday and say, “Hey Mark, I think we can make it work. Lets just do it.” That’s going to carry more of a weight and an influence on you and it's going to kind of allow you to do your work without looking at the coach saying, “Man, I’m not listening to him.”
A big story this offseason is [49ers linebacker] Chris Borland retiring after one year. I’m guessing you’re getting asked this question a lot recently but as someone who’s in between teams, how much has [retirement] crossed your mind from a health perspective?
I don’t think people really understand the magnitude of the toll that the physical beating takes on your life and the aftermath that it has.
It hasn’t crossed my mind from a health aspect but it definitely has crossed my mind to say whether or not this is it. But not from a health aspect just because I’ve had success [and] I’ve experienced a lot. Individual accolades. Team accolades. The whole nine and so me, it’s really all about finding the best fit and what works well for me and my family. But to Borland's deal, I really think it’s great that you have a group of young guys that have stood up and said, “You know what? I’m done. Football is not going to make me. It’s definitely not going to break me. I’m done putting my health in jeopardy.” I don’t think people really understand the magnitude of the toll that the physical beating takes on your life and the aftermath that it has.
I guess to that end, where do you sort of see the future of the NFL? They have to take steps continually to keep the game safe enough for human beings to play. Do you ever see a time where the NFL becomes some sort of touch or flag football or [completely eliminates] tackling?
You know, I’m not sure. With the way everyone is starting to perceive the game, there are definitely changes that will continue to be made and I think the league is doing a good job of trying to make those changes without taking away the important aspects of the game that make it so different, that make fans enjoy it so much. But from a player’s perspective, you’re going to start seeing a lot more players that are thinking more along those lines of health and their future versus right now because of the guys that are being affected, that have played this game for so long.
Switching gears a little bit, if you could give us normals, us non-professional athletes, one nutritional piece of advice, what would it be? I mean, you’re in immaculate shape; you’re a professional athlete. For people who don’t have the opportunity to workout everyday, what is one nutritional trick that you could give?
Regulate the eating. It’s not even so much of what you eat; it’s the intake and the meals per day. You will feel completely different if you kind of space your meals between a two-to-three hour window. For instance: breakfast, a snack two or three hours afterwards. Lunch, a snack two or three hours afterwards. Dinner and then a snack at the end. It’s important and you will feel that your energy will be different. Your awareness will be different. You won't have that spiking in [energy]. Some, not all of the sugars, but a lot of those sugars are unnecessary [and] spike you. Coffee is one that spikes and then you crash. Just regulate that eating and be more consistent. Everyone thinks you have to eat perfect. "You can’t eat burgers; you can’t eat pizza." That’s not the case. It’s just the portion sizes and how you space out your meals.
Name a style mistake that you see common among NFL players.
A style mistake? Woohoo! Aw, man...I’m setting myself up here. [I think it's] the whole—everyone’s trying to wear the glasses. Sometimes, they just don’t fit you. Glasses, and then bow ties and ties. Like there’s a time when an outfit works and a time it doesn’t. Everybody has their own little deal, but the trend of the glasses? That’s not for everybody. I wear sunglasses, some shades from time to time, but you’re not going to see me in the glasses.
1.
As a fan of the NFL, it always struck me as strange that NFL contracts are so one-sided. The idea of signing an agreement with someone else where that person can up and say, “Actually I don’t agree with my side and that’s that,” always seemed weird. Do you foresee a future where NFL players are getting fully guaranteed contracts? Do you think the future of the NFL is a player who can have a two-sided contract?
I hope so. I hope so. I think that that would change a lot of guys' minds when it comes to playing the game. You’re wanting me to put my life at risk every time I put that helmet, shoulder pads, and equipment on but you can’t guarantee that I’ll get paid for it? That’s a problem and so I don’t think the NFL and the owners really understand [or] see that as a problem. But eventually I think it’s going to definitely catch up with them. Every other sport their contracts are guaranteed and they’re able to live out their contracts. Yes, it is a performance-based league. We get it. Totally understand. But everyone wants to know that they have a guaranteed opportunity to make whatever amount of money, whether it's here in corporate America or [as an athlete]. You go to work at ease; you get a better result because no one’s playing with that pressure of, “Man, I may not be here next week,” “I may not be here next year,” or whatever the case may be.
Rihanna or Beyoncé?
Beyoncé.
Kanye or Kendrick?
Wooo! I’m going to go with...Kanye is a little bit—I’m going to go with Kanye. I’m going with Kanye. Yeah. Kendrick is…definitely everybody’s raving about Kendrick right now, but I’m going to go with Kanye.
