Former Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Greg Jennings was a part of the 2018 class announced on Thursday for the Western Michigan Hall of Fame.
Before Kirk Cousins signed with the Minnesota Vikings this offseason, Greg Jennings was one of the team’s first big ticket free-agent additions under general manager Rick Spielman. Back in 2013, Jennings signed a five-year deal with the Vikings worth $47.5 million.
Minnesota had high hopes for the receiver, who spent his first seven seasons in the NFL with the Green Bay Packers. But the Vikings’s plans for Jennings didn’t exactly work out.
In 2013, he caught 68 passes for 804 yards and four touchdowns. His numbers from that season were actually pretty good considering Minnesota had three different quarterbacks start at least one game in 2013.
The following year, Jennings had to deal with a new head coach in Mike Zimmer, a new offensive coordinator in Norv Turner, and another season of the Vikings using three quarterbacks. The Minnesota receiver ended 2014 with 59 catches for 742 yards and six touchdowns.
Minnesota Vikings
Those totals would have been fine for Minnesota if the team was not paying Jennings a ton of money. But they were and the Vikings opted to release the receiver during the 2015 offseason.
After spending another year in the NFL, Jennings announced his retirement from the league in 2016. His time with Minnesota will likely be looked at as the beginning of the end for the receiver’s career in the NFL.
But before Jennings entered the league in 2006, he spent four years at Western Michigan University. On Thursday, the school announced that it was inducting the receiver into its Athletic Hall of Fame.
Jennings still holds multiple records at Western Michigan including his mark for most touchdown catches in a single game (four). At the school is where he was able to develop and evolve into the receiver that spent 10 years in the NFL.
Jennings is one of six former Western Michigan athletes in this year’s Hall of Fame class and the induction ceremony will take place on October 26. The receiver and the other 2018 inductees will also be honored during halftime of the school’s October 25 football game against Toledo.