Waiting to see which team may choose him during the 2016 NFL Draft in Jordan Jenkins' Harris County, Georgia, home was like Family Feud without Steve Harvey.
"My uncle Malik was one of the biggest Jet fans his whole life, and my mom actually was not a big fan of the Jets, initially, because my uncle loved them so much," Jenkins laughed. "Before the draft, he had said, 'Watch, Jordan's going to go to the Jets.' And she was telling him, 'No, no, no.' She wanted me to go somewhere close so she could always visit.
"And my mom had made cupcakes with all the NFL teams on it, so we were just waiting to eat the right cupcake. She kept having to slap my dad's hands away from trying to get out the cupcakes too early."
The family could finally eat after Jenkins, a linebacker from the University of Georgia, was picked by the Jets in the third round.
"When I got the call, it just was a full circle moment," Jenkins said. "(Jets head coach Todd) Bowles had come to the Georgia Pro Day and after the workout he said, 'I'll be seeing you later.' And I just thought it was the same run-of-the-mill talk, 'Yeah, I'll be seeing you later.' Like in the league or whatever. And when I got the call from Bowles, he said, 'I told you I'd be seeing you later, man.'
"It was one of the greatest moments of my life. And then the funnier moment, my mom was crying when I got drafted. 'I don't want him to go to New York.' And then after about five minutes, she sort of calmed down and was like, 'Oh, wait, he just got drafted.' It finally settled in. But it was an awesome night."
Not the only linebacker selected by the Jets, Jenkins was joining the team along with Ohio State's Darron Lee, who was the first-round pick. And while the spotlight may have been a little dimmer, Jenkins was determined to be sharing the stage.
"I wanted to just prove that I could play more so than ever," he said. "When D-Lee got drafted, we ended up becoming good friends, but I remember I was like, 'Dang, I thought T.B. and the boys, I thought they were going to come for me. And then when D-Lee got drafted, I was like, 'Alright, it's pretty much me and D-Lee.'
"Coming in the third round, I knew he's going to get his time, but I wanted to get out there too. I didn't want to be the only other guy or other linebacker on defense in the same class not really playing. So I sort of took it as motivation to try and work to get out there at the same time as him."
After a calf injury prevented him from playing in the first two games, the rookie would work his way not only onto the field, but into the starting lineup for 11 games. He stayed there the following season and earned the AFC Defensive Player of the Week Award because of his performance during the Week 9 Thursday night game against Buffalo when he sacked Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor twice and forced a fumble during a 34-21 victory.
"Mike Caldwell, the inside linebackers coach, he used to call me Bulldog because I love my (Georgia Bull) dogs," Jenkins said. "And he said, 'Now, Bulldog, just know the first play of the game, Tyrod Taylor, he loves to run boot, he loves to run play action, be on your watch.'
"Sure enough, the first play of the game, and I almost didn't believe it, I took like a 45-, 50-degree angle rushing off the edge and then almost bit on the fake. And then I saw Tyrod roll out, and I was trying to hit him with my body. I took a bad angle and tried to swing him down and I almost lost the sack. I had to grab him by his jersey. But from then on, I was like, 'Oh, hell yeah, let's go! Let's keep it going!'
"And then on another play, I was coming from the right side and didn't think I was going to get there when I saw Tyrod running out of the pocket. I remember diving at him, hitting him, then looking up and seeing the ball fly out, and us running it back."
With the Jets for five seasons, 2016-20, Jenkins was in on 189 tackles, had 22.5 sacks – leading the team with seven in 2018 and eight the following season – forced seven fumbles and recovered five. But he was unfortunate in that he never experienced a winning season.
"In my high school days, I think in my junior year we won three games in football and five games in basketball. Schools scheduled us for a lot of homecoming games and senior nights. So I was like, 'I'm going to go out there and, excuse my French, bust their ass and make them remember me. And it just sort of stuck with me," Jenkins said.
"You can't just take any plays off or let yourself get too down just because things aren't going your way. I just wanted to try and be part of the class that changed the Jets narrative. We had a lot of guys trying, a lot of guys fighting. It just was in those five years, we tried, and I tried my hardest, but we just couldn't change things around. That was one of my goals that I wanted to do just because winning in New York is a really good feeling. And the fans deserved it.
"I wanted to be one of the ones that was a part of the ones to change it, but things just didn't go our way. That was one of the regrets I had during my time for the Jets."
Now making his home in suburban Atlanta, Jenkins has gotten into real estate with properties in Georgia and Nevada. He has also founded a charity called The Harboring Change Initiative, which is partnered with the Plummer Home in Columbus, Georgia. It's a nonprofit that helps and offers transitional housing to homeless veterans.
"It's two homes with three to four vets sometimes living in one room. It's all a shared space, and I know veterans want some privacy," Jenkins said. "And I was like, 'Why don't I get involved?' So I bought two homes, the home next door and one up the street. They're single-family homes, duplexes, four units in total, dedicated towards the veterans in my hometown.
"We'll get the VA vouchers and get some vets in just to sort of help them get the rental history that they might need to get into the apartment or to get the house they want. I just want to come in and really sort of help be that change.
"And now I have my own charity to sort of get involved with transitional housing for the vets, and then eventually branch out to helping out some of the kids and some of the lower-income areas. We've got two more homes that we're trying to get phased in in October. I just had to send over all my papers to my lawyer just to make sure I'm doing everything legally and all my i's are dotted and all my t's are crossed."
And when Jenkins, an "Army brat," sees that he's making a difference in someone's life…
"It means that much and more," he said. "When I started playing, I got cut in football and basketball in seventh grade. And I worked and everything, but always thought, 'Why did I get the scholarship? Why did I get the chance to play? Why did I get this? Why did I get that?'
"And this past year, I started helping out with a (college) teammate, Tae Crowder, helping him get some stuff lined up, and I realized I sort of like doing that. And then when I went down to Columbus and saw some of the homes there, it just hit me deep because I got a lot of blessings in my life, and now I just want to be able to bless other people and give somebody a second chance.
"It takes a lot to say that you're homeless and to get yourself in that position to have the mental force to just be able to say that out loud. A lot of times, not a lot of people can come to Christ with that. I just want to come in and be their second chance to get back in there, because that's all they really need. I just want to be a blessing in someone's life."
