Bretsky
03-30-2007, 10:14 PM
THOUGHT I'D SHARE INTERESTING TIDBITS OUT OF AN RECENT WAYNE SIMMONS ARTICLE GIVING THIS GUY HIS DUE
Wayne Simmons grew up with his mom struggling through poverty. The house was heated with a wood stove. For household warmth, as a teenager Wayne would take an ax into the nearby woods, chop down a tree, drag it home, and then chop and splinter the wood. One day at 12, Wayne came home to his crying mother. She had no money, and told Wayne she felt it best to put him up for adoption.
Wayne would hear nothing of it; he promised his mother that if she would get him though this one day he would take care of her.
Wayne did just that. As a Green Bay Packer, Simmons was more than a football player to his teammates. With his outgoing personality, and propensity for practical jokes, he helped keep the locker room loose and always had plenty of friends on and off the team. He's mimic everybody around him and always had people in stitches.
But off the field Simmons was no angel. He liked to drink, drive fast, spend his money, listen to loud music, and date multiple women. "IF you didn't know him, you'd think he was crazy. But he was the most loyal individual I'd ever met", said Derrick Mayes.
Reggie White was at the opposite end of the spectrum, which is why they sometimes clashed. Before one game, while on the IR, Wayne Simmons had his boom box blasting before a game, and Reggie told him to turn it down. Simmons and White began to argue, and as the issue blew out of proportion the two began to wrestle and were separated by teammates. The next day all was forgotten.
Harry Sydney commented" Simmons backed down from nobody; those two gained mutual respect for each other."
Simmons also inspired White at times during games. Pepper Burgess commented" You knew when Reggie was Mad during the game because he'd tell us to cut the tape off his hands and then he'd go tear it up".
During the Super Bowl against New England, Mayes stated that Wayne Simmons was cussing Reggie White out in the huddle to try to motivate him after he played the first half with no sacks and no tackles. Immediately after Simmons talk, White stormed over to Pepper Vurruss and had the tape cut off, freeing up his hands and arms for an all out attack on Drew Bledsoe. White went on to have three sacks in the fourth quarter.
Simmons didn't mind confrontation and fed off the challenge. In the 1997 Packers Media Guide, he stated, "When I line up accross from you, I will destroy you and I will crush you." And that exemplifies Wayne Simmons on the playing field.
Simmons liked living and playing in Green Bay; he didn't mind the cold. He bought a house in Green Bay and shared a very close relationship with defensive coordinator Fritz Shurmur. Linebackers coach Bov Valesente also was fond of Simmons and stated, Once he got his hands on a tight end, he could rag doll him. He had a quick twitch about him. He could play in the nickel because he had the speed to cover. He had all the tools and he had great attitude and disposition in the locker room.
There seemed to be only one big downside to Simmon's Green Bay experience, but it was one that proved to be his undoing. He liked everything about Green Bay except Mike Holmgren. Maybe the source of his uneasy relationship with Holmgren was the impersonation of the often Stoic Holmgren that Simmons use to do for his teammates. "He had everybody in stitches. The only one who didn't like it was Mike. Wayne was light and carefree. Mike was serious."
Holmgren didn't have patience for players that made mistakes off the field, and Simmons didn't help himself in that regard. He received a DWI in 1997, and then was accused, but never charged of sexually assaulting an 18 year old. That may have sealed his fate.
Despite resigning Simmons after that occurance after Simmons could not find a suitor, Green Bay traded Simmons six games into the 1998 season to KC for a fifth round draft pick. While Holmgren may not have been sorry to see Simmons go, Fritz Shurmur cried as seeing the player he treated like a son, leave. "He could take the dimmest of days and uplift everybody" linebacker Keith McKenzie told reporters after Simmons left.
Harry Sydney, who left coaching in 1999, said the Packers immediately missed Simmons and in 2005 still hadn't found his equal. "He has not been replaces since he left. He was the true nasty, mean, hard core physical presence."
Simmons life wasn't the same after he left Green Bay. In 1998 in a Monday night game against Denver, he was part of a defense that had five personal fouls in one drive that led to a touchdown.....he was made to be a scapegoat the next day when he was cut.
But that incident exposed one trait, and that was his mean temper. He was signed by Buffalo to finish that season, and then retired after that season.
In 1999 Simmons decided to return to KC and open a good sized restaurant and night club. The nightclub, 50/50 on Main, was a struggle.
Despite consistent crowds lined up around the block to get in, he struggled to make any money. One time, he opened the safe only to find several thousand dollars missing. Then in February of 2002, Simmons showed up to find all of the clubs expensive sound equipment gone. Only a few of his employees and best friends had keys to the restaurant, and he was again taken advantage of. The club closed in 2002.
The theft also extended to Simmons personal property. He once returned from a regular vacation to find everything in his apartment gone. Neighbors stated they believed he was moving as a Mayflower truck pulled up and cleared everything out. While nothing could be proved, only a few of his friends knew he was going to be out of town that week.
In the summer of 2002, Simmonds told his mother he was coming home to South Carolina. Unfortunately he never made it. On August 23rd, after a night out drinking, Simmons was speeding and driving recklessly in his Green Mercedec Benz and lost control of his auto at about 2:45 am.
The death left close friend Tom Gardo sad, but not shocked. Simmons had started drinking often again. He didn't have a death wish, but if he told me once he told me several times that he was not going to live a long life.
