Iowa History Daily: On February 28, 1975, MarTay Jenkins was born. A standout on the gridiron at Des Moines North and North Iowa Area Community College, Jenkins went on to set several NFL records while playing for the Arizona Cardinals.
Born in Waterloo, Jenkins spent his adolescent years in Des Moines. Jenkins spent his freshman and sophomore years at Hoover before finishing his prep career at Des Moines North. A standout in football, basketball, and track, Jenkins ended up heading to Mason City to attend North Iowa Area Community College.
While at NIACC, Jenkins helped lead the Trojans to a 26-24 win against Rochester Community and Technical College in the 1995 RC Cola Bowl. Jenkins then transferred to University of Nebraska-Omaha where he excelled to rack up 67 receptions for 1,439 yards (21.5 avg.) and 12 touchdowns. The Dallas Cowboys selected Jenkins in the sixth round (193rd overall) of the 1999 NFL Draft.
When Dallas released Jenkins during the 2000 season, he ended up signing with the Arizona Cardinals. In 2000, he played in 16 games and finished with an NFL record of 2,186 kickoff return yards. On December 10, Jenkins broke three league records: the record for kickoff returns in a season, kickoff return yardage in a season, and combined kickoff and punt return yardage in a season. #IowaOTD #IowaHistoryDaily #IowaHistoryCalendar
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