Jenkins awaits word from missing father
By JASON WILDE
jwilde@espnwisconsin.com
IRVING, Texas Cullen Jenkins voice quavered, his eyes cast down toward the floor. Super Bowl week is supposed to be full of happy, inspiring stories. And maybe this one will end happily, too.
But maybe it wont. And thats what the Green Bay Packers veteran defensive end is afraid of.
On Sunday, Jenkins will play in Super Bowl XLV against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and he doesnt know if his father will be there. Because he doesn't know where his father, the man who raised him as a single parent, is.
We just havent heard from him, Jenkins said Wednesday morning at the Packers team hotel. He went out to Hawaii and we havent heard from him since he went out there. Its been a little over a month.
And thats not like Darome Jenkins, the man who raised not one but two NFL stars all by himself in Ypsilanti, Mich. Cullens older brother Kris, a three-time All-Pro and four-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle now with the New York Jets, and Cullen, who entered the league as an undrafted free agent but has grown into one of the leagues premier interior pass rushers.
It was just me, my dad and Kris growing up. So we were very close, Jenkins said. He worked a lot to take care of us. And he did a good job of it.
You get a little worried, you know? You wonder if hes all right.
Darome gained full custody of Kris and Cullen when Cullen was just 10 months old, just after getting his graduate degree from Eastern Michigan, where hed played football as an undergrad. He got them both involved in team sports as a way to keep them out of trouble, and football turned out to be so much more than a diversion.
"I'm proud of them not because they're football players, I'm proud of them as men," Darome, a former high-school football coach, said in an interview with the Ann Arbor News in July 2003, when he was working as a middle-school drama teacher. I'm happy for them as football players. I'm glad that they were able to achieve success at a sport they enjoy doing. But I'm just proud of the fact that they're men that take care of their children. That's what makes me proud of them."
As much as was made of the Packers silly team photo/Twitter flap last week, with the national media trying to turn it into the mother of all Super Bowl distractions, it was nothing close to that. This, on the other hand, at least for one player, could be a major distraction.
Hes mentally tough, but were watching him, talking to him, seeing how hes feeling, said fellow defensive end Ryan Pickett, one of Jenkins closest friends on the team.
Jenkins said his dad moved to Hawaii awhile ago but comes back to the mainland every so often, usually in the summertime. The last time he heard from his dad was right around Christmas, and the last time he called his father, he learned his cell phone had been disconnected.
Its not normal, Jenkins said.
The situation with his father is just the latest challenge Jenkins has faced this season. He broke his left hand in the Sept. 12 regular-season opener at Philadelphia and had to play with a bulky cast until mid-November. Then, he aggravated a calf injury he originally suffered in pregame warm-ups on Oct. 24, forcing him to miss the final four regular-season games.
Its been a tough year, Jenkins said. Theres been a lot going on.
Nevertheless, he finished the regular season second on the team in sacks with seven in only 11 games, returning to action for the Packers NFC Wild Card over the Philadelphia Eagles on Jan. 9. He was credited with two quarterback hits on Atlantas Matt Ryan in the teams NFC Divisional Playoff victory over the Falcons on Jan. 15, then had two more including a half-sack on Chicagos Jay Cutler in the Packers NFC Championship Game victory over the Chicago Bears.
Now, theres reason to wonder how the situation could affect the otherwise steady Jenkins, who did not want to speculate on what mightve happened to his dad.
Luckily, this isnt a 22-year-old, 23-year-old trying to do this. Hes an older guy, hes been around a little bit, defensive line coach Mike Trgovac said Wednesday. Let me just tell you this much (about) Cullen: There are certain players that maybe have some problems like youre talking about with his dad and the injuries but when they get on the football field, thats what they love, thats what they live for, thats their life. Thats when they're able to get into their zone, their own little place.
Thats the way Cullen is, too. When he gets on that football field and theres been times when I get on him about you need to practice harder here or you need to do this better -- when he gets on that football field, what you can count on is 100 percent. Hes very bright; he doesnt make a lot of mistakes. Youre going to get 100 percent of him, no matter what the distractions are. I think guys like that, thats kind of the easy part of what they have to do. They get in there and thats when they feel the most comfortable.
Jenkins has set aside a Super Bowl ticket for his dad as of Wednesday, he was deciding whether to leave it at the will-call window or give it to one of his other family members who will attend the game. He first brought up the situation with his father during Tuesdays Media Day, hoping his father might see a story about him and realize what he was missing.
I have a ticket for him still that Ive been saving, keeping it just in case I hear from him or do hear anything before the game, said Jenkins, whose wife Pashun and daughters Jasmin and Ashanti are scheduled to arrive Thursday and will attend the game, along with Jenkins in-laws and other family. He hasnt told his daughters that their grandfather is missing.
Its a tough situation, but youve just got to try not to think about it too much. Just focus on everything else and try to stay busy with everything else. Obviously youre concerned for his safety, concerned about how he is, his state, everything. Weve just got to wait and let it play itself out. Theres nothing much I can do from right here.