"I need to live now", Gardo quoted Simmons
Wayne Simmons grew up with his mom struggling through poverty. The house was heated with a wood stove. For household warmth, as a teenager Wayne would take an ax into the nearby woods, chop down a tree, drag it home, and then chop and splinter the wood. One day at 12, Wayne came home to his crying mother. She had no money, and told Wayne she felt it best to put him up for adoption.
Wayne would hear nothing of it; he promised his mother that if she would get him though this one day he would take care of her.
Wayne did just that. As a Green Bay Packer, Simmons was more than a football player to his teammates. With his outgoing personality, and propensity for practical jokes, he helped keep the locker room loose and always had plenty of friends on and off the team. He's mimic everybody around him and always had people in stitches.
But off the field Simmons was no angel. He liked to drink, drive fast, spend his money, listen to loud music, and date multiple women. "IF you didn't know him, you'd think he was crazy. But he was the most loyal individual I'd ever met", said Derrick Mayes.
Reggie White was at the opposite end of the spectrum, which is why they sometimes clashed. Before one game, while on the IR, Wayne Simmons had his boom box blasting before a game, and Reggie told him to turn it down. Simmons and White began to argue, and as the issue blew out of proportion the two began to wrestle and were separated by teammates. The next day all was forgotten.
Harry Sydney commented" Simmons backed down from nobody; those two gained mutual respect for each other."
Simmons also inspired White at times during games. Pepper Burgess commented" You knew when Reggie was Mad during the game because he'd tell us to cut the tape off his hands and then he'd go tear it up".
During the Super Bowl against New England, Mayes stated that Wayne Simmons was cussing Reggie White out in the huddle to try to motivate him after he played the first half with no sacks and no tackles. Immediately after Simmons talk, White stormed over to Pepper Vurruss and had the tape cut off, freeing up his hands and arms for an all out attack on Drew Bledsoe. White went on to have three sacks in the fourth quarter.
Simmons didn't mind confrontation and fed off the challenge. In the 1997 Packers Media Guide, he stated, "When I line up accross from you, I will destroy you and I will crush you." And that exemplifies Wayne Simmons on the playing field.
Simmons liked living and playing in Green Bay; he didn't mind the cold. He bought a house in Green Bay and shared a very close relationship with defensive coordinator Fritz Shurmur. Linebackers coach Bov Valesente also was fond of Simmons and stated, Once he got his hands on a tight end, he could rag doll him. He had a quick twitch about him. He could play in the nickel because he had the speed to cover. He had all the tools and he had great attitude and disposition in the locker room.
There seemed to be only one big downside to Simmon's Green Bay experience, but it was one that proved to be his undoing. He liked everything about Green Bay except Mike Holmgren. Maybe the source of his uneasy relationship with Holmgren was the impersonation of the often Stoic Holmgren that Simmons use to do for his teammates. "He had everybody in stitches. The only one who didn't like it was Mike. Wayne was light and carefree. Mike was serious."
Holmgren didn't have patience for players that made mistakes off the field, and Simmons didn't help himself in that regard. He received a DWI in 1997, and then was accused, but never charged of sexually assaulting an 18 year old. That may have sealed his fate.
Despite resigning Simmons after that occurance after Simmons could not find a suitor, Green Bay traded Simmons six games into the 1998 season to KC for a fifth round draft pick. While Holmgren may not have been sorry to see Simmons go, Fritz Shurmur cried as seeing the player he treated like a son, leave. "He could take the dimmest of days and uplift everybody" linebacker Keith McKenzie told reporters after Simmons left.
Harry Sydney, who left coaching in 1999, said the Packers immediately missed Simmons and in 2005 still hadn't found his equal. "He has not been replaces since he left. He was the true nasty, mean, hard core physical presence."
Simmons life wasn't the same after he left Green Bay. In 1998 in a Monday night game against Denver, he was part of a defense that had five personal fouls in one drive that led to a touchdown.....he was made to be a scapegoat the next day when he was cut.
But that incident exposed one trait, and that was his mean temper. He was signed by Buffalo to finish that season, and then retired after that season.
In 1999 Simmons decided to return to KC and open a good sized restaurant and night club. The nightclub, 50/50 on Main, was a struggle.
Despite consistent crowds lined up around the block to get in, he struggled to make any money. One time, he opened the safe only to find several thousand dollars missing. Then in February of 2002, Simmons showed up to find all of the clubs expensive sound equipment gone. Only a few of his employees and best friends had keys to the restaurant, and he was again taken advantage of. The club closed in 2002.
The theft also extended to Simmons personal property. He once returned from a regular vacation to find everything in his apartment gone. Neighbors stated they believed he was moving as a Mayflower truck pulled up and cleared everything out. While nothing could be proved, only a few of his friends knew he was going to be out of town that week.
In the summer of 2002, Simmonds told his mother he was coming home to South Carolina. Unfortunately he never made it. On August 23rd, after a night out drinking, Simmons was speeding and driving recklessly in his Green Mercedec Benz and lost control of his auto at about 2:45 am.
The death left close friend Tom Gardo sad, but not shocked. Simmons had started drinking often again. He didn't have a death wish, but if he told me once he told me several times that he was not going to live a long life.
"I need to live now", Gardo quoted Simmons