Outside the Game: Green Bay’s Greg Jennings relishes his role as ‘Mr. Mom’

Green Bay Packers receiver Greg Jennings plays in the tough-guy world of professional football, but he's learned to keep in touch with his feminine side at home. Until his wife, Nicole, recently gave birth to the family's first son, Jennings went home every day to a house of girls.

"Having girls, and coming home and trying to be that hardcore shell dad ... that doesn't really work," Jennings recently told Yahoo! Sports. "I really had to adapt to my environment."

Now suitably adapted, the seven-year NFL veteran, selected in the second round of the 2006 NFL Draft out of Western Michigan, enjoys his time as "Mr. Mom."

"I just call it 'being dad,'" he said. Jennings did bristle a bit as his wife's description of him as a Martha Stewart type.

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"Mommy put that one on me. I've changed diapers, I've been pooped on, been vomited on -- I've had the whole thing happen. I get them dressed in the morning. I've done hair, homework ... pretty much everything."

In the larger sense, Jennings firmly believes in the importance of these little tasks.

"I want them to know that Daddy's always going to be here," he said. "Although Daddy's gone a lot because of work or what have you -- when Daddy's home, Daddy's all in."

To that end, Jennings started having tea parties with his daughters. He uses those to more easily and comfortably open dialogue with his kids, and he's not above putting on a silly hat or two in order to facilitate that process.

"They love tea parties," he said. "They love anything that's engaging with everybody. Everybody can pour, and drink, and he a part of the discussion. It's fun."

There's also a lot of dancing going on in the Jennings household. Teammate Donald Driver was the one on "Dancing With the Stars," but Jennings has his own thing set up quite nicely.

"If we had a substitute last name, it would be 'Jennings Dancers," he said. "There's so much dancing that takes place in this house. At some point, it's like, 'Seriously -- is that all you want to do? But kids are hilarious. They bring the life to the family."

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There's also the matter of keeping the marriage vital.

"We love to go on dates, just her and I, excluding the kids. Simply because it gives us the time to have dialogue, talk about what we're doing during the week, and catch up."

Jennings understands that NFL fame is fleeting -- and family is forever.

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