Before playing professional football, Jenke was a minor league baseball player in the Boston Red Sox organization.

He served as captain of the 1968 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team,[1] which went 6–4 (5–2 in Big Ten games).

[5] In 120 career minor league games, he had a .241 batting average with 5 home runs and 35 RBIs.

[9] During the 1973 preseason, Jenke was released by the Falcons and signed onto the practice squad of the Green Bay Packers.

[6] Jenke began the 1974 season on Green Bay's injured reserve list, was added to their active roster in late October,[11] and appeared in eight games.