NFL RB Rashad Jennings Returns to Liberty University to Help Youth
Rashad Jennings, the NFL player turned "Dancing With The Stars" winner, is staying connected to his Christian college roots while helping kids realize their own football playing dreams.
The 32-year-old NFL free agent running back who won the coveted mirror ball trophy on "Dancing With The Stars" in May returned to Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. Jennings is a Virginia native, who attended high school at Lynchburg Christian Academy before spending his college years at Liberty.
Last weekend, he returned to his alma mater to host football camps for kids through his Rashad Jennings Foundation. More than just returning to his Christian college to help develop his hometown youth, Jennings spoke about the impact of giving back to his hometown.
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"It is extremely important for me to give back to my hometown. I say this all the time: There is nothing special about me, I just find myself in a special position," Jennings said, according to Liberty University News. "... I know what it is like to grow up here, to struggle here, and to be successful coming out of here. Every time I come back, I am rejuvenated, I am refreshed, because it reminds me why I work so hard."
He went on to add, "Anytime that I can unmask myself and utilize everything to magnify the things that I should, I want to do that."
Since being drafted out of Liberty in 2009 by the Jacksonville Jaguars, Jennings has returned to Liberty University for visits throughout the years. Last year, he delivered a commencement speech at the university where he spoke to graduates about their faith being tested.
"Throughout life, you will be tested to walk with biblical truth, tested to have patience with Christ-like tolerance, and tested with temptation to hold your spiritual fortitude and your convictions, remembering that it is by and for a Holy God that you stand or fall," he told the graduates. "And He is able to make you stand."
For Jennings, faith is a huge part of life. According to the running back who is hoping to play in his ninth NFL season, he will continue to give to others when God gives to him.
"My faith is the reason I can always have a smile on my face. God gives, God can take," he said in a previous CBN report. "As long as He keeps giving to me, I am going to keep finding ways to use it and give back. It's hard for me to take credit for anything successful that I have done because I have always had people that are praying for me, believing in me, before I even knew who I was."
