Life After Football
After his NFL retirement, he lost millions through numerous bad business deals and risky investments. There was a dinette manufacturer, a mini-supermarket, a nightclub, a chain of eyeglass stores, a pipe-fitting company, an apartment complex, a brass company, a car parts manufacturer, a company that made adhesive sealer for car paint and a small chain of catfish restaurants. He also invested in a radio station, a dry cleaner, and a water purifying business. He filed for bankruptcy in 1990. He divorced his wife Brenda, a junior high school teacher, who remained in Hooks, where she raised their four children. Following his divorce, he moved back to Norman, Oklahoma, where he worked for a short period in the University of Oklahoma athletic department.
He now serves as a vice president with AmericaCan, a non-profit organization, and licenses the use of his name to Billy Sims Barbecue. Sims also makes appearances for sports marketing firms.
In 2007, a bronze statue of Sims was dedicated on the University of Oklahoma campus in Heisman Park, commemorating his 1978 award. The life and one half size statue was created by Sculptor Jim Franklin in his Studio in Perry, Oklahoma. The bronze was cast by the Bronze Horse Foundry in Pawhuska, Oklahoma.
He has enthusiastically tried to start the "Boomer! Sooner!" Oklahoma cheer immediately following the naming of the winner at the Heisman Trophy induction ceremonies of the two most recent Oklahoma Sooner winners, Jason White and Sam Bradford, and held up a sign reading "Boomer" during the 2009 Heisman ceremony. Many in the media have criticized his antics as upstaging the winner. On December 16, 2008 he apologized to those upset by his behavior and said that he hoped his actions had not reflected poorly on the University of Oklahoma. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1995. A hero in his hometown of Hooks, Texas, there is a city road named Billy Sims Road and the local library wall is adorned with his photos.
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