Walking down the tunnel heading to the visitors' locker room inside Bank of America Stadium, shoulder to shoulder with Peyton Manning ... not exactly what Tim Jennings envisioned he would be doing a few years ago.

But, there he was Sunday in Charlotte, and just in case you missed it, "Tiny Tim," isn't so tiny anymore. Well, he's not big -- he stands just 5-8 and weighs 185 pounds -- but check his status. The former Orangeburg-Wilkinson standout is a second-year pro with the Indianapolis Colts, and last year he added a little bling to his jewelry collection in the form of a Super Bowl ring. Think that's impressive? If so, you're not alone.

Not a morning passes that Tim Jennings doesn't wake up, look in the mirror, and smile.

"Everyday I wake up I thank God for giving me this opportunity," Jennings said. "I give thanks for that because, hey, I get to go out and work and practice with the best. This really is a dream come true."

A second round pick of the Colts a season ago, Jennings was active for 11 games during his rookie campaign but struggled with injuries and was held to just two tackles. This season is a different story. The Colts didn't resign veteran corners Nick Harper and Jason David in the offseason, making room for Jennings, Kelvin Hayden and Marlin Jackson to get more .jpg.

Jackson and Hayden took over the starting spots, but Jennings has made an impact as well by becoming a top special teams performer for the defending champions while also serving as the team's nickel back. It's been a crazy transition for the kid who -- at just over 5-feet tall and at around an estimated 150 pounds as a freshman in high school -- declined to come out for the O-W football team because he felt he was too small. Now, he's a key contributor on a unit where some of the game's biggest collisions take place.

"(Special teams) takes everything I have," he said. "It's like an organized car crash out there. You have all these big people that like to run around and hit people for fun. I don't really know what the thrill is."

No thrills, just results. He has 13 special teams tackles for the Colts, and his performance has drawn praise from Colts' head coach Tony Dungy.

"Tim is doing really well for us," Dungy said after Sunday's 31-7 win over Carolina.

In Sunday's game, Jennings' first snap on defense came against Carolina All-Pro wide receiver Steve Smith. The result -- pass interference, number 23 (that's Tim), defense. But, Jennings atoned for that play, filling in for Jackson when he went down with a shoulder injury, and matching up against Smith, who finished with just two catches, several times over the course of the game.

"It was a great challenge," Jennings said. "Steve Smith is a great receiver, a Pro Bowler, but you look forward to that challenge. That's what it is all about. That's why I play this game...for the challenge. The only thing he can do is make you better. I went out there and played my game."

So, if you are not the biggest guy in the world, if you are the little guy that everybody doubts, how do you get to Bank of America Stadium on a Sunday, lined up across from a Pro Bowl wide receiver? You work hard. You take everything everybody ever says about you, all the doubts about the size, and turn it into motivation, that's how.

"I was fueled by guys that didn't really know too much about Tim Jennings," he said. "I wanted to be one of the guys you hear about, but I had to work harder than the guy in front of me. I had to do a little bit of extra work. I just always had to work to make myself a little bit better. It's been a tough task, but I've been dealing with it all through my life.

"Nobody thought that I would make it to a big college," he said. "So, when I got the opportunity to go to (the University of Georgia) I took it. The guys there were bigger and stronger than me, and that made me work harder. It was just people thinking that I couldn't do it. An underdog that makes it...that's what they do. That's how it's always been for me, and I am pretty sure it's always going to be like that until I am done with this game."

Despite his success and budding career, Jennings has managed to stay grounded. There were those that doubted him in Orangeburg, but he's quick to add that there were people who supported him all the way through. This is where -- with encouragement from his older brother Jay Jennings -- he first picked up the sport of football. And, this is where he comes back to more often than not.

Only now, when "Tiny Tim" comes back, he does so with a little bounce in his step.

"It feels real good," he said. "Not just the fact that I have proven people wrong, but the fact that I am making a name for myself and my family. You know, they can say, 'Tim is really doing something with himself.'

"A lot of people doubted me," he continued. "And, they can say, 'You really doubted that guy but look at him now.'"

T&D Sports Editor Brian Linder can be reached via e-mail at blinder@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5553. Check out his blog, Welcome to Linderland, at www.thetandd.com.

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