Ferris Jennings
Encyclopedia
Ferris Gordon Jennings was an American football
, baseball
and basketball
player. He played college football
at the quarterback
and safety positions for the University of Michigan
in 1934 and 1936. He was the starting quarterback for the 1934 Michigan Wolverines football team
. Jennings also played for the Michigan Wolverines men's basketball
and Michigan Wolverines baseball
teams between 1935 and 1937.
, and later in Ann Arbor, Michigan
. He attended Ann Arbor High School where he was selected as an all-state quarterback in 1932. He also received all-state honors in basketball.
. As a sophomore, he played for the 1934 Michigan Wolverines football team
. After a 16–0 loss to Michigan State
in the first game of the season, head coach Harry Kipke named Jennings as the team's starting quarterback. Jennings was the team's starting quarterback in the remaining seven games of the 1934 season. He also played at the safety position on defense.
Jennings began the 1934 season weighing 137 pounds, but boosted his weight to 140 pounds by the time he took over as the starting quarterback. Press coverage regularly referred to him as "Little Ferris Jennings." In its pre-season football review, one magazine wrote: "For contrast there's a little Ann Arbor boy, Ferris Jennings, who will be at least second choice for quarterback, weighing 137 pounds. This is not the ready-made team that Michigan boasted a year ago or two years ago."
Jimmy Donahue, a syndicated sportswriter for the Newspaper Enterprise Association, wrote: "Another miniature edition of a gridder brought Michigan out of the doldrums to victory over Georgia Tech recently. He is 140-pound Ferris Jennings, who was so far down on the list at the beginning of the season that Coach Harry Kipke forgot all about him -— until Renner's injury and casualties to other signal callers forced him to call out the rear guard. The sophomore turned into a sensation ..."
Jennings gained national acclaim when he scored the first touchdown of the year for Michigan in a 9–2 win over Georgia Tech
. Jennings returned a punt 66 yards for the game-winning touchdown. Jennings' touchdown against Georgia Tech proved to be the first of only two touchdown scored by the Wolverines during a 1934 season in which the team finished with a record of 1–7.
Jennings also won a reputation during the 1934 season as "a fearless and deadly tackler" on defense. One of the highlights of his 1934 season came in a loss to the 1934 Minnesota Golden Gophers national championship team. Jennings tackled the Gophers' 205-pound fullback Stan Kostka
in the open field, as he appeared to be headed for a touchdown. A newspaper account compared the force of Jennings' hit to "a pack of dynamite," and noted that "instead of the slight Michigan back being injured it was the big Kostka who was carried off the field, knocked out by the force of the tackle."
Jennings' center
on the 1934 team was Gerald Ford
who later became the 38th President of the United States
. In a 1994 interview, Ford described the impact on the 1934 team of losing starting quarterback William Renner
to injury:
As a junior in 1935, Jennings suffered a head injury after being kicked in the head while making a tackle in a pre-season scrimmage. Jennings missed the 1935 football season as a result of the injury. As the 1936 season got underway, one newspaper wrote that Michigan's "Game Guy" had returned to the football team: "Ferris Jennings the 'game guy' of Michigan football is back in uniform ... Jennings 140 pounds of nerve and determination was the hero of Michigan's 1934 season. Given his chance as quarterback Jennings made the most of a bad situation ... But it was as a defensive safety man that Jennings earned the appellation 'Game Guy.'"
in Urbana, Illinois
. He also served as the basketball coach at Urbana.
By the late 1940s, Jennings had begun a career working in the automotive industry in the Detroit area. On December 31, 1964, he married Ann J. Bitar. From the 1960s until the early 1980s, he was the general manager of Duggan Masking Devices, Inc., in Detroit. He lived in West Bloomfield, Michigan in his later years. In 1995, Jennings died at the age of 82 in West Bloomfield.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
, baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
and basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
player. He played college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
at the quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
and safety positions for the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
in 1934 and 1936. He was the starting quarterback for the 1934 Michigan Wolverines football team
1934 Michigan Wolverines football team
The 1934 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1934 college football season. The team's head coach was Harry G. Kipke...
. Jennings also played for the Michigan Wolverines men's basketball
Michigan Wolverines men's basketball
The Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team is the intercollegiate men's basketball program representing the University of Michigan. The school competes in the Big Ten Conference in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association . The Wolverines play home basketball games at the...
and Michigan Wolverines baseball
Michigan Wolverines baseball
The Michigan Wolverines baseball team represents the University of Michigan in NCAA Division I college baseball. Along with most other Michigan athletic teams, the baseball team participates in the Big Ten Conference...
teams between 1935 and 1937.
Early years
Jennings was born in Michigan in 1913. His father, Ray Floyd Jennings, was a public school teacher in Charlton Township, MichiganCharlton Township, Michigan
Charlton Township is a civil township of Otsego County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,330 at the 2000 census.- Communities :There are no incorporated municipalities in the township....
, and later in Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...
. He attended Ann Arbor High School where he was selected as an all-state quarterback in 1932. He also received all-state honors in basketball.
