'It's bigger than football': Titans' Jeffery Simmons spends week giving back in Mississippi

STARKVILLE – Before he was an All-Pro and All-SEC defensive tackle, Tennessee Titans star Jeffery Simmons was a manager for his high school football team.

Simmons was in middle school but served as a varsity football manager when he walked through the weight room at Noxubee County High School and saw the rusty weights and bent bars.

It’s a sight that stuck with him, particularly as he saw opponents such as West Point with better equipment to help build a “winning culture.”

So Simmons made a promise. He wasn’t a 6-foot-4, 300-pound menace yet, but his potential had always been apparent as a five-star prospect. Once he made it to the NFL, Simmons said, he’d ensure future Noxubee County athletes had access to better equipment.

The former Mississippi State standout fulfilled the promise Thursday as he stood outside newly named and renovated Jeffery B. Simmons Field House. The only thing more eye-popping than the shiny oversized scissors used in the ribbon cutting was his neon yellow shorts suit.

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“I cannot really show my appreciation for Noxubee County enough,” Simmons said.

Simmons’ time in high school wasn’t always as successful as his football career. As a senior in 2016, he was found guilty of malicious mischief and pleaded no contest to a simple assault charge. It came after he was helping break up a fight between his sister and another woman. Simmons was shown on video striking the woman before walking away.

Simmons said the donations and work he does for his high school are not an attempt to cover up for what happened.

“I moved on from all that," Simmons said. "I don’t even talk about it anymore. I don’t live in the past. My thing is, what I’m doing now is to make sure my name, my brand — the Jeffery Simmons brand — will leave a legacy not just for me but for my kids and their future.

“That’s my biggest thing. I have nephews, nieces. What can I do to make sure they’re good in their future and make sure they don’t have to live off that – live off something that happened 20 years ago, 30 years ago.”

NCHS athletics director Karen Dixon — who has known Simmons since he was in her fourth-grade class — says once the school was informed of Simmons’ plan with the weight room, it was their idea to name the field house after him.

The unveiling in Macon, Mississippi, was only the start of an eventful week back home for Simmons. He made the short trek Friday to Starkville, where he signed a $75,000 check for Starkville Parks and Recreation toward a new turf field at the Starkville Sportsplex.

The field was also named in his honor and was used through the weekend for his third annual youth camp.

“It’s bigger than football,” Simmons said Saturday. “It’s not all about just these young kids seeing us play on Thursdays, Monday nights and Sundays. These kids matter. The town of Starkville matters. The town of Macon matters.”

Simmons was joined at his camp by NFL players  Elgton Jenkins, Tyre Phillips, J.T. Gray and Gerri Green, among others. The group remains tight-knit as their careers have shifted away from Mississippi, and Simmons says there is never hesitation when they ask each other to help with events such as youth camps.

Mississippi State quarterback Will Rogers also received an invitation from Simmons. He remembers the angst of being a kid at a youth camp with successful football players around. Now he notes the commitment that comes with being on the adult side.

“They’re pros, for sure,” Rogers said. “The way they conduct themselves — not only on the field but also coming back and doing things like this for the community. Helping people that don’t have as much … It’s humbling to see and definitely something I’m going to learn from.”

Stefan Krajisnik is the Mississippi State beat writer for the Clarion Ledger. Contact him at skrajisnik@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter @skrajisnik3. 

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Jeffery Simmons, Tennessee Titans DT, gives back in Mississippi