B.C. Lions quarterback Jonathon Jennings looks for a receiver during a CFL game in Calgary on, Nov. 15, 2015.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
Since he was a boy, Jonathon Jennings knew that if he was going to make it in football, it would be as a quarterback.
In Division II collegiate football, at Saginaw Valley State in Michigan, his arm and mobility attracted attention. He got some looks from NFL teams after college – but there was no job. Fate seemed to run against him, although his Christian faith gave him confidence. At his low, he worked for several months in an auto-parts warehouse.
Through Jennings's football purgatory of 2014, the B.C. Lions showed some interest. The team offered a contract for 2015 – starting with a show-me free-agent camp in Atlanta. When Jennings got his shot, he prospered. Last September, after injuries to others, Jennings became the starter. He was 23. He immediately delivered and hasn't relinquished the job since.
A month into this CFL season, Jennings leads a B.C. Lions squad that is atop the West Division for the first time since the end of 2012. The team had been in a multiyear downward spiral – and attendance at B.C. Place plunged by a third to 20,000. Jennings, the youngest starting quarterback in the league, is the long-sought promise of revival, with the potential to become one of the CFL's big new stars and lift the Lions back into contention.
"My faith," said Jennings of his driving force, in an interview after practice this week. "I believe God is in control. I believe that He had a plan and I just had to be patient."
Few CFL watchers had any faith in the Lions' potential this season – so B.C. at 3-1 and first place in the West is a surprise. The Lions face a considerable test on Friday night in Calgary, when the team takes on the Stampeders for the second time this season. A month ago, the Lions edged the Stamps 20-18 in Vancouver.
In the offseason, the Lions made a leap, deciding Jennings would be the starter and veteran Travis Lulay would be the backup. Wally Buono was returning to the sidelines as a coach, five years after his 2011 Grey Cup championship and retirement. Buono's faith has been rewarded. In Jennings's past start – only his 11th of his pro career – the quarterback put up his best game, throwing for 429 yards and three touchdowns in a 40-27 win over Saskatchewan.
Buono, like Jennings, has a deep Christian faith. Buono sees a quiet leader, one who leads by example, in Jennings, who turned 24 last week. Anointing Jennings the starter was a big-time bet by Buono, who at 66 has taken on the challenge of turning around a floundering football team.
"He's not a loud individual," said Buono of Jennings. "His persona is humility. There's a lot of ways to lead people. In the first Calgary game, he got the crap beat out of him. He sucked it up. He took the punishment. That, to me, is part of being a leader."
Jennings grew up in Columbus, Ohio, and comes from a family of leaders. His grandfather, Charles Jennings, was bishop of the Union Tabernacle of God in Columbus. His father, Calvin Jennings, is a deacon in the church and recently retired as a letter carrier from the U.S. Postal Service.
Football, and playing quarterback, was Jonathon Jennings's love since boyhood. "He always could throw the ball pretty good," said Calvin Jennings. In high school, however, injuries reduced the time Jonathan had at the position. He didn't have any Division I quarterback offers, so he went to Division II.
"I knew all my life that quarterback was what was going to get me somewhere," Jonathon Jennings said. "My arm."
The period between college and the Lions was difficult. "He was down a little bit," Calvin Jennings said. "He knew he was good but I don't think a lot of people got a chance to see that."
Jennings stands six feet, short for a NFL quarterback, but he bears a resemblance, in stature, playing style, and personal comportment, to QB Russell Wilson, who at 5-foot-11 became a surprise star for the Seattle Seahawks.
The Lions hope Jennings can do the same in Vancouver.
"He's somebody that can make something out of nothing," said teammate Solomon Elimimian, the linebacker who was CFL MVP in 2014. "As a defender that's always dangerous. He can use his feet to get him out of trouble and he can throw the ball anywhere on the field."
"I was enamoured by the kid," said player agent Bardia Ghahremani of first seeing Jennings. Ghahremani eventually signed Jennings on as a client. "I like the way he plays. He's a gunslinger. He's got that mentality of chucking it up and making a play."
Jennings is the latest young quarterback to make his mark in the CFL, following Zach Collaros (in Toronto, and then Hamilton) and Calgary's Bo Levi Mitchell. But veterans remain prominent. Last year's MVP was Ottawa's Henry Burris, at 40. This year's leading passer is 31-year-old Mike Reilly in Edmonton (a former Lions backup).
Jennings has significant ground to cover. On Friday night, he squares off against Mitchell, one of the most successful young quarterbacks in CFL history: in his first 38 regular-season starts, Mitchell is 30-7-1. Jennings is 6-4 in his first 10.
"I have faith in myself," Jennings said. "I believe I can be a long-term starter."