Jordan Jenkins, Former Georgia Outside Linebacker, Tells Story Behind Deformed Pinky

Jordan Jenkins is a senior linebacker out of the University of Georgia. He's taking part in college's annual Senior Bowl, looking to bolster his stock for the upcoming NFL Draft. Naturally, everything in his metaphorical locker is being closely examined. That means his pinky, too. Which, according to the spec sheet handed out to scouts, is deformed. Something Jenkins has no qualms talking about. 

"It was like the day after Christmas, the first year [I lived] in Georgia, 2006, and I was stomping down on the garbage," began Jenkins, when speaking to reporters after a practice on Wednesday. "The garbage can slipped out from under me, I fell and hit a rail, and it just cut me. It took it clear off right at the knuckle."

Ouch! Just hearing that evokes all the feels of nails scraping down a chalkboard. But that was just the half of it.

"When it got cut off, the nerve endings got severed so I didn't feel anything," he continued. "I just remember running into my dad's room screaming, going 110 [mph on the way]. The cops pulled us over but then gave us an escort to the hospital. It was about a 20, 25-minute drive."

A nerve wrecking experience, to be sure. But there was more.

"They had to grind down the bone and stretch the skin back over it," Jenkins concluded.

Naturally, people--scouts, pundits, and fans alike--have the tendency to liken Jenkins' situation with Jason Pierre-Paul, the New York Giants star defensive end who injured his hand in a fireworks accident on July 4, resulting in the loss of his index finger.

However, unlike Pierre-Paul, Jenkins has been without part of his finger for almost half his life. The freak accident happened with he was 12. He's more than adjusted to life without all of his fingers, and has obviously excelled since then. Furthermore, it is a pinky, so it doesn't play as pivotal a role as an index finger would at his position. If here were a skill player, perhaps. But he's not, he's a linebacker.

He's also versatile. While his most likely position in the NFL would be an outside linebacker, he has experience playing defensive end as well. It's that versatility, paired with his quickness, strength, and ability to shoot the gap, that has Jenkins projected as a 2nd to 3rd round pick.