American Football Career
Simmons was an All-American football player at Florida State University (FSU) from 1977 to 1980 under coach Bobby Bowden (whom Simmons described as "a second father"), spending four years as a defensive nose guard. The Seminoles were 39–8 during Simmons's years at the school, finishing in the Associated Press Top 20 three times ('77,'79 and '80), earning back-to-back Orange Bowl trips after Simmons's junior and senior seasons. In 1979 Simmons finished ninth in the Heisman voting. In 1988, Simmons's jersey (number 50) was retired by FSU, the third time a number has been retired in school history. In addition, Simmons was inducted into the Orange Bowl Hall of Fame for his accomplishments while playing at Florida State. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008.
He later had a brief career in the National Football League (NFL), selected as pick #160 in the 1981 NFL Draft. He played for the Cleveland Browns in 1981, and the USFL's Tampa Bay Bandits in 1984 and 1985, and it was in Tampa where he was a teammate of future professional wrestler Lex Luger.
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