OSU Hall of Famer Jenkins shares secret to success
“My passion is storytelling,” Malcolm Jenkins said. “It’s how history is maintained, it’s how inspiration is drawn, it’s how connections are made, it’s how reconciliation happens – the art of storytelling.”
The former Ohio State defensive back, who runs his own charity, believes this passion for storytelling has made him a successful advocate for the underprivileged: He shared their narratives rather than relay dry data.
“It doesn’t penetrate as much as telling a story,” he said. “We’re talking about people’s lives.”
It’s why he co-founded the production company Listen Up Media.
“We’ve been making documentaries,” Jenkins said, before mentioning one of the most recent, “Black Boys,” which is streaming on Amazon Prime.
It’s also why he’s become a serious art collector.
“I’ve been, over the last year and a half, driving all over the world, hanging out with artists, collecting pieces,” he said. “That’s just been fascinating to me, because it is another form of storytelling, the way a painter can, with every stroke, say something different.”
But there’s an irony: Jenkins didn’t believe he had told his own tale.
“As an athlete, my whole life other people have been telling my story for me, or you’re reduced to the platforms of social media or your weekly or daily media availability at your locker,” he said.
That changed with the release of “What Winners Won’t Tell You: Lessons from a Legendary Defender.”
“As I reflect back on my career and think about my daughters ... and even the people that I know follow me and look up to me, I figured that it was better that I tell my own story, write my own book, and contextualize my life and the 13 years I played in the NFL,” Jenkins said.
He starts his book by describing the morning he retired from his professional career, which was spent with the Saints and Eagles. Following that, he narrates his life through a series of non-linear anecdotes.
“I wrote every word in it,” he said. “It was a project that was literally a labor of love, having to go back and interrogate my own experiences, my own beliefs, and figure out exactly what moments in my life made the difference.”
Of course, the fact that Jenkins was an All-american at Ohio State, just inducted into the school’s hall of fame last weekend, a first-round draft pick, a three-time Pro Bowl pick, and the only player with Super Bowl victories against Hall of Fame quarterbacks Tom Brady (who wrote the book’s forward) and Peyton Manning are all mentioned. But that’s not what Jenkins hopes is the book’s biggest takeaway.
“We put winners on such a high pedestal, people that we believe are successful,” he said. “Only realistically for me, it was just a process. In that maturation, there were plenty of failures along the way. There were times when I had a ton of doubt. I had to battle mental health issues. I had breakups in my family, things with finances, navigating the business of life and sports, but still was able to navigate it and find myself as a champion – and not only on the field, but in every endeavor. And I feel like that success is open and available to everyone if they see that in themselves.”
He also wrote this book as a thank you.
“It was important for me to showcase that the people who gave me my strength or taught me how to fight or pushed me back into the fire to toughen me up were women,” he said. “My family is run by a matriarchy. My mom, I talk about my grandmother a lot, who made me go back outside to fight a bully. And people wonder why I’m such a fierce defender and speak my mind.”
And there are two young women, daughters Elle, 9, and Selah Nola Jenkins, 5, he especially kept in mind when writing.
“As a man who everyone is revering, I have stood on the backs and shoulders of some amazing women,” Jenkins said. “So (the book) is paying homage to them, but also painting the picture to my daughters of who I am, who contributed to who I am and hopefully opening up their minds to who they can be.”
Jenkins said he’s still discovering who he can be. He started his book with the end of his NFL career because he wanted to confront the question of “what’s next?” What isn’t in question is he’s excited about the possibilities, given that he’s the one writing the next chapter.