American college football player (1919–1986)
Darold Jenkins (June 6, 1919 – September 16, 1986) was an American college football center. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1976.[1]
Biography
Jenkins first joined Don Faurot's Missouri Tigers as a fullback, spending most of his time on the bench.[2] By mid way through his junior year, Jenkins had taken over as the starting center and went on to earn All Big Six Conference honors that season.[2][3]
In 1941, as a senior, Jenkins captained Missouri to a Big Six Conference Championship and an appearance in the Sugar Bowl against the Fordham Rams.[1] Jenkins again earned All Big Six Conference honors and became the first Tiger to earn consensus All-America honors.[1][2]
After college, Jenkins was a bomber pilot in World War II.[3] Flying his 27th mission, he was shot down and spent 17 months in a Nazi Germany POW camp.[3]
Upon his discharge from the military, Jenkins went to law school, becoming a practicing attorney in 1952, eventually working for the Missouri State Highway Commission.[1] He died September 16, 1986.[1]
Legacy
Faurot said of Jenkins, "I would put him on my all-time Missouri team. He is fine on the field and off. Works just as hard in practices as in a game. And he is just as good on offense as defense. You must remember the center is a main cog in our quick breaking T formation."[2]
Jenkins was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 1971,[4] the College Football Hall of Fame in 1976,[1] and was a member of the inaugural class inducted into the University of Missouri Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame in 1990.[3]
Jenkins was also named to the Missouri All-Homecoming Centennial Team in 2011.[5]
References
External links
