Emanuel E. "E. J." Jenkins (born November 3, 1998) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

for the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Saint Francis Red Flash The Saint Francis Red Flash are the 22 sports teams representing Saint Francis University in Loretto, Pennsylvania in intercollegiate athletics. The Red Flash competes in the NCAA Division I and are primary members of the Northeast Conference, wi ...

South Carolina Gamecocks The South Carolina Gamecocks represent the University of South Carolina in the NCAA Division I. The University of South Carolina uses "Gamecocks" as its official nickname and mascot. While the men's teams were traditionally known as the Fight ...

and

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets is the name used for all of the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The teams have also been nicknamed the ...

. He was signed by the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

in and has also been a member of the

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West ...

Early life

Jenkins was born on November 3, 1998, in

Fredericksburg, Virginia Fredericksburg is an Independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 27,982. It is south of Washington, D.C., and north of Richmond, Virginia, R ...

. He attended Chancellor High School where he played football and basketball, recording 44 receptions for 1,002 yards and 16

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

as a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

. He was named first-team all-conference and the ''

Free Lance-Star Free may refer to: Concept * Freedom, the ability to act or change without constraint or restriction * Emancipate, attaining civil and political rights or equality * Free (''gratis''), free of charge * Gratis versus libre, the difference betw ...

'' Male Athlete of the Year. He set five school receiving records, including for career receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. He was a three-star recruit and initially committed to play

for the

Old Dominion Monarchs The Old Dominion Monarchs are composed of 18 college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams representing Old Dominion University, located in Norfolk, Virginia. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, football, golf, s ...

, but later opted to play for the

, joining his friend and high school

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

Jason Brown.

College career

Jenkins

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

as a

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

at Saint Francis in 2017. The following year, he caught five passes for 52 yards. He had a breakout season in 2019, finishing with 39 catches for 779 yards while breaking the school record with 13 receiving touchdowns. He was named second-team All-

Northeast Conference The Northeast Conference (NEC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools are members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Teams in the NEC compete in Division I for all sports; football competes in the Division I Foo ...

(NEC) for his performance. Saint Francis canceled their 2020 season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Jenkins transferred to the

in 2021. He appeared in 12 games for the Gamecocks, totaling eight receptions for 117 yards. He entered the

NCAA transfer portal The NCAA transfer portal is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) application, database, and compliance tool created to manage and facilitate the process for student athletes seeking to transfer between member institutions. It is i ...

for a second time in 2022, ultimately transferring to the

. In his only season there, he appeared in all 12 games, starting 11, and recorded 17 catches for 316 yards along with three touchdowns. He was invited to the

Hula Bowl The Hula Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game held annually, usually in January. From inception through the 2021 playing, it was held in Hawaii; since the 2022 edition, it has been played in Orlando, Florida. The game was first s ...

at the conclusion of his collegiate career.

Professional career

New York Jets

Jenkins impressed at his

pro day The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

, but ultimately was not selected in the

2023 NFL draft The 2023 NFL draft was the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2023 NFL season, 2023 season. The NFL draft, draft was held outside of Kansas City Union Station, Union Station i ...

. He signed with the

as an

. He caught three passes for 23 yards during preseason, but was ultimately

waived A waiver is the voluntary relinquishment or surrender of some known right or privilege. A waiver is often written, such as a disclaimer that has been accepted, but it may also be spoken between two or more parties. When the right to hold a p ...

by the Jets at the final roster cuts, on August 29, 2023.

Philadelphia Eagles

On November 1, 2023, Jenkins was signed by the

to the

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

. He was released from the practice squad on November 14.

Las Vegas Raiders

Jenkins signed with the

to the practice squad on January 2, 2024, prior to the team's season finale. He was released on January 15.

Philadelphia Eagles (second stint)

Jenkins returned to the Eagles by signing a reserve/future contract with the team on January 18, 2024. He was waived on August 27, and re-signed to the practice squad. On December 7, Jenkins was promoted to the active roster. In Week 18 against the New York Giants Jenkins caught his first career catch and touchdown on a 7 yard pass from Tanner McKee. He won a Super Bowl championship when the Eagles defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 40–22 in Super Bowl LIX.

References

External links

Saint Francis Red Flash bioSouth Carolina Gamecocks bioGeorgia Tech Yellow Jackets bioPhiladelphia Eagles bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkins, E. J. 1998 births Living people American football tight ends Players of American football from Virginia Sportspeople from Fredericksburg, Virginia Saint Francis Red Flash football players South Carolina Gamecocks football players Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football players New York Jets players Philadelphia Eagles players Las Vegas Raiders players