Malcom Jenkins at all times had an eye fixed for element. The former Eagles star is utilizing that expertise as a photographer.

Malcolm Jenkins was a two-time Super Bowl champion and three-time Pro Bowler, and this November he will likely be inducted into the Eagles Hall of Fame. He prided himself on taking part in any place defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz requested him to, whether or not it was slot nook, linebacker, or security.

That versatility was seen as an asset, however solely on the sphere. Still, soccer was by no means Jenkins’ complete id. He had different hobbies — poetry and artwork, for instance — and pursued them in his free time.

In school, that various strategy was met with skepticism by NFL scouts. It was a “knock” towards him, one thing that traveled along with his profile as he moved all through the league.

“The rap on me was that I was a great leader, a phenomenal player, and had all of the skills,” Jenkins stated. “The only question mark was if I was going to be coachable enough, because I was really smart. And that I had other interests off the field.

“It was like, ‘Are we going to be able to control this guy, essentially?’”

For some time, Jenkins tried to stick to that code. He hid his passions. He caught to soccer. But later in his profession, he began to talk out about social points. He shared extra aspects of his life, like his artwork assortment, and commenced writing op-eds.

Now, in retirement, Jenkins is placing his versatility on full show. He runs a charity, The Malcolm Jenkins Foundation. He has a bourbon line. He collects artwork, writes a Substack, and owns a media firm. This Sunday, Jenkins will likely be on the Eagles’ sideline, not as a participant or coach, however as a photographer. The record of initiatives is dizzying. But Jenkins is grateful for all of them.

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“I feel alive when I’m learning new things,” he stated. “I’m really energized by it. It’s very comfortable for me, because that’s literally what football was. You play the game, you evaluate the game, you prepare for the next one. And it’s a different opponent every week.

“That’s really how I’m approaching life. What are these different areas? What am I afraid of? What do I need to work on? What’s my plan to do it, attack it, review it, keep going?”

Blending creativity and soccer

Jenkins has at all times been a voracious learner. He bought this high quality from his father, Lee, who inspired his son to not assume something; to at all times attempt to grasp the why.

It was a lesson that was strengthened all through the previous security’s childhood in Piscataway, N.J. Even although he was on the “conveyer belt” of elite highschool soccer, he was additionally uncovered to a various array of actions.

His aunt, Cynthia Vaughn, was an artist. Her work adorned the partitions of Jenkins’ childhood residence, and over time, he grew to understand it. When he was at Piscataway High School, he took a artistic writing class, and located that he gravitated to poetry, specifically.

One day, a trainer pulled him apart, and complimented him on his writing.

“I was really excited,” Jenkins stated, “so I continued to do it.”

After Jenkins enrolled at Ohio State in 2005, he realized that others have been skeptical of his non-football pursuits.

Early on, a public relations staffer requested if he had any enjoyable details to incorporate within the media information. He informed them about his poetry.

It was shoehorned right into a bullet level, however nobody delved any deeper than that.

“I used to write poetry all the time, and people always saw it as a gimmick,” he stated. “Kind of like, like ‘Oh, wow, you write poetry as well as playing football. That’s so cute.’”

Jenkins determined to maintain his creative aspect to himself, and continued to take action when he was chosen by the Saints within the first spherical of the 2009 NFL draft.

He debuted in a special media surroundings than there may be right now. Players didn’t have podcasts. They didn’t submit photographs of themselves strolling into the stadium, to point out off their sense of trend.

If you had different pursuits, past soccer, you needed to again it up on the sphere, or else it might be seen as a hindrance, Jenkins stated. That included your private life, too.

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As a younger Saints cornerback, Jenkins witnessed operating again Reggie Bush getting hounded by the media about his relationship with Kim Kardashian. It served as a cautionary story.

“There was a lot of hype around him,” Jenkins stated. “And when you are doing things like that, the pressure is that you must perform and be almost the best at what you do.

“And if not, all of those things quickly get turned into distractions. ‘You’re not focused.’ You can have interests, but you better be damn good.”

Nevertheless, Jenkins knew that there have been athletes who have been capable of stability each. Larry Fitzgerald was one among them. In July 2009, the then-Cardinals broad receiver invited the rookie defender to Minnesota to coach with him earlier than the upcoming NFL season.

He peppered Fitzgerald with questions on his health routine, his food plan, and his routine. But in addition they talked about his life off the sphere.

Fitzgerald collected artwork. He traveled the world through the NFL offseason, and captured his adventures via pictures.

Jenkins was shocked to listen to this. He couldn’t imagine {that a} perennial Pro Bowler had the bandwidth to concentrate to something exterior of his sport.

“It made me look at my situation differently,” he stated. “I’m like, ‘Hold on, here’s a guy who is at the top of his game, the peak of his career, and is still finding time for himself, for leisure, for exploration.

“How are you structuring your life so that you can effectively handle all of these different things? I was definitely inspired by him, and a few others, who were balancing a lot but weren’t necessarily broadcasting it.”

Marques Colston was one other affect on Jenkins. He remembers flying on the crew aircraft, returning to New Orleans from an away sport, and seeing the Saints broad receiver on his laptop computer, poring over excel spreadsheets.

Colston later went on to launch his personal funding agency, amongst different enterprise enterprises.

“While [our teammates] were sleeping, he was working,” Jenkins stated. “It was like, ‘OK, that’s what it takes to do more than everybody else.’”

Setting an instance

As Jenkins constructed his soccer profession, in New Orleans and Philadelphia, he at all times stored this duality in thoughts. But he wished to verify he was established sufficient, as a participant, to totally pursue and share it.

That time lastly got here in 2016, when Jenkins was in his third season with the Eagles. In August of that yr, 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick took a knee whereas the nationwide anthem was taking part in forward of a preseason sport, to protest police violence towards Black Americans.

A number of weeks later, Jenkins and three of his teammates joined in, elevating their fists in a message of solidarity.

The security solely turned extra expressive after that. He co-founded the Players Coalition in 2017. One day, as a substitute of taking questions within the locker room, he held up indicators with messages concerning the inequities and injustices of American life.

“That was the catalyst to me using the public platform as my medium,” he stated. “It was also the point of time in which I realized that storytelling is probably the most effective way to approach that change.”

Gradually, Jenkins started to share extra about himself. He based a media firm, Listen Up Media, in 2018. After he retired, in 2022, he began collecting art and invested in a Philadelphia Millstone Spirits Group, with the intention of elevating whiskey sourced by Black and brown farmers.

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In 2024, he dove into pictures, and this yr, he created a Substack. Jenkins is aware of these actions may appear disparate; random, even. But in his thoughts, they’re all linked.

It’s about storytelling. About speaking chance, not simply to the subsequent technology of athletes, however to underserved communities.

This is the place his foundation is available in. Its premise is to teach children on monetary literacy, in addition to different profession pathways they may pursue, whether or not or not it’s artwork, whiskey, poetry, or one thing solely totally different.

“We want to expand where we promote value,” he stated. “Because before it was, either you’re an athlete, or an entertainer, or a doctor, or a lawyer. And it’s like, if you’re not one of those things, then essentially you bring no value to the community.

“And I think that that narrative is a dated one. One that I’m not really trying to prove wrong through argument, but through example.”

‘What aren’t you doing?’

Last yr, when Jenkins was on trip along with his children, he introduced his Canon digicam, and commenced to shoot photos he discovered compelling.

The observe was much less about outcomes, and extra about self-exploration. He’d study his photographs after the actual fact, and would attempt to perceive why he gravitated to sure topics within the first place.

Buildings, as an illustration. He at all times liked photographs of buildings, and by no means knew why, till a dialog along with his father in March.

He discovered that Lee Jenkins had once dreamed of being an architect. The father informed his son that not one of the white companies would rent him, so he turned a software program engineer, as a substitute.

All of a sudden, Jenkins’ curiosity in towering buildings made sense.

“I think a lot of times, we don’t have the time to just stop and self-scout,” he stated. “And that’s a tool I learned playing football. You study yourself because you know the opponent is studying you. And now there is no opponent. It’s just me.

“I get to know myself a little bit better by just asking those questions. Where does this particular thing come from? And lo and behold, I find my dad’s old architecture plans.

“It’s not by happenstance. There’s an actual connection and a language here, a thread to pull on. And so those things are exciting. Because when you’re so singularly focused on just the game, you don’t develop the other parts of you.”

He immersed himself in pictures this yr, upgrading his digicam to a Sony A1 Mark II, whereas intently finding out YouTube tutorials.

Jenkins additionally started going out within the discipline. It began with a Union-Inter Miami sport in May. Then, he photographed Jets and Eagles coaching camp in August, and the Saints-49ers sport in New Orleans final Sunday.

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This Sunday, he’ll stroll onto Lincoln Financial Field in a photographer’s vest, with a credential round his neck, because the Eagles tackle the Los Angeles Rams.

“It’s to the point now where … I’m surprised that nobody’s surprised,” he stated. “They’re caught off guard a little bit with the vest and stuff. But then it’s like, ‘You’re always trying something new. What aren’t you doing?’”

Jenkins has had alternatives to pursue different fields, like broadcasting, which are extra typical of a retired NFL participant. He would possibly attempt that sooner or later. Or perhaps he’ll attempt teaching.

But for now, he’s content material with the place he’s: studying loads, and difficult himself each step of the way in which.

“I think it’s scary for me to not be challenged,” he stated. “And that’s not to say that broadcasting or coaching wouldn’t be challenging. I just think that there are many avenues right now that aren’t good timing.

“Right now, I need to train every aspect of my vision, my ability to plan, my ability to convene people. All of those self-scout things. Then, if I do step into any of these other arenas, I’m able to do it in a way that is uniquely me. I can show up and be passionate, because I didn’t sacrifice any of that growth, for the comfort of doing something familiar.”