A continuation of the Packer Receivers of History series. To read the articles you missed, go to the Packer Receivers of History category page.
There is a ton of controversy surrounding Greg Jennings right now. Frankly, there will always be controversy surround a player who “defects” from the Packers and joins the hated Vikings.
That said, what Jennings did when he was a Packer puts him in the conversation with other top Packer receivers. Jennings was drafted in the second round of the 2006 draft out of Western Michigan University. He made some noise right off the bat generating 632 yards his rookie season and scoring three touchdowns.
Greg only spent two years on the receiving end of Brett Favre’s passes. In those two seasons, Jennings caught 98 Brett Favre passes for 1552 yards. The bulk of his catches came at the receiving end of Aaron Rodgers passes.
Over the course of his career, Jennings teamed with Donald Driver as one of the most dynamic receiving duos in the NFL. In 2008 and 2009 both Jennings and Driver had 1,000 yard seasons.
Jennings was one of only five Packer receivers to have three back-to-back seasons of 1,000 yards or more. In 2008 he had 1292 yards receiving, in 2009 Jennings had 1113 yards receiving, and in 2010 (the recent Super Bowl year) Jennings generated 1265 yards.
Jennings was the recipient of Brett Favre’s 400th touchdown as well as both Brett’s Marino-tying record and the touchdown that eclipsed Dan Marino’s record.
Jennings played 10 games in the playoffs. In those 10 games he had 50 receptions for 673 yards and 6 touchdowns. In Super Bowl XLV caught four passes for 64 yards and scored 2 touchdowns in the Packers 13th championship.
A groin surgery in 2012 forced Jennings to only play 8 games. But, more than that, it signaled the beginning of the end for Jennings’ career. Jennings insisted on getting #1 receiver pay but Ted Thompson and the Packers organization knew that he had hit the decline in his career and refused to pay that kind of money.
In the end, Greg Jennings had played 96 games for the Green Bay Packers, generated 6537 yards in receiving, and contributed 53 touchdowns to the Packers effort to bring the Lombardi trophy home.
The way Jennings left the Packers was severely lacking in class, but while he was with the team he was lights out.