Jauan Jennings becomes just second player to throw TD, catch TD in Super Bowl
Football fans watching Super Bowl LVIII Sunday night found out what Tennessee football fans have known for years. Jauan Jennings is a dog.
The former Tennessee receiver, nicknamed “The Dog” during his career with the Vols, threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Christian McCaffrey in the first half to give the San Francisco 49ers a 10-0 lead, then caught a 10-yard touchdown pass to give the Niners a 16-13 lead with 11:22 left in the fourth quarter.
Pulled a magic trick in Vegas!#SBLVIII on CBS#FTTB pic.twitter.com/WBF0V073SN
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) February 12, 2024
Jennings is just the second player in Super Bowl history to both throw and catch a touchdown pass, joining former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles.
Foles threw a touchdown and caught a touchdown on the “Philly Special” play in Super Bowl LII as the Eagles beat the New England Patriots 41-33.
Jennings posted career highs with 35 catches on 56 targets for 416 yards and a touchdown in 16 games in 2022 and caught five touchdowns as a rookie in 16 games in 2021, catching 24 passes on 38 targets for 282 yards.
Have a day, JJ.
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) February 12, 2024
📺 CBS#FTTB x #SBLVIII pic.twitter.com/gYpqnh4CEC
A former seventh-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, Jennings is in his third year with the 49ers. He caught 19 passes for 265 yards and a touchdown in 13 games during the regular season.
He was selected at No. 217 overall by the 49ers in 2020, signing a four-year, $3.41 million contract. He was cut by San Francisco in September 2020, then protected by the franchise the following December. He signed a Reserve/Future contract with the Niners in January 2021.
In a five-year career at Tennessee, the Murfreesboro native caught 146 passes for 2,153 yards and 18 touchdowns. He capped off his career with highs in receptions (59), yards (969) and touchdowns catches (8) during his redshirt senior season in 2019. He added 13 rushes for 51 yards and another score on the ground.
San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan in January 2022 described Jennings’ style of play as “playing about 95 percent blacked out.”
“Jauan, he’s going so hard,” Shanahan at the time, according to NBC Sports Bay Area. “He’s always borderline, I’d say 95 percent blacked out, which makes you play at a certain level, which is awesome.That (others) five percent,” Shanahan added, “he knows how to play within the lines and be smart about it.”
“When you see guys play that way and have that attitude,” Shanahan added, “it’s very inspiring and makes you enjoy football just being around him. I think that’s why people like watching him too.
“And he’s helped us a ton.”
