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Throughout his NFL career, Rashad Jennings has dedicated accomplishments to his father Albert. Now, as a contestant on Dancing With the Stars, he does the same. Rashad Jennings was raised by his father Albert and Albert’s wife, Rashad’s mother Deborah. Rashad actually gets his football skills from his father who had a scholarship offer to the University of Nebraska, but turned it down to provide for his family and join the U.S. Air Force.
Suffering from diabetes, Albert Jennings had to have both of his legs amputated. This is one of the reasons that his son Rashad wants to dedicate his dancing on DWTS to his dad. Rashad told Entertainment Tonight:
I should have never, ever, ever, ever made it to the NFL. So, to be in a position where I’m dancing with Dancing With the Stars on ABC, this is just — I’m still shocked. I want to dedicate a song to my father. Both of his legs had to be amputated, so for me to be able to dance for him, it’s just like when I think about playing football. My father doesn’t have legs, so I get to run, for him. Obviously he can’t dance, so to be able to dance for him I think would be every emotional for me.
Rashad Jennings grew up asthmatic and would see his father Albert smoking and drinking. Rashad would ask his father to stop doing both, and Albert would say:
My dad used to smoke a lot and drink all the time.
According to Entertainment Tonight, because of Albert’s comments about smoking and drinking, Rashad abstained from both throughout his life.
In addition to having supportive parents, Rashad Jennings also has two older brothers named Bryan and Butch. Rashad told the Giants that:
They’re 10 and 13 years older than me so I was the, ‘Whoops, here we go again,’ baby. I was almost like an only kid. They gave me crap, but it helped me because you played with your brothers and they never took it easy on me and beat me pretty good. Whenever I played with them and then went to play with my age group I got a chance to dominate. They were always hard on me. Hard love, good lessons, good teachers, mentors in my life. Two people I looked up to that happened to be my brothers.
Rashad continued:
My mother is the best mom in the world – hard worker, always had a smile on her face, optimistic, God-fearing. We have a big family, I’m an uncle nine times, I have six uncles, four aunts. We’ve got a big, big family.
For more information on Dancing With the Stars this season:
