SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — A.J. Jenkins got called “E.T.” as a kid for his conspicuously large hands and long fingers. He didn’t mind then, and now he relishes the nickname. He could palm a basketball by age 12, and those hands have served him well ever since.
On Friday, when the San Francisco 49ers formally introduced their first-round wide receiver chosen 30th overall out of Illinois, Jenkins juggled a football for photographers and spun it on the ground right over the large SF at the 50-yard line of one of the team’s practice fields.
He beamed while holding up his new red No. 17 Niners jersey. When asked why that number after wearing No. 8, Jenkins quipped, “Seven plus one is eight.”
Jenkins is set to graduate with a sports management degree May 13.