University of Michigan
In 1933, Jennings enrolled at the University of MichiganUniversity of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
. As a sophomore, he played for the 1934 Michigan Wolverines football team
1934 Michigan Wolverines football team
The 1934 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1934 college football season. The team's head coach was Harry G. Kipke...
. After a 16–0 loss to Michigan State
Michigan State Spartans football
The Michigan State Spartans football program represents Michigan State University in college football as members of the Big Ten Conference at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level...
in the first game of the season, head coach Harry Kipke named Jennings as the team's starting quarterback. Jennings was the team's starting quarterback in the remaining seven games of the 1934 season. He also played at the safety position on defense.
Jennings began the 1934 season weighing 137 pounds, but boosted his weight to 140 pounds by the time he took over as the starting quarterback. Press coverage regularly referred to him as "Little Ferris Jennings." In its pre-season football review, one magazine wrote: "For contrast there's a little Ann Arbor boy, Ferris Jennings, who will be at least second choice for quarterback, weighing 137 pounds. This is not the ready-made team that Michigan boasted a year ago or two years ago."
Jimmy Donahue, a syndicated sportswriter for the Newspaper Enterprise Association, wrote: "Another miniature edition of a gridder brought Michigan out of the doldrums to victory over Georgia Tech recently. He is 140-pound Ferris Jennings, who was so far down on the list at the beginning of the season that Coach Harry Kipke forgot all about him -— until Renner's injury and casualties to other signal callers forced him to call out the rear guard. The sophomore turned into a sensation ..."
Jennings gained national acclaim when he scored the first touchdown of the year for Michigan in a 9–2 win over Georgia Tech
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football
The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team represents the Georgia Institute of Technology in collegiate level football. While the team is officially designated as the Yellow Jackets, it is also referred to as the Ramblin' Wreck. The Yellow Jackets are a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference...
. Jennings returned a punt 66 yards for the game-winning touchdown. Jennings' touchdown against Georgia Tech proved to be the first of only two touchdown scored by the Wolverines during a 1934 season in which the team finished with a record of 1–7.
Jennings also won a reputation during the 1934 season as "a fearless and deadly tackler" on defense. One of the highlights of his 1934 season came in a loss to the 1934 Minnesota Golden Gophers national championship team. Jennings tackled the Gophers' 205-pound fullback Stan Kostka
Stan Kostka
Stanislaus Clarence "Stan" Kostka was an American football fullback in the National Football League and later a college football coach....
in the open field, as he appeared to be headed for a touchdown. A newspaper account compared the force of Jennings' hit to "a pack of dynamite," and noted that "instead of the slight Michigan back being injured it was the big Kostka who was carried off the field, knocked out by the force of the tackle."
Jennings' center
Center (American football)
Center is a position in American football and Canadian football . The center is the innermost lineman of the offensive line on a football team's offense...
on the 1934 team was Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
who later became the 38th President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
. In a 1994 interview, Ford described the impact on the 1934 team of losing starting quarterback William Renner
William Renner
William Renner was an American football player. He played at the quarterback position for the University of Michigan teams from 1931 to 1935. He was a member of the undefeated national champion 1933 Michigan football team also the captain of the 1935 Michigan football team.-University of...
to injury:
"In '32 and '33, we were undefeated, and then in '34 we had a tough, tough year. In those years, our offense was called a punt, a pass, and a prayer. We had an outstanding passer, Bill Renner, who broke an ankle before the season started. Our punter, John Regeczi, was the greatest college punter I ever saw and he ruined his knee. All we had left was the prayer."
As a junior in 1935, Jennings suffered a head injury after being kicked in the head while making a tackle in a pre-season scrimmage. Jennings missed the 1935 football season as a result of the injury. As the 1936 season got underway, one newspaper wrote that Michigan's "Game Guy" had returned to the football team: "Ferris Jennings the 'game guy' of Michigan football is back in uniform ... Jennings 140 pounds of nerve and determination was the hero of Michigan's 1934 season. Given his chance as quarterback Jennings made the most of a bad situation ... But it was as a defensive safety man that Jennings earned the appellation 'Game Guy.'"
Coaching and later years
Jennings graduated from Michigan in 1938 with a bachelor of science degree in education. In August 1938, Jennings was hired as the football coach at Urbana High SchoolUrbana High School (Illinois)
-History:Urbana High School's current building was built in 1914. It was designed by architect Joseph Royer who also designed many other area buildings such as the Urbana Free Library and the Champaign County Court House...
in Urbana, Illinois
Urbana, Illinois
Urbana is the county seat of Champaign County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 41,250. Urbana is the tenth-most populous city in Illinois outside of the Chicago metropolitan area....
. He also served as the basketball coach at Urbana.
By the late 1940s, Jennings had begun a career working in the automotive industry in the Detroit area. On December 31, 1964, he married Ann J. Bitar. From the 1960s until the early 1980s, he was the general manager of Duggan Masking Devices, Inc., in Detroit. He lived in West Bloomfield, Michigan in his later years. In 1995, Jennings died at the age of 82 in West Bloomfield.