Greg Jennings

Greg Jennings was born on September 21, 1983, in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He attended Kalamazoo Central High School, where he earned all-conference honors in football, basketball, and track. On the football field, he played wide receiver, running back, outside linebacker, and defensive back, lettering four times. As a senior, the Detroit Free Press ranked him 11th on its "Fab 50" list. In basketball, he finished seventh in Mr. Basketball of Michigan voting for 2000–01 and once scored a school-record 50 points in a loss to Benton Harbor. In track, he won the state long jump title at the 2001 MHSAA State LP-1 Championships with a leap of 6.67 meters, later posting a personal best of 6.92 meters. He also ran on the 4 × 100m (42.20) and 4 × 200m (1:28.50) relay teams.

At Western Michigan University, Jennings played for the Broncos and finished his college career with 238 receptions for 3,539 yards and 39 touchdowns. As a redshirt freshman, he broke an ankle bone and missed eight games, catching just 10 passes for 138 yards in the eight games he did play. In 2003, he was second on the team with 56 catches for 1,050 yards and 14 touchdowns, totaling 1,734 all-purpose yards and earning All-Mid-American Conference second-team honors.

The next year, he led the Broncos with 74 catches for 1,092 yards and 11 touchdowns, adding 1,415 all-purpose yards and a spot on the All-MAC team. In 2005, he led the nation with 98 receptions and 8.91 catches per game, posting 1,259 yards and 14 touchdowns, and was named MAC Offensive Player of the Year. His 5,093 all-purpose yards remain a WMU record and rank eighth in MAC history. He became just the 11th player in college football to gain over 1,000 yards in at least three seasons. Jennings graduated in 2010 after completing 16 credits through self-instructional classes.

The Green Bay Packers selected Jennings in the second round (52nd overall) of the 2006 NFL draft, and he signed a contract on July 24, 2006. Head coach Mike McCarthy named him a starting wide receiver alongside Donald Driver for the season opener, moving Robert Ferguson to the slot. Jennings led the NFL in receiving yardage during the 2006 preseason but had just one catch for five yards in his first regular-season game. On September 24, 2006, he caught a 75-yard touchdown pass from Brett Favre against the Detroit Lions—Favre’s 400th career touchdown pass, a milestone then reached only by Favre, Dan Marino, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Philip Rivers, and Aaron Rodgers.

That game also marked Jennings’s first 100-yard outing, finishing with three catches for 101 yards and a touchdown. He was voted NFL Rookie of the Week for games played September 24–25, 2006, the only time he earned that honor, and was named to the NFL All-Rookie team.

In 2007, Jennings caught a game-winning 57-yard touchdown from Favre with under two minutes left on September 23, beating the San Diego Chargers 31–24 at Lambeau Field and pushing the Packers to 3–0. It was Favre’s 420th career touchdown pass, tying him with Marino for the all-time record. The following week, on September 30, Jennings caught a 16-yard pass from Favre to open the scoring in a 23–16 win over the Minnesota Vikings, breaking the all-time touchdown pass record Favre had shared with Marino.

On October 29, he hauled in an 82-yard touchdown from Favre in overtime to beat the Denver Broncos 19–13, tying for the second-longest overtime touchdown in NFL history at the time. The next week, he caught the game-winning 60-yard touchdown pass to beat the Kansas City Chiefs. On November 29, against the Dallas Cowboys in a game broadcast on the NFL Network, Jennings caught the first touchdown pass ever thrown by quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

In 2008, Jennings collected 80 receptions for 1,292 yards and 9 touchdowns. On June 23, 2009, he signed a three-year extension worth $26.35 million, with $16 million guaranteed and an $11.25 million signing bonus. In the 2009 season opener on September 13, he caught a game-winning 50-yard pass from Aaron Rodgers on a third-and-two play-action fake to beat the Chicago Bears. During the Packers’ 2009 Wild Card game against the Arizona Cardinals, Jennings continued to produce. Over seven seasons with Green Bay, he earned two Pro Bowl selections and was part of the team that won Super Bowl XLV. He spent his final three NFL seasons with the Minnesota Vikings and Miami Dolphins. In 2022, he was inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame.

After retiring from football, Jennings moved into sports media. As of 2026, he appears as a recurring guest football analyst on Fox Sports 1’s First Things First